Why Taking Care Of Your Body Is The Christian Thing To Do

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.
Psalm 139:13-14 ESV

This human body we have is part of God’s powerful design set apart from the rest of creation because he made us in his image with a mind and a soul. We were created in his likeness and created to do good. Even in a fallen world our bodies still have great value. We bear the likeness of our heavenly Father. Definitely something we don’t think too often about. We might be told we look a lot like our Dad or our Mom but what about the One who fashioned us all?

Our bodies have value even despite the faults, disease, deformity or blemish. In a broken world our bodies are also broken, but they still retain their value because God made each and everyone of us intricately. No person is a mistake.

The human body does so much work every day to stay alive, fight off disease, and to help us create, think, breathe, move, etc. All the functions of the body can even be broken down to the molecular level where all the chemical reactions happen that are necessary for us to live and function. Our body is continuously working, replacing old cells with the new, breaking down all the food we ingest and allocating all those resources to their appropriate places. It’s really a work of genius and living art. People can make amazing life-like sculptures and paintings but can any of those artists bring their works to living breathing self-sustaining life?

In high school I took an anatomy class and loved learning all the different muscles and bones in the human body. That class was one way God lead me to my career as an x-ray tech. I definitely can get really overly excited (and really nerdy) about some of the x-rays I get to see and take. I get to see God’s handywork every day. The human skeletal system is a work of art. The way the thumb is turned slightly inward to help create grip. The way 3 completely different shaped bones come together to form an amazingly strong hinge joint that we call the ankle. The human body is complex and so intricate and purposeful in how it operates we can forget what a valuable thing it is to have!

It’s so easy to focus on what all our body can’t seem to do right, but our body is still such an immensely valuable and beautiful tool. So try to focus on what your body is doing right and all that it is capable of. See the ways in which you can be grateful for how your body helps you get your work done, how it helps you to do the things you love and enjoy, how it’s able to process and remember what’s happening around you.

Our body is a precious thing and is also such a fragile thing. After 3 weeks with only water and no food we die. Three days without food or water our organs begin to shut down. Within 2 minutes of being without oxygen we lose consciousness. Without oxygen for 4 minutes the tissue in our brain begins to die (with deep diving training it can be extended to 7 minutes, still not a very long time).

Our body also pays the price for our bad habits. If we smoke enough cigarettes or vape often enough our lungs will adapt to work harder and harder to supply us with enough oxygen, but they will eventually give out. If we drink enough alcohol day after day our liver will continue to process it and process it until one day it can’t anymore. If our eating habits get too out of control the strain on our body will be enough to crush it. A diet high in cholesterol will lead to that same cholesterol accumulating slowly over time until it blocks a major vessel in the heart that causes the heart to stop completely. Our body is really a token to be spent. It has a limit. A time limit as well as a physical limit. Time we can’t control, but the physical we can control to some extent.

Our body is something that needs to be cared for and looked after and who better to do that than the one inhabiting it? It’s interesting to bring this up as a Christian topic. After all, what pastor preaches on health on Sunday morning? I wish they did (odds are some out there do). Who would want us take to take better care of ourselves more than our heavenly Father who made for us this body? He wants us to steward all that he gives us well (our finances, our family, our church, our relationships, our responsibilities) and that also includes this body.

This body needs good quality food, good hygiene, regular movement (exercise), clean water (+electrolytes), regular sleep, sunlight (vitamin D), the list goes on… That’s not including what our mental health needs which is healthy relationships with other people, social interaction, healthy boundaries, enriching activities and some form of work.

We are also not alone in taking care of ourselves. Our heavenly Father also knows what we need. We use this body for everything. It rests and resets while we sleep. Our body gets us moving to where we need to go. Our body helps us communicate with the people around us. It helps us to accomplish what God has set out for us to do. It’s an amazing gift and tool.

Not everyone is able to get out of bed in the morning. Not everyone has all their appendages. Not everyone is able to communicate with others this is true, but we who are able can help those who are unable and thank God that we are able to do these things.

As a healthcare worker when people lose their hands and fingers in accidents I become their hands helping them in the ER. For those whose legs don’t work so well I am their legs helping them to and from their wheelchair. In my field I am well acquainted with how fragile the human body is and how important mine is in helping others. Healthcare is about caring for people by caring for their body.

So by taking care of this body that I have I can greatly help others. If we throw away what we need to be healthy our body does pay the full price in the end. We have so many resources at our fingertips to educate ourselves on how to take better care of this fragile yet wonderfully made human body.

This body is a gift despite any flaws it may have. A gift from God for the good of us as well as others. Let’s do what we can and use what we resources we have to continue in this race to continue onward to make it to the end.

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit who lives within you, whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 AMPC