The Spiritual Discipline Too Many Christians Neglect
When we fail to consider the treatment of our bodies as a spiritual discipline, we fail to honor God with our whole selves.
By Karla S. Hardin, MS LPC-S, SEP
As a committed Christian in college, I remember many conversations with my zealous friends as we bragged about not eating or sleeping for the sake of spreading the Gospel. Later on, there would be jokes about justifying the junk food indulgences with thoughts like we are getting a new bodies in heaven..
Wow, were we off...
Our shallow theology justified a lot of negligent behavior.
As I honestly look at my life and many close to me, I think there are a couple undercurrents that fuel irresponsibility of our bodies. But before looking at those I want to zoom out and look at our lives holistically as believers.
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Luke2:52
Luke 2:52 sets the stage for a Christ follower to see all the components of his life that fall under his responsibility to steward throughout our time on earth. In the Greek language we see Jesus was in a continual process of increasing in every area of his life; emotionally, physically, spiritually, and relationally.
All of these areas fall within our responsibility to actively cultivate as part of our call to be God-honoring. If we neglect any of these areas, we will see the natural consequences that rob us of living our best life as God designed for His children. It also blocks our becoming more like Him here on earth. To think more on all four dimensions of your life read my blog: How to Shift Perspectives: Surviving to Thriving.
Today, I want to focus on the physical area of our lives as one we can easily disregard its importance in being a faithful believer. We tend to demand a lot of our bodies and get frustrated when it fails us.
But as you know – when the body is not working properly – everything can come to an abrupt halt. Sadly, this is when most of us realize we must give it needed attention.
Treatment of Our Bodies: A Spiritual Discipline
What I want to propose it that our bodies should be attended to as a spiritual discipline.
When we think of our spiritual disciplines of prayer, bible reading, fellowship etc., we know that we do these things with thoughtful respect and serious contemplation as it is a direct way we honor God in our daily lives.
But when it comes to exercise, sleep, eating nutritious foods and avoiding harmful things for our bodies, we don’t think twice of letting those things slide. We don’t directly correlate being diligent with our health as a clear means of honoring God in our every day.
I find there are 5 undercurrents as to why we ignore our stewardship of our bodies.
WHICH IS YOURS?
1. We operate by the “squeaky wheel” mentality.
This says, I spend my time and energy on the immediate demands of the day. We don’t put it in the spiritual discipline category of prayer, bible reading and things that we do daily. Rather we only look at it after all the immediate demands of work, relationships and serving others are met.
2. We don’t make self-care a priority.
As a result, we are exhausted most days and simply don’t have the energy or mental space to invest in our bodies.
3. We indulge to feel better.
We secretly justify to ourselves eating sugar, drinking alcohol, and doing things in excess as “acceptable outlets” of self-indulging for Christians. “Cause, hey.. we aren’t cheating on our partner, watching porn, or gambling all our money away...”
4. Information overload.
We are bombarded with so many areas we need to be improving in regard to our health, we get overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.
5. We do not build our lives around the belief that it’s that important.
We can just be slothful in this area – and avoidant of the character development that is needed to improve this area.
What does care of the Body involve?
The body has 11 organ systems. Each of these systems have a primary organ which is composed of tissues which are made up of cells. So healthy bodies have healthy systems, organs, tissues, and cells.
So, at a cellular level – each cell needs:
Nutrition/Water
Elimination
Exercise
Rest
Oxygen
Follow this TIP to begin better caring for your body: Start to see caring for your body as a “discipline”.
Each day, incorporate a spiritual discipline of honoring your body as the temple of God.
19 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; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
SIMPLE WAYS TO GIVE YOUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS
Nutrition/Water:
Increase water intake a cup/day until you reach 8 cups
Eat more veggies than meat on your plate
Eat colorfully – aim at 5 colors on your plate
Eat fruit instead of processed sugar
If you must eat out – replace burgers with salads
Educate yourself: Follow health professionals such as
https://nutritionfacts.org/ (has short videos, and alphabetical topics
ELIMINATE:
Elimination is all about getting toxins out of our bodies – as toxins left in cause disease. So, there are two strategies:
Eliminate as many toxins as you can before they get in your body
Eliminate them daily so they don’t stay in the body!
Ways to Eliminate before they get in:
Avoid all chemicals, preservatives, artificial anything. Read labels – if you can’t pronounce it is not good for your body. (Because your body is organic – chemicals are not)
Eliminate chemical based products that you use on your skin. Such as lotions, deodorants, perfumes, etc.
** Follow: Dirty Dozen List https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php
Eliminate foods that cause inflammation which creates environment for disease. Gluten products, dairy, sugar, peanuts, corn, refined foods such as rice, pasta, cereals and oils such as corn, canola, safflower, etc.
Ways to eliminate toxins from the body:
Fiber. Both from fresh or raw veggies or fruits. And whole grains such as oats, spelt, psyllium,
Drink plain filtered water – 8 glasses!
Drink 4 oz warm lemon water (made with filtered water & fresh organic lemons) 3 days a week
EXERCISE:
The secret of exercise is 2 things
Start small: 10-15 min. a day, 2-3 days a week
Do something you enjoy to move your body
never underestimate the power of walking
REST:
Sleep is critical to heal your body – so be committed to finding a solution if you struggle.
Stop screen time at least 30 min. before bed and don;t allow it until 30 min after waking up
Do tapping algorithms for anxious thinking & sleeplessnes
OXYGEN:
Most of us breathe shallow breaths which is not ideal for the health of the cell but is often associated with stress and being in overdrive.
Learning to consciously breathe in deeper, fuller and longer breaths not only improves health, but also helps calm our minds.
HONORING YOUR BODY IS HONORING GOD. –START TODAY!
Karla Hardin is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Workshop Developer, Facilitator, and Trauma Specialist for Hardin Life Resources
Click below to SHARE with a friend or Subscribe for more tips: