I have a challenge for you. Your body is a temple, so let’s be some of the healthiest people on the planet, free from disease and excess weight, full of energy and vitality in order to do the good work that God has given us to do, whether that’s staying at home raising our babies or grandbabies, serving the homeless, fostering children, doing mission work on the other side of the world, or faithfully showing up to life every day.

In this episode I talk about the disconnect we Christians have between glorifying God and having a healthy body.

Listen to podcast here (or read down below)

 

You’ll learn that our bodies are temples and they don’t belong to us.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

01:03 How a healthy body allows us to fulfill the great commission.

01:23 The disconnect of the importance of our physical health and body.

02:09 How to glorify God with our bodies.

02:38 We can look to the Old Testament.

07:09 Connecting the dots from Old Testament to the New is vitally important.

08:05 Your body doesn’t even belong to you.

08:44 What we are reflecting.

11:18 God’s grace and mercy makes the difference.

 

Links mentioned in this episode:

Episode 3: Katrina’s Journey to Health

 

“I believe a healthy body allows us to fulfill the great commission and be the healthy hands and feet of Jesus as we serve those around us. Our physical bodies are the vessels that God uses to complete his work here on earth.”
-Katrina

 

Because your body is a temple,

I have a challenge for you…
Let’s be some of the healthiest people on the planet, free from disease and excess weight, full of energy and vitality in order to do the good work that God has given us to do.

 

Our physical health matters.

I believe a healthy body allows us to fulfill the great commission and be the healthy hands and feet of Jesus as we serve those around us.

Our physical bodies are the vessels that God uses to complete his work here on earth.

After working with thousands of Christians over the last decade, I have found that there is a disconnect between the importance of our physical health and the significance of the role our bodies play.

 

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

How you care for it, what you eat, what you drink, everything that you do with your body matters.

In fact, it doesn’t even belong to you. I hope to radically transform your mindset as it relates to this.
In 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 Paul urges us,

“Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God. You are not your own for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.”

 

That is such a huge concept. Isn’t it? It’s one of those that can be difficult to understand, or at least I thought it was. And that’s why I want to help you to connect the dots, to help you to see that it is truly vital that we care for our bodies in a way that glorifies God.

For us to really understand this verse and its significance, I believe that we can look to the Old Testament, in particular, the representation of the temple and what the temple looks like.

 

The Old Testament Temple

When God gave the instructions to Moses beginning in Exodus 25, and for many chapters beyond, he began to share with Moses and the Israelites exactly how to construct that Old Testament temple, the original tent, the portable version of the temple.

He talked about the details of the measurements, the type of wood, the measurement of the wood, the types of fabric, the linen, the beautiful yarn, the colors that were to represent him, the precious gemstone, the metals of gold and silver, bronze, and iron.

My research on the subject led me to find out that there were eight tons of gold, silver, and bronze that were used in the construction of this temple.

And then later on when Solomon built the permanent temple in 1 Chronicles 29:1-9, it says,

“Then King David said to all the assembly, ‘My son Solomon, God has chosen him alone. He’s young and inexperienced. The task is great because the building will not be built for humans, but for the Lord God. So to the best of my ability, I have made provision for the house of my God, gold for the gold articles, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron, and wood for the wood, as well as onyx stones for mounting, antimony stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones and a great quantity of marble. Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the house of my God over and above all that I provided for that holy house. 100 tons of gold and 250 tons of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings. The gold for the gold work and the silver for the silver, for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who will volunteer to consecrate himself to the Lord today?’ Then the leaders of the households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the King’s work gave willingly. For the service of God’s house, they gave 185 tons of gold, 10,000 gold coins, 375 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 4,000 tons of iron. Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the Lord’s house under the care of Jehiel, the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because of their leaders willingness to give, for they had given to the Lord wholeheartedly. King David also rejoiced greatly.”

 

Listen, both temples were magnificent. This newer one that was built by Solomon and the Israelites was even more grand and beautiful than the one before.

