Caring for Our Bodies
Our bodies are gifts from God to be stewarded so that we can serve Him better in His Kingdom.
God has given us one life. And along with this one life comes one body. This life and body cannot be exchanged for another one while on earth. No matter what advancements are made in modern medicine, it will not change the fact that we will only have access to the body we have right now. In heaven, we'll be provided with bodies that will neither perish nor experience sickness. But for now, the bodies that we've been given by our Creator are all we get in this earthly lifetime.
If we each have only one body to use while on earth, it becomes pertinent for us to steward it as best as we can. After all, it is through this one physical body that we interact with our physical world. It is through this body that we carry on our best work. It is through this body that we relate to people such as family and friends. It is through this body that we perform activities and fulfill responsibilities. It is through this body that we pray, read Scripture, and contemplate. It is through this body that we worship and serve the Lord.
Part of living our best for God on earth requires that we do so in a body that has been taken care of as best as we possibly can (taking into consideration, of course, our unique individual circumstances). When we neglect the care of our bodies, it will eventually have a negative impact on how we show up to life. We all know what it's like to be so sick that we're unable to get much productive work done. We all know what it's like to be so exhausted that we can't concentrate on what we're doing. The condition of our bodies will usually have some influence on what we can or cannot do in this world and on the quality of the work and activity that we do. If we hope to show up well to the different things in life, caring for our bodies will be an integral part of making that happen.
God calls us to love Him with all our "strength" (see Mk. 12:30). Caring for our bodies (our strength) and using them wisely and appropriately is one way that we can love the Lord our God. This means that we should consider getting appropriate amounts of sleep and rest so that we have the proper amount of energy to do things. This means that we should consider our nutritional choices to help make our bodies healthier. And this also means that we should consider exercise and other physical activities to strengthen our bodies. These things can grow our physical capacity so that we can do more in life for God and do them to the best of our ability. Our bodies are gifts from God to be stewarded so that we can serve Him better in His Kingdom. How are you going to start taking care of your body so that you will have the physical capacity to do all the things that God wants you to do today and tomorrow?
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
