6 Reasons Why Body Stewardship is Vital in Our World Today

This is part 3 in the Your Body and You series. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

When it comes to body stewardship, two questions are frequently asked:

Why is body stewardship such an important concept to learn about, and why is body stewardship vital in our world today?

Let’s dive right in!

REASON ONE:

Because our health affects every aspect of our lives.

It affects our ability to think, to work, to play, to be happy, and to be productive. It affects our finances and our relationships. It contributes to our quality of life and longevity. Our health is a determinant of how we age, how we are able to live out our latter years, and how we are able to survive and even thrive when disaster strikes.

The healthier we are, the more resilient we are to life’s stresses, be they physical, emotional, mental, environmental, or spiritual. The more robust our immune system is, the better our ability to fend off bacteria, viruses, and parasites and not catch whatever is going around. And being healthy reduces our risk of disorders such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.

Our health directly impacts our wallet. Chronic medical conditions are costly, whether out-of-pocket expenses that are not covered, copays, or the cost of health insurance itself.

Sickness and disease can significantly limit our lives, and can keep us from doing God’s work (incapacitating us financially and physically from actively promoting God’s Kingdom) and from living in divine purpose. It can also destroy our faith and trust in God.

REASON TWO:

Because the majority of health issues we face today are, for the most part, preventable.

When we talk about body stewardship, this covers a very large tapestry. How we think, how we live, how we move, and how we eat are all included, and for the most part, they are all within our personal control. Most chronic diseases are lifestyle-related and can be positively affected by taking personal responsibility and being accountable for our choices and actions. In the case that something happens and we are managing it after the fact, being proactive and making changes in our thought life, movement, sleep, and diet can make the difference between moving forward and out vs. staying stuck. The truth is that we have more control over our health than we think!

REASON THREE:

Because it’s important to God and a tenet of the Christian faith.

God cares greatly about how we steward His temple. As a reminder, when we become saved—when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and invite Him to be not only our Savior but Lord over every part of our lives—we accept and acknowledge Him as our sovereign ruler. Unfortunately, it’s common for someone to hear about “giving their life to Jesus” but far more uncommon to hear about the Lordship of Jesus, what being a disciple of Jesus means (vs. being just a convert), and practical applications for daily living.

While God desires that all come to the saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus, He is not just about the numbers. He is looking for those who will, through faith and actions, model their lives after Jesus and represent His heavenly Kingdom in the earthly realm. This is true discipleship.

A disciple is a student of a teacher. As disciples of Jesus, we are to study and learn from Him and then implement the knowledge in our lives with the help of Holy Spirit. The Bible is full of precepts and principles for health and wellness for us to apply and practice so that we may bear good fruit for the Master.

As disciples, while we are living in the world, we are commanded to not be of the world. Unfortunately, too many people try to straddle the fence and do both. They keep one foot in the world, continuing to live life as it has been and satisfy fleshly desires, and one foot in God’s Kingdom, for the sake of salvation. Unfortunately, this leads to continued sin and compromise, which opens the door for reason #4.

REASON FOUR:

Because it is a prime target for the enemy.

We have an enemy that is hell-bent on destroying us, and he is always looking for and will take advantage of any entry point he can. His modus operandi is to steal, kill, and destroy.

He studies us like a lion stalking its prey and learns our weaknesses.1 Peter 5:8 (CEV) says, “Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack.” While temptations will always be there, it is how we respond that makes a difference.

Temptations are not from God but from the evil one. James 1:13 (AMPL) confirms this: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God” [for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws]; for God cannot be tempted by [what is] evil, and He Himself tempts no one.”

By dictionary definition, a temptation is “the wish to do or have something that you know you should not do or have” or “the desire to do something wrong or unwise.” A temptation is something that is attractive, enticing, alluring, and seductive to our senses and generally comes with some kind of logical reasoning.

Satan is known as the tempter in scripture. Through suggestive reasoning that appeals to our flesh, he tries to get us off track and shift us away from obeying God. He capitalizes on our weaknesses and flaws, calls us to doubt God’s word, and makes sin inviting to us, just like he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden. This leads right into reason #5.

