Many Christians don’t view physical fitness or wellness as an expression of their faith.
However, I would attest that our view of the importance of physical wellness reflects what we believe about God and creation. If we view this world as temporary and unimportant, where all that matters is saving souls and spiritual things, we might neglect the passages of Scripture which call us to treat our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit.
At the same time, we live in a culture that has deified physical fitness. We’re participants in a culture that hyper-elevates exercise and a perfect body, but for superficial, not stewardship, reasons. We want to “look good,” while God calls us to “do good.”
In reacting against a culture that worships the body have we abandoned the call to care for ours?
Many of us have heard of the idea of financial stewardship or time stewardship. But when we shift to other applications of biblical stewardship such as creation care or physical stewardship, we get more uncomfortable. God commands us to be good stewards of everything, or of nothing.
A Year of Transformation
All of this hit home for me last year when I realized that I had returned to my heaviest state in the last 10 years. After my first physical in a long time, my doctor notified me of rising cholesterol. Between those two factors and a general lack of energy, I decided to make changes. What began as a renewed commitment to exercise morphed into a commitment between my wife and me to transform our diets. I committed to sleeping at least 7 hours per night and began waking up at 4:45 am to work out 6 days per week.
This fall, we’ve both reached the healthiest levels we’ve had in nearly a decade and we have the new wardrobe bills to prove it! Our physical transformation has changed our energy levels, our parenting, our marriage, and it’s been used by God to inspire other people to pursue physical wellness in new ways.
The High Standard of Physical Stewardship
In John 1:14, we read these words, “The Word became human and made his home among us.” Jesus took on human flesh, dignifying the body and showing that to be human wasn’t dirty or unimportant. The Bible calls us to a high standard of stewardship when it comes to physical wellness.
We’re called to make our bodies a living sacrificed in Romans 12:1. “I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
In 2 Peter 1:5-6, the Apostle Peter outlines the vital role self-control plays. “Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control.”
And the most significant statement about our bodies comes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, where the Apostle Paul describes our physical bodies as the dwelling place of God. “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
Baby Steps to Physical Wellness
So, where do you start? If you’ve not “killed it” in the area of physical stewardship, here are some simple, baby steps you can take to begin following the Biblical command to “honor God with your body.”
1. Get a physical and take your doctor’s advice to heart.
Many of us are avoiding facing the truth of how things are going within our physical body. In my experience, until we face the truth, we’ll never experience freedom from our place of current bondage. Finding out how we’re really doing is the first step to getting well!
2. Identify a reasonable exercise plan and a buddy to hold you accountable.
Studies show that exercising with a friend leads to greater consistency and even greater efforts. We tend to push harder when we have someone next to us and we make less excuses about skipping a workout. Social media makes it easy to connect with a buddy who lives far away, too.
3. Eliminate one unhealthy habit from your diet.
What is one small thing you could cut which could make a big difference? Soda? Sugary lattes? Mindless snacking?
I eliminated soda from my diet last year and that one habit became a domino to eliminate other diet habits I once thought were impossible to abandon.
4. Set a goal for nightly sleep.
When we’re tired, we lose the willpower to eat healthily and consistently exercise. It can make it more difficult to be physically well if you’re not sleeping well.
5. Protect a half-day or full-day each week as a Sabbath to rest and rejuvenate.
The Scripture is clear - those who will not work are lazy, but those who will not rest are disobedient. Perhaps the most broken of the Ten Commandments is to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Jefferson Bethke’s new book, To Hell with the Hustle, offers great places to start with practicing this important habit.
Enter the Conversation
How about you? What are you doing this year to take care of the temple God has entrusted to you? What does it look like for you to honor God with your body? Leave us a comment below!
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer who believes he has the best last name ever. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani and they are the parents of three “little savages.” He is the creator of the Free to Forgive course and you can read more of his writing at scottsavagelive.com.
