Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Temple of God......more like a shanty

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple."

Our body is God's temple. That is said because the Holy Spirit lives in us. But do we live our lives that way? For the most part we do not live our lives as if we have even read the Bible, let alone as if we are a temple for the Holy Spirit to live in. A lot of us treat our bodies more like a garbage disposal or an amusement park. If we cannot control our consumption habits, how can we possibly control other habits such as lusting, lying or being a gossip?

When I say garbage disposal, what I mean is that we will throw any and all trash into our bodies. This ranges from junk food to eating too much food. Just because we have mega-Churches springing up does not mean that we need to have mega-waist sizes so that our personal temple matches the one we worship at. This is called gluttony, or overindulging.

Ever heard of gluttony? I hear that it is a sin! The Bible has a few things to say about gluttony. Proverbs 23:21 says that the glutton will come to poverty. Proverbs 23:2 goes as far as to say "put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony" and Phillipians 3:19 says that those who will come to destruction will treat their belly as their god. Does not sound like gluttony is a good thing. It sounds like gluttony is something to be avoided. Maybe this is something we as Christians should attempt to focus on. After all, sin is sin.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

Now we will look at treating our bodies as amusement parks. By that I mean we smoke cigarettes, have premarital sex, overindulge in alcohol and abuse drugs. Is that honoring God with our bodies? I should certainly hope not. That may be honoring the little "g" gods, not the big "G" God that I worship. We tend to take the path of least resistance and focus on what we want to do and what is popular and cool. This is not how we are to live, though. We are to live like the Holy Spirit resides in us, because it does. We should desire what God wants us to do.

Romans 8:5-6 says, "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."

Somewhere in the course of our lives we have to ask ourselves if we are living as though our mind is governed by the Spirit. Are we doing as we have been instructed to do. I would argue that we are not. The way we live our lives shows that we have no self-control, which is a very important thing. 2 Peter 1:6 says we are to supplement knowledge with self-control, and Galatians lists self-control as one of the fruits of the Spirit. If we are led by the Spirit, then we will have self-control. If we have the Spirit, you will know it by our fruits.

We may have trouble acting with self-control, but there are ways that we can build it. We need to acknowledge that when Christ died he brought us salvation that allows us to deny our worldly urges (2 Titus 2:11,12). In order to take advantage of this salvation, we must be baptized (Galatians 3:27), cleanse ourselves from the impurities of flesh and spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1) so that we can pursue peace and holiness and through them see God (Hebrews 12:14).

We show that we are truly following Christ by doing several things. In Acts 8:22 the Bible tells us that we should repent and pray so that our hearts can become right with God. Prayer and meditation will open us up to receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Just because it is there does not mean that we use it. As an example, I use public rest rooms all of the time. It has been my experience that almost every one that I have ever been provided both a sink and soap to wash your hands. Yet, I frequently see people walk out of those bathrooms without washing their hands. So it is with the Spirit, accessible to us but left unused.

Another thing that we need to do is surround ourselves with people who are living their lives led by the Spirit. There is a reason to do this. Birds of a feather, flock together. The Holy Scriptures also tells us that not only does bad company corrupt good behavior (1 Corinthians 15:33), but being around positive  Christians who are like-minded allow us to be built up and encouraged (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

When we get rid of the negatives in our lives, we need to replace them with positive things and people. If we do not, then bad things are surely going to seep back into our lives. I would rather be in relationships with healthy people than those who are living in sin, positive Christians as opposed to those who continue to make negative choices and accept no responsibility or hold themselves accountable for their actions.

In my life, I have decided I need to make some changes because there are areas of my life that I could improve in, that I do not have self-control in. The area is gluttony. I overeat all of the time, I do not know moderation when it comes to food and that has began to add up, leaving me with a waist that is almost as big as my chest. I will keep you updated on my progress as I attempt to overcome my last addiction, which is eating pleasure food in abundance, and drop 55 pounds and keep it off.

What I have decided to do is join Weight Watcher's, because it is a lifestyle change as opposed to a diet. I have tried juice fasts for a week, and the Daniel Fast for 40 days, but I have always returned to my addiction to food after it was over. I do not need a phase, but a permanent change. I need a change in lifestyle and a community to support it. I have done that with my other addictions, choosing to attend church for the community it provides, removing myself from those who were engaged in the lifestyle I was trying to leave behind me and actively associating with people who are accomplishing what I am striving for.

That is what Weight Watchers offers me: support, hope and encouragement. I know several people who are active Christians that are also involved in Weight Watchers and have been successful that can offer me support and encouragement in our journey. I will win in the battle with obesity and overeating, because my God is an awesome God. Don't forget what it says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all this through Him who gives me strength."

2 comments:

  1. That's pretty awesome, David. I was just talking to my bestie about doing the same thing today. Like you, I could use the support and really want to overcome my bad habits. I don't want to live in sin against God in any area of my life.

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  2. Seeing your blogs reminds me that I need to make prayer and meditation a priority

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