1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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.
Your body is a wonderful masterpiece of form and functionality. The precise detail of each cell and organ integrated together and working in harmony is a marvel beyond scientific and engineering design. A combination of your brain, skeleton, nerves, veins, and muscles working together to form an organic machine designed for the purpose of duplicating God’s image (in a limited, physical capacity) glorifies HIS genius. When combined with your soul and spirit, you have a triune entity we simply call a human person.
Though wonderfully made, the body requires maintenance to fully function at its highest capacity. The majority of us understand the importance of exercise and nutrition to keep the body operating at peak performance. However, what many of us ignore and abuse is the relationship between our bodies and our soul and spirit.
Mankind, apart from God, has made the body the central core of life. The body is glamorized, adored, and pampered by western civilization. The commercialization of products and services are designed around glorifying the outer shell of the person. The soul and spirit may be implied, but never given their time under the sun.
From God’s perspective, HE doesn’t look at humans from our outer image, but from our inner heart. For example, He chose David, the youngest of his family to be king of Israel. Samuel, who was sent by God to identify the next king, was more impressed by his older brothers. But God looks at the soul of a person. Again, Jesus himself would repeatedly get upset when he looked at people and recognized the hardness of their heart (their soul). Throughout the Bible, people would choose leaders based on their physical appearance, but not God. He chose based on the condition of their soul.
The body is the outer casing that houses your soul and spirit. The body and soul complement and submit to each other. When both are healthy, along with your spirit, we experience the fullness of being human. When one of the three is hurting, the scars are felt by the person.
Yes, we need to care for our bodies which have been redeemed by Jesus. Now as HIS, our bodies house the Spirit of God. This is why Paul writes that we are God’s temple and our bodies are to glorify HIM.
Our biggest challenge is to bridle the passions of our human nature which causes harm for our soul. I Peter 2:11 reads “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul”.
When we understand the soul is the governing agency and needs to be buildup and strengthen to effectively manage our bodies rather than allow our carnal desires to influence the soul; only then will we maturely experience the Christ-like life HE spoke about.
The daily struggle for us Christ-followers is to channel more of God’s Holy Spirit toward our soul and deflect more of our carnal desires away from our soul.
Paul writes in Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”.
Or how I like to state it, “More Christ, less me.” When you place Jesus as the center of your life, your soul will begin to take the lead instead of the physical desires to satisfy the self-centerness of our flesh. You realize your body is designed to glorify God and not you. You will take care of your body as best as you can so you can move through life serving your King and physically ready for every opportunity to do good work.
I left below a few Scriptures highlighting the challenge and battle between the body and soul. Read responsibly.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.
These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.
The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Next week we will discuss your spirit.
Rooting For You in Christ!
Dr. Mike
Encourager & Author of e-Books
* Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married
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