Resetting Our Physical Health

“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.” (3 John 2, ESV)

“for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:20, ESV)

A Brief Theology of The Body

See: Martin, Albert N.; Murray, David. Glorifying God in Your Body: Whose Is It - Yours or His? Trinity Pulpit Press.

• A Good Body - By creating man in his image, God gave man a body and soul existence, thereby conferring worth, dignity, and permanence to our bodily existence.  
• A Fallen Body - As a result of the fall, physical abnormalities and liabilities, degenerative diseases, various illnesses and death itself, are woven into the fabric of all human existence and will remain with us until the return of Christ and the redemption of the body.
• A Subordinate Body - Our concern for and care of our bodies must always be subservient to the greater concern of our souls and the advancement of the kingdom of God.
• A Healthy Body - A long and healthy life is to be desired and responsibly sought when it is desired and sought for the sake of greater fruitfulness for God.
• An Afflicted Body - Poor health, chronic physical ailments, and premature death may be the result of an unexplained and mysterious exercise of the absolute sovereignty of God.
• A Chastened Body - Poor health, chronic physical ailments, and premature death may be the result of a divine chastisement for sin, a divine preventive of sin, or a God-ordained instrument of sanctification.
• A Misused Body - Poor health, chronic physical ailments, and premature death, along with all their negative consequences, may be the result of willful ignorance, calloused indifference, sinful carelessness, or grievous defeat with respect to exercising a godly stewardship in the care of one’s body.

Resetting Your Physical Health

1. Develop A Healthy Attitude Toward Your Body

Unhealthy Attitudes:

• Reject your body
• Perfect your body
• Neglect your body

Healthy Attitudes:

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:14, ESV)  

• Respect your body  
• Protect your body

2. Motivate Yourself To Change

Physical Reasons: I’ll feel better, look better, and live longer.

Spiritual Reasons:

• God Made my body  
  “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:13–16, ESV)
• Jesus Paid for my body
  “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.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, ESV)
• The Holy Spirit Lives in my body
  “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16, ESV)
• I Serve and Honor God through my body
  “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1, ESV)
  “Jesus called us to love God with our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Just as his words disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed, they call the overactive to stillness and activate the overly still. They restore the soul to those who overemphasize the body, and redeem the body for those who focus only on the soul.” Carolyn Arends

3. Follow God’s Instructions For Health

• Seek Wise Counsel
  “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22, ESV)
• Maintain A Healthy Weight
  “that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,” (1 Thessalonians 4:4, ESV) • Balance Your Diet
  ““All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other.” (1 Corinthians 6:12–13, ESV)
• Engage In Physical Exercise
  “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8, ESV)
• Get Enough Sleep and Rest
  “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:2, ESV)
• Avoid Harmful Behaviors
  “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7–8, ESV)
  “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27, ESV)
• Live In Harmony With God
  “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.” (Proverbs 14:30, ESV)
  “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20–21, ESV)
  "The reason I want to get in shape then, the reason I long for God’s church to get in shape, is not to impress anyone, not to make others feel inferior, not to demonstrate our own personal discipline and self-control. God forbid! On the contrary, it is to become, as Paul writes, “instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” Gary Thomas

The Bookends of the Christian Life:  

1. The Righteousness of Christ
2. The Power of the Holy Spirit

Making It Personal:

• How have you responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Have you personally turned from your sin, trusted in Christ’s provision through the cross, and surrendered your life to His rule and reign?
• Prayerfully review the material above regarding resetting your physical health. What is the Holy Spirit impressing upon you as you review and reflect?
• What specific tangible steps can you take to begin to reset your physical health by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit?
• Who can you share these truths with?

Ready to take your Next Step?

• Text Next to 803-637-8484
• Go to FBCFM.COM and click “Next Steps”