Devotional:

Loving God with your strength means loving God with your whole physical body. From the hairs on your head to the toenails on your feet, your body is not yours alone to do with it what you please. God made these vessels for a reason: for His glory alone. Not for Fakebook (that’s not a typo) or Instagram, not for TikTok, not for your girlfriend or boyfriend. Not for anyone else. Not to use as a temporary feel-good by going in the closet and eating Cheetos either. Have I struck a nerve yet? Good, me too. I think I’m talking to all of us. Because at some point in our lives, we’ve in some way been in each of those camps. I know I have.  

Back when Joby and I were obsessed with food, working out, and winning competitions, it was all I thought about. I ate, slept and breathed competition training. I still have so many journals with every detail of every bite and supplement and measurement I took. And I was miserable! But it became an obsession to us. Mainly Joby, to be honest. And he’d tell you the same thing. And to actually see him once in a while and spend time with him, I had to join in on the action. Going to the gym was date night. For me, it was the “if you can’t beat them, join them” scenario. It was not something he would ever give up. So, I had to join.

It took me getting pregnant with JP to realize I had to make a change to keep the two of us healthy. But what did I do? I stopped all the healthy things, cold turkey. I became obsessed in the complete opposite direction. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It was the first time in my life I felt free of the body and food burden. But gaining 70 pounds in your first pregnancy is never healthy unless it’s triplets, and then I still think it’s not ok. But I did just that. Seventy pounds with all the judgmental faces from those nurses in the office. Oh well. I had fun.

But even between our competitions, I would swing too far the other way. After a competition, I binged all the things I couldn’t have during those 6 months of training. My body was so shocked and confused that it just blew up like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Literally! I felt like a clump of dough because I could press on my leg, or my arm, or my stomach, you name it…and the dent would just stay there. Yikes! That’s called pitting edema, folks. You want to know what the list of causes of pitting edema is? Blood clots, severe lung disease, congestive heart failure, liver disease, kidney failure…it’s not a good thing.

I say all that to say this: How we treat our bodies, love or hate, says a lot about how we treat our relationship with the Lord. We tend to live in one of these two camps: you neglect your body to the point of causing major medical issues that need serious attention camp or you place way too much emphasis on your body and the way you look camp.

“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own 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 6:13-20

If we are loving God with all, shouldn’t we do the same with our bodies? And why is it a big deal? He made us in His image. He could’ve made us all birds or rabbits or chickens. But how would the good news of the gospel go out to the world if that were the case?

God didn’t just randomly put us in this body and say, “have at it.” He did it on purpose. He made us in His image so that He could use us. Nothing else was made in His image. Not even the angels. Just you and me. Yet, He gave up his earthly body on the cross so that we could live for eternity with Him. So, what are we going to do with it?

“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

These verses are engrained into our daughter’s heart and soul. She has been praying this and we have been praying this over her every night since she was a baby. She prays it all by herself now. We have always prayed that this will always be part of her thoughts, daily. Because this world tells her the opposite. The world says she isn’t pretty enough, she isn’t smart enough, she isn’t accepted and doesn’t belong.

Psalm 139 needs to be louder than the lies of this world. God makes no accidents. From womb to tomb, God’s works are wonderful! He makes no mistakes. God knows every part of us intimately. Body, mind, and soul, He knows it all. There is nothing hidden from Him.

Spend time in prayer today answering some hard questions:

• Are you glorifying God with your body or are you using your body to glorify you? It can’t be both.
• Are you mistreating your body and dishonoring God with how you treat the temple of Christ?
• Are you in a physical relationship outside of marriage that is dishonoring the temple of Christ?
• Do you spend more time on your body than on your personal relationship with Jesus?
• Are you neglecting your health, pouring harmful things into it or ignoring a serious condition that could destroy God’s vessel?

Be careful. It is so easy to swing from one extreme to another with the best of intentions. But God wants your heart, soul, mind and strength. All of it. Yes, taking care of your body is important. We’ve talked about that. But has that thing that started out for good become another obstacle keeping you from having Jesus first in your life? Or is it the one part of heart, soul, mind and strength that you don’t really think is important?

What is one thing you can do, either taking away or adding to your daily routine, that will be a step toward loving God with all your strength? Maybe a 30 minute walk with Jesus every day? Or maybe one less Instagram or TikTok of yourself in that cute outfit or fake, filtered pucker lips? (Sorry, I just had to say that.) Or one less drink of alcohol, one less cigarette, one less donut. Maybe you don’t beat yourself up about missing a two-hour gym session once a week.

If we were to truly believe that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that His works are wonderful, we must love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! If we don’t take care of the vessel He has given us, our heart, soul, and mind will soon become sick as well. Whether we are neglecting our bodies or idolizing them, we are not loving God with all our strength.

God desires a strong body for Him alone. How we choose to honor Him with our lives is a big deal. A sin against the body, whether it is mistreatment or idolization, is a sin against the temple of Christ. Therefore, honor Him with your bodies.

Lord, I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. Help me to know that full well! Help me to treat myself the way that You do. Help me to see myself the way You do. Expose the areas in my life keeping me from a closer relationship with You. Give me the courage to stop any harmful things I’ve been doing to my body that is dishonoring to You. And keep me from falling into the lies the world tries to tell me. Let my body be a vessel for You and only You. Amen.