Recovering My Whole Person: A Beautiful Body Language

 WHOLE PERSON: A BEAUTIFUL BODY LANGUAGE

As we continue to think about ourselves as God created us – spirit, soul, and body – today we want to think about our body and the things we say and do with our body.

As we’ve been seeking to demonstrate these days, we only change as we recognize that we belong to God and allow both the security of that and the challenge to our self-will to be the focus of our believing and our thinking.

Here are some clear words from the Bible that describe this:

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

This is probably where we see the battle between our old self and our new spiritual self most clearly.  We know the right choice to make, and often we even want to make that choice, but struggle or even fail to carry through.  Does this sound like you sometimes?

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me

Romans 7:15, 22-23

All humans are tempted to choose power, pleasure, possessions, our own way - whatever that looks like in the moment – and temptation is powerful.  But we can have a body that obeys what our heart and mind want.  God will give us everything we need.  Here’s how to put that into action.

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

James 4:7-8, 10

Loving God, it’s a struggle to get our behaviours to line up with what You say.  Help us today to resist the devil and come close to You.  Give us courage to simply choose that we will be loyal to You in all situations.  Help us to ask You to lift us up beyond what we are experiencing in the moment.  Thank You for Your promise:

And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Help us to trust You and surrender to You one moment at a time so we can walk with You all day long today.  Amen

Being transformed so we behave in God’s way every moment of the day is a lifelong process but let’s give it our best effort today and God will bless us as we do.