The most abused part of me, I must admit, is my body. When I start slacking in a particular area, most often in my work ethic, I pay the price physically. Some of you know what I mean. If I, in my laziness, did not study enough for an exam or put off some project, I use the time that should have been meant for sleeping or eating to do my work. At some point, I realized that had I been a more efficient steward of my time, then no sacrifice would have had to been made (see Time Stewardship).
There is another extreme that I must acknowledge. There are times when I put the body's needs at the top of the list, and find myself succumbing to the flesh. I refuse to discipline my body for the sake of building up my spirit. How many of you can identify with such actions as:
- Falling asleep during prayer?
- Starting a fast with only water and ending up nibbling on a snack or drinking soda?
- Committing adultery in your heart because you're "too holy" to do it in the natural?
When I started college, a friend of mine really showed me what true discipline was about. Her stance always was that if the body really is the temple of God [1 Corinthians 6:19], then we ought to respect it as we do any other edifice of worship. She would regularly go to the gym and ate healthy foods as a way to keep her body strong. Now, healthy food does not make us holy. Paul dealt with this issue when many argued that the Christian Gentiles ought to take on the Jewish diet. Jesus said that it is not what goes into a man that defiles him [Matthew 15:11], so the opposite is also true - what goes into man cannot make him pure. Both food and stomach will be destroyed in the end, and will only be redeemed when the body is glorified by resurrection. [see 1 Corinthians 6:12-13] Also, self-denial does not holiness make. Colossians 2:23 reminds us that fasting from the flesh without building the spirit only serves to feign wisdom. Asceticism is not the goal. Discipline, however, does show that we respect the creation of God, and recognize that this body is a loan. We discipline ourselves so as to build up our body, not to tear it down.
Discipline obviously extends farther than diet and exercise. One of the most commonly quoted verses in the Bible is Romans 12:1, 2:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Here Paul states two specific conditions for our bodies - that they be holy, and that they be acceptable to God. Holiness entails setting ourselves apart for God's glory. Being acceptable means being able to "come correct." Of course when we first come to God, we are disheveled, torn, broken and bruised. But when we are saved, we ought to strive to live lives of purity.
This is no small request. In order to understand what Paul is writing of, we need to look earlier in the epistle. Paul says to present our "members," essentially our body parts, as "slaves of righteousness for holiness." We ought to be let righteousness dominate in ourselves, and not let lawlessness lead to uncleanness. [Romans 6:19]. We are all under the dominion of something; that is to say we are all slaves to something, and we can choose to be slaves to righteousness or slaves to the lusts of our flesh [Romans 6:12]. Realize today that it can be one or the other. Darkness and light cannot coexist. 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 warns us that we should not use our bodies for glorifying God and then participate in harlotry. If so, then we are going against the very definition of holiness, and not setting ourselves apart.
This is an aspect to this that I feel we women forget when we engage in such actions. The Bible tells us that when we commit adultery (which it is whether or not we are married), we are "becoming one flesh." One minister explains this as a part of us is being given to that man. We are losing a part of ourselves in the process. If this man does not end up being our husband, then we end up offering our husbands less than all of us. What a terrible thought! Of course the same goes for the guys as well. If we really care for a man but know it is not God's will for us to be with them, then we are selfishly taking more and more of him, leaving less and less for him to give to his future wife.
Now I understand that not all of us are under the best conditions when we fall to temptation. Sometimes it is not even our fault; we are taken advantage of. Others fell way before they decided to truly live for Christ. To them and to those who are willing to change their lives this day, I offer this hope. My God is still a Creator. He is able to restore that which was lost, because restoration is a part of salvation (see Psalm 80:3, Matthew 18:11). He is mighty to save us from whatever has overtaken us. But to those of you (and I promise I am admonishing myself as well) who partake in this actions and hope to still enter into God's loving presence, know that you are bringing much disrespect to your Father. For the Bible tells us that we were bought with a price. That is what makes this stewardship. Our bodies belong to God. We are the earthen vessels that hold the treasure of Christ [2 Corinthians 4:7]. Let us strive to keep these vessels clean.
God bless,
Alisha