REASON FIVE:

Because it teaches us self-control.

The ability to control our passions, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors is a real challenge that everyone faces. Being impulsive is easy and often leads to trouble. Exercising self-discipline is harder and leads to strength of character and mental positivity. It’s something that must be practiced repeatedly to grow.

Self-control is directly related to reasons 2, 3, and 4 above. When not exercised, it opens the door for spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional attacks and health issues. Temptations will always be there, but it is how we respond that makes a difference.

As we learned, your body is the temple of Holy Spirit. A temple has doors through which things can either come in or go out. Doors offer protection. When doors to our temple are left open through a lack of self-discipline and impulse control, it’s an open invitation for anything to come in, and believe me, it does! Instead, we must learn to selectively regulate what comes in for the protection of the temple so that it is not destroyed from the inside out.

Holy Spirit asked me one day, “Do you know that your will is a muscle?” How does a muscle grow in strength and size? By repeatedly pushing against resistance. Self-control takes willpower, and as we exercise it, pushing back against our fleshly desires, it will grow in strength.

Another time, when I was facing an anxiety-producing situation and was about to cave in, He encouraged me, “Don’t react to the stimulus of the moment.” Once we’ve given in, the stimulus—whatever it is—rules. We’ve lost: we are no longer in control but are subject to the stimulus.

Once that happens, and the enemy—which may be ourselves—comes in like a flood, it takes so much more effort to kick it out of the house. It’s like a squatter—once in, it doesn’t want to leave. One time when this happened to me, the Lord gently said, “It’s easier to keep the door shut in the first place. You have control over who you open the door to and not. Just because there is a knock on the door doesn’t mean you have to open it.”

REASON SIX:

Because it is an act of worship to the Creator of all: Jehovah Elohim.

The battle for faith is all about who we are going to worship, obey, believe, follow after, and actively promote on a daily basis. Let’s do a little history review to support this.

In the beginning of time, satan was the main worship angel in heaven, leading the heavenly hosts in worship of Father God. He was so talented that he became full of pride and arrogance, thinking that he was above God.

He began to see himself as ruler, sitting on his own throne and having everyone bow down and worship him instead of God. Because of this, God banished him from heaven and cast him down to earth, where he established his own kingdom.

The battle for our worship is real. There are two kingdoms at odds with each other, and we cannot serve both. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters: either we will love the one and hate the other, or vice versa.

He also makes this clear in Matthew 12:30 (NLT): “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” The Message Translation puts it even more telling: “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy.”

The decision to choose whom we will worship, obey, and bow down to starts at the time of conversion. That decision is tested over and over again throughout our lives for its truthfulness and sincerity. Two of the differences between God and satan when it comes to worship are methodology and motive.

God considers the will of man holy. As Creator, He made all of us with free will because He is all about freedom of choice. He doesn’t force anyone by any means to love Him, as coerced love is not genuine and will not produce lasting fruit.

On the other hand, satan doesn’t care about honor, integrity, love, or trust. He demands to be worshipped and uses deceitful, manipulative, cunning, coercive, and subversive tactics. He is only about himself: self-serving, self-elevation, and self-glorification.

God is the one who made us, who fashioned and knitted us together, and so He alone is deserving of our worship and praise. As our Creator, we honor and glorify Him through how we steward our bodies, and God accepts it as an act of worship.

Romans 12:1 (AMPC) tells us, “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.”

Conclusion

In closing, God cares greatly about our bodies and how we steward them. Our good health is of high importance to Him and is vital to our success, prosperity, and survival as Christians in this world.

It is so important that if we look at Jesus’ earthly ministry, we see that He spent a significant amount of time healing people. The greatest attestation, however, is Calvary. Our ability to walk in divine health is so important to God that He laid every sickness, disease, and infirmity on Jesus as He hung on the cross. Jesus bore it all so that we don’t have to! By stewarding our bodies in accordance with God’s way, we are honoring Him for what He did, showing Him how we value that, and working with what He has given us to continue to produce Godly fruit.

If you are interested in Biblical health coaching, contact me for a free discovery session! You can learn more about me here.