God's Love / #2 - This Body's a Loaner!

1 Corinthians 6:
19) Do you not know that your body is a temple
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 body.

Grasping the concept that my body does not belong to me, but to God and that I am to honor God with it has not been a concept that I have easily accepted and put into practice. I always like to think that I did, but really didn’t.

I have struggled, most of my life, with things that have deeply affected my physical body. I have battled with being overweight for the majority of my life. I have struggled with depression, low self-esteem and other demons which have tried to take over and control who I was, who I am and who I become!

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity,
but a spirit of power, of love
and of self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7

I am, at times, timid – intimidated by others. I have God-given strength, but many times did not feel strong. My strength is something that I have truly learned about this past year through counseling. My counselor, Julie, is a true follower of God and 2 Tim. 1:7 is a verse that she would quote in most of our sessions. Julie helped me to see that I have had that strength and, in fact, used it in situations during my life when it was desperately needed.

Self-Discipline – yeah, that’s the one I struggle with the most. Sometimes it’s easy to see that lack of self-discipline in others before we see it in ourselves and I know that’s true for me. When a person is a “falling-down” drunk, a dead-beat dad (or mom), a child-abuser, a drug-addict – it’s easy to label that person as weak and lacking self-discipline. When a person is an over-eater, a non-exerciser, a junk food junkie, nicotine/caffeine addict, prescription drug addict – those “flaws” don’t seem to be judged too harshly. Why do you think that is?

The man who says, "I know him,"
but does not do what he commands
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
I John 2:4

It seems that some “sins” have become acceptable – easy to overlook. I think that’s where we have truly failed God and neglected our reason for being on this earth.

He said to them, "Go into all the world and
preach the good news to all creation.
Mark 16:15

Psalm 69:
5 You know my folly, O God;
my guilt is not hidden from you.
6 May those who hope in you
not be disgraced because of me,
O Lord, the LORD Almighty;
may those who seek you
not be put to shame because of me,
O God of Israel.

I would never want to bring disgrace to our Lord! One of my goals - as I study more of God’s Word and understanding more of His Love and strive to become the woman God made me to be – is to treat and care for my body as if it belonged to God, because it does!

My Bible is precious to me and I take very good care of it, putting it on the same shelf each and every time I finish a study, take it out to read or pray and when I come home from church! Shouldn’t my body be as precious?! God made me with a spirit of strength and self-discipline and my focus is to put those characteristics into action – every moment of every day. My decisions on what to eat, when to exercise, what to wear (I'll be writing more on this later) – will be based on what is best for this body I have on loan. I intend to begin caring for myself as I would care for anything else that I had borrowed to be used for a period of time.

Romans 6:
11) In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin
but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body
so that you obey its evil desires.
13) Do not offer the parts of your body to sin,
as instruments of wickedness,
but rather offer yourselves to God,
as those who have been brought from death to life;
and offer the parts of your body to him
as instruments of righteousness.

It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect. Psalm 18:32

I’m so excited to begin to live more closely to God’s plan for me. I’m excited to see how He works in my life as I draw closer to Him - through study, prayer, and submission to His will! I’m so thankful for His love and His mercy and will draw on the wonderful strength He has given me as I continue on this journey.

In His Love and Blessings
annb