Physical Health

Our church is going through Rick Warren’s Transformed campaign, and this week we are studying physical health. It’s interesting to reflect on physical health not as some fitness regimen, but as a spiritual discipline.

If I had to make a list of what the world tells me about my body, it would look something like this: my body belongs to me. It exists to serve me: I can push it as much as I need to get what I want done. Its appetites are meant to be filled as much as I want, for the purpose of giving myself as much pleasure as I want. It exists to make me appear good so I have value before others. Aging and sickness are to be feared and dreaded. In short, the purpose of my body is self-worship in the pursuit of image, youth, pleasure, and self-achievement.

If I had to make a list of what God tells me about my body, it would look something like this: my body belongs to God (1 Cor 6:15, 19-20). It is a temple (2 Cor 6:19) and therefore its primary purpose is to allow me to worship God. I should not be dominated by any one appetite (1 Cor 6:12). Aging and sickness are not the end as one day our bodies will be restored in glory (Phil 3:21). In short, the purpose of my body is to worship God (Ro 12:1).

What does it look like to worship God with my body? I prioritize health so I have full energy to do what God wants me to do. I attentively care for my body as I would steward anything else God has given me. I do not idolize my appearance, but see that God values not the outward man but the heart. I see God’s character, image and glory in the many good things my body can enjoy. I identify with Christ when bodily suffering occurs for a moment or period of time.

I think the point is not physical abnegation or excess for our own purposes, but pursuing God in our bodies, which is quite a counter-cultural paradigm shift. And I think as we get older, whether we live out the world’s or God’s beliefs about our body becomes more obvious. As a mid-thirty-something just starting to feel my body aging, I look ahead to folks 20-30 years ahead of me and think about those who have aged well, who are fit with energy to serve God, who attract me to God because of their physical testimony. I want to be like one of those people. I want to be even better now at honoring God in my body than I ever was in my life, and I want to pass on that mindset and lifestyle habits to my children.