If you have been saved and you are a child of God, then the Holy Spirit lives inside you. As Christians, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
As God’s temple, we need to take care of our bodies. This means making sure we put a priority on our physical health.
The most important verse to memorize for motivation is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
So Once you have made the choice to take care of your body here are ten tips to make sure you are treating your body as the temple of God.
One) Get the sleep your body needs.
Don’t skimp on sleep. The human body needs rest and enough sleep. While you are resting your brain and nerve cells communicate with each other.
Toxins are removed from your brain. Getting proper rest will help with your immune system, let you think clearly, and get along with others.
We don’t just need sleep. we also need to make sure we are getting enough rest. Rest can also come in the form of Mediation. But as a Christian, we want to meditate on God’s word.
King David wrote, I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
You will find this in Psalm 3:5 God wants you to have a good rest and through that rest, God will sustain you.
Two) Eat proper food.
To live you must fuel your body. This means eating nutritious food, whole foods that will give you the nutrition you need. A healthy body needs leafy greens, whole grains, and protein. It means avoiding sugary foods, alcohol, and overeating.
Poor diets with too much sodium and fats will cause high blood pressure, heart disease, and even cancer.
The apostle Paul reminds us that even how we eat is part of our worship of God. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 we read,
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Eating good food and getting proper nutrition is a part of our worship of God. Having a healthy diet and taking care of the body he gave us is a way to give glory to God.
Some easy things to do are to drink a lot of water, cut out white bread, excessive alcohol, and food with too much sugar, switch your white rice with brown rice, and canola oil with extra virgin olive oil, and eat a lot of fresh produce.
These few tips will make a huge difference in how our food supports our physical body.
Three) Be physically active.
We need to exercise regularly and take better care of our physical bodies. Having regular exercise as part of your daily routine is important.
Living a sedentary lifestyle will make you age quicker and cause you to not have the strength to do the tasks God has planned for you.
God does have work for you to do. Strength training will prepare you for the work God created you to do. God wants you to be an active participant in his plan. In Proverbs 31 we read about the virtuous woman.
In this passage, we see that she is a strong and active person.
“She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.” Proverbs 31:17
What we see here is the woman God sets up for us to be like.
How can we do this? Well, we can take time to walk every day. If you have an office job take time to go for a regular walk. Take time to celebrate. One great way to celebrate is to incorporate your worship into your celebration.
For example, you can celebrate the feast of trumpets the way Jesus did. Love life, and embrace it while you are being physically active.
Four) Remove unnecessary stress from your life.
Manage stress in your life. God wants you to keep anxiety and worry out of your mind. When Jesus was on earth he said
“Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.” – Luke 12:22
Maybe you are feeling stressed about being single and you are trying to find a partner. Instead of being stressed ask God if you are supposed to stay single for a season. Maybe you are worried about problems at work.
Ask God to help you make choices in your business, and also to live with the consequences of your choice. Maybe you worry about your family, but remember that God loves your family even more than you do.
Your body will thrive when you learn to release your worry.
Five) Cleanse your body on a regular basis.
Detoxify your body. This is an important part of taking care of your temple of the Living God. There are a few ways to do this.
Castor Oil Pacs on your liver are a great way to detoxify your body.
Drinking lemons, and lime, or eating grapefruit are other easy ways to cleanse your body.
When you first start cleansing your body it will take three to ten days, but once you start making it part of your regular routine you will find the process moves faster.
Doing this will help your kidneys and liver, and will give you a good support system for your body’s detoxification that God created for you.
Six) Keep your body clean and practice good hygiene.
In Isaiah 1:16 we read, Wash and make yourselves clean.
God wants us to have good hygiene. Having good hygiene will make us presentable so we can share the good news of Jesus Christ with people we meet.
The Gospel is already a topic that might be offsetting to some people. However, if we have poor hygiene people will not listen to what we have to say.
Make sure you are taking the time each morning to clean yourself properly and make sure you look proper before leaving the home.
Seven) Make sure your mind is calm and controlled.
Pay attention to your emotional health. Our mental health should be a priority. We want our minds to be calm and under the control of the Holy Spirit. The Bible talks about how to make sure we have joy and hope. We read about that in the book of Romans.
“Our hope comes from God. May He fill you with joy and peace because of your trust in Him. May your hope grow stronger by the power of the Holy Spirit” Romans 15:13
A great way to make sure your mind is calm and controlled is to study the Bible effectively. Take time to pray. Find things that bring us calm and make sure those activities are part of your daily life.
One last thing I will tell you to do is perhaps the hardest. You need to keep toxic people out of your life. That doesn’t mean we cut out every person who treats us wrong.
But if there is someone in your life who only brings you stress then find walk away if you can. If you can’t walk away then limit your time with this person.
Eight) Love others
Love. Love does amazing things. Not only do we help others when we love, but loving people will help us as well. When we love others our stress and anxiety will be reduced. Love lowers our blood pressure, and is even known to help with our cardiovascular health.
Studies have shown that when we make love a priority in our lives we will become more physically active, live longer, and prioritize self-care.
What do I mean by love? In 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, we read
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs.
We need to love the way God loves us. If we are lukewarm Christians, then we will struggle with loving the way we should. Avoid being a lukewarm Christian. Love and live the way Jesus Christ wants you to live.
Nine) Avoid Sexual sins.
Stay away from sexual sins. There are many physical diseases that come from sexual sins. Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Aids, and many more STDs. Beyond that, there are also mental health issues that come.
The National Library of Medicine says that the more hooks a person participates in the greater depression and anxiety they will feel.
1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
Sexual sin can be an addiction. God can help you overcome any addiction. Pray and ask for forgiveness and healing. God will heal you, and He will help you make better choices.
If you are in a marriage, then Sexual activity with your spouse is good for you. Studies have shown that marriage with regular sexual activity will not only lower divorce rates but also improve our physical and psychological health.
It lowers stress, improves our sleep, and helps our immune system.
Ten) Pay attention to your body.
Listen to your body. God created our bodies to show us when there is a problem. This means you don’t ignore the pain in your body or push through the pain to get something done.
If there is pain then stop and address the pain, pain is our bodies’ way of telling us that there is a problem. When you feel symptoms of sickness pay attention to them, and check to see if there is a sickness that needs to be addressed before it spreads.
How are you sleeping at night? Is something keeping you up?
Take the time to investigate these things. God created our bodies to tell us when there is a problem.
In the New Testament, we read.
3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
God wants you to live a healthy life. He wants you to be able to sing It is well with my soul, and truly mean it.
Conclusion
The best thing you can do is to have a personal relationship with God. We need to treat the body God gave us with the utmost respect. There the obvious things like drug use that we all know we need to avoid.
But many Christians including church leaders will be overweight and stressed. These are also things God has told us to avoid. How can we do this? Join an accountability group where your fellow believers will help you.
The best way that you can make sure your body is always ready to worship God and serve Him is to live a healthy lifestyle.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So treat it that way.