 

What’s so important about the temple?

Why was it important that it needed to be grand and beautiful and strong? Because God’s presence was going to dwell in that temple!

And so it needed to reflect his beauty and his strength to the nations around him. First Chronicles 29:1 says, “The building will not be built for humans, but for the Lord God,” and listen, isn’t it the same with our bodies as well?

Why did God even create us?

 

He created us for himself.

So the physical temple was to represent God in the Old Testament. And God knew that he was the God of gods and he wanted that to be represented to the nations around him. Once God did dwell there, he also gave instructions as to how the temple was to be cared for.

It was so vitally important to follow the instructions that God gave because death was a consequence if the instructions were not followed. I believe for us to fully understand our New Testament temple, this body we are living in, that we need to connect the dots from the Old Testament to our New Testament temple.
As New Testament believers, we are no longer bound to the law of the Old Testament.

 

Connect the dots…

However, we cannot discount what God gave as far as instructions and care and love and honor for that Old Testament temple.

Why? Well, because Christ died for you and he died for me and he died not only for our soul but also for our body.
We need to care for our bodies just as they cared for the Old Testament temple. We need to be diligent in the way that we treat it, the way that we love it, the way that we see it, the way that we talk to it, the way we feed it, the way we move it.

Everything we choose to do with our bodies matters mostly because guess what?

Your body doesn’t belong to you.

 

It belongs to Christ.
He bought it and he paid a very high price for it. There is such a premium put on the body that he decided to dwell within it.

Therefore we have to treat our bodies with love and respect and honor. We also must remember that our bodies are a reflection to the world of God’s strength, beauty, and goodness.

 

The New Testament Temple

Christ’s light dwells within us. And we are a reflection of that light.

 

What are you reflecting?

 

It breaks my heart to see so many good Christian people plagued with disease, excess weight, and exhaustion. Statistics show that in America, six out of 10 have chronic diseases. The most common of these chronic diseases are heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Most all of these cases are directly related to diet and lifestyle!

• 88% of Americans are considered metabolically unhealthy.
• Diabetes is on the rise. One out of two Americans is type two diabetic or pre-diabetic.
• 75% are overweight.
• 42% are obese.

And if you were to look at the Christian population, particularly, there is absolutely no difference that I can see where these numbers are any different inside or outside the church.

We as Christians should be some of the healthiest people on the planet.

 

God preserved the Israelites throughout history. His son would be born from the line of David!
He needed the Israelites to last for generations.
Eating as he designed, helped to ensure that the Israelites were physically strong and healthy to withstand disease, infection, and more. While other people groups died off, they survived.

What we eat and how we live matters.

 

Maybe you are one of the above statistics. Maybe you have not eaten or lived in a way that brings health to your temple.

Well, thank God for his grace and his mercy, because even if we have not cared for our bodies as we should in the past, God can redeem.

In episode three, I share my story and the journey to health that I went on.

 

I did not treat my body like God’s Temple

You need to know that there was a time in my life where I didn’t connect the dots. I didn’t understand that my temple was to be cared for or that caring for my body mattered.

 

You would think that I would know better.

I was a registered nurse for crying out loud.

For years I abused my body. But by God’s grace and his mercy, that is no longer the case. He taught me how to live and how to eat healthy for his glory. I want to help you to do the same.

 

Your body is the temple of the Most High God

Remember, dear one, I want you to know and remember that your body is the temple of the Most High God. It is beautiful, valuable, and worthy. It is of utmost importance that you care for your body.

I want to leave you with this. In 1 Chronicles 28:20 David is commissioning his son Solomon to build the temple. Then David said to his son, Solomon,

“Be strong and courageous and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you until all the work for the service of the Lord’s house is finished.”

 

And while yes, this was in regards to the physical temple that Solomon was about to build, what an encouragement to us as we seek to start and continue the work of restoring our bodies’ temples.

Be strong and courageous, dear one.

Until next time. Bye for now.