How Much Does God Want Me to Care For My Physical Body?

Encouraged by this food-for-thought post from desiringGod.org this morning.

I don’t think that being overweight is only attributed to laziness and overeating, and I do think an occasional cigar is good for the soul.

It’s always a challenge to find the line between enjoying good things God has provided and not letting these things rule over us. I appreciate how Piper points out that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Realizing this helps us to pray and gives us strength when we’re feeling tempted to keep vice overindulgence in check.

How Much Does God Want Me to Care For My Physical Body?

Does having new life in Christ mean that I should expect and strive for better physical health? How much does God want me to care for my physical body?

Good question. He does want you to care for your physical body. A couple of texts come to my mind.

One is that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6). And the context there is not giving your body to a prostitute. But the implication is that these bodies are holy and are reverential.

It kept me from smoking as a teenager! It really did! My mother’s statement, “Son, your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and giving yourself lung cancer for that kind of pleasure would not treat the Holy Spirit rightly.” That worked for me! Still does.

But there’s another text that comes closer. Earlier in that chapter he is not dealing with prostitutes; he is dealing with food. The slogan in Corinth is—I think it’s a slogan in Corinth—”The stomach for food and food for the stomach, and both will be destroyed in hell,” which implied in their docetic way, “Eat all you want. It doesn’t matter what you eat.” And Paul said, “True statement, but I will not be enslaved by anything!” And the context there is food.

The reason people are unhealthy is because they’re enslaved. They are enslaved to laziness, and they are enslaved to food. So they eat too much and they exercise too little. And they have heart attacks and get diabetes. And God would consider that a spiritual issue.

So we should strive spiritually. What did Paul mean when he said, “I will not be enslaved by anything?” He meant, “Christ is your master!”

And a third text that comes to mind is, “The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and …” What? “Self-control,” egkrateia (Galatians 5:22-23).

And again, largely sexual self-control is in view; but it’s the same thing. The word “self-control” is not the best translation maybe, because it’s really a work of the Holy Spirit.

So we should fight against anything that makes us unhealthy. If overeating makes us unhealthy, fight it by the Spirit. If laziness and lack of exercise makes us unhealthy, fight it with the power of the Holy Spirit. That is, believing the promises of God, praying down the Holy Spirit, and then biting the bullet and denying ourselves.

Christianity is self-denial … for a higher joy. And I don’t want my Christian hedonism to be taken to mean that everything is easy. It isn’t. Hardly anything worth doing is easy, until we get to heaven. Then it will all be easy.

He cares about our bodies. He gave them to us. He would like them to be healthy and last a long time, until he takes them.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

2 Replies to “How Much Does God Want Me to Care For My Physical Body?”

  1. encouraging stuff. I was wondering if you could explain little deeper in what you were talking about when you said,”I appreciate how Piper points out that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Realizing this helps us to pray and gives us strength when we’re feeling tempted to keep vice overindulgence in check.” Especially that last line…good stuff.

  2. Dave,

    Thanks for your note.

    Matthew 7:16-20 says, “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

    Fruit of the Spirit comes from the Spirit.

    So many times, we try to manufacture the FOTS on our own – by own strength, on our own terms. It feels like an uphill battle. It doesn’t work. When we try to manufacture the fruit, our actions w/o God’s love do more harm than good (I Corinthians 13:1-3, Isaiah 64:6).

    If we find discover we’re producing some rotten fruit, we need to do a heart check (Matthew 12:34 , Luke 6:44-46 ) We need to humble ourselves (James 4:6,10) and confess that we are trying to justify our own salvation. We need to “put on the armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-18). We need to pray that the Lord would increase our measure of faith (Romans 12:2-8) and our trust in Him, so that the Holy Spirit may work in our lives. (Proverbs 3:4-6 , II Corinthians 12:9 , Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:30).

    Galatians 5:22-26 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

    May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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