Your Body is a Temple – Not a Billboard

There’s a lot of attention given to a fitness these days. The media barrages us with messages promising us a youthful image and attitude through continual exercise. Fashion Designers back up this message by promoting clothing which exposes one’s body in, often times, very inappropriate ways. Sadly, the era of dressing with respect for one’s body (in some instances) seems to have gone by the wayside. Celebrities, tend to feed into this mentality (“everyday people” can be guilty of it as well – I myself have). Celebrities, however, seem to compete with one another to see who can expose the most skin. Not all celebrities do this, I don’t want to imply that, but this is what we tend to see at awards shows.

The Bible has a lot of say regarding physical appearance. We are told about the precious substance of our bodies; we have been formed by God with both love and precision:

Psalm 139:13-16 KJV

¹³ For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

¹⁵ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶ Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

We are also told that our bodies are not our own, but have been given to us by God. We need to honor that gift by performing godly acts and by maintaining a right spirit:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV

¹⁹ What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

²⁰ For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

So, head off the gym with this in mind…there is nothing wrong in pursuing a healthy body. It is only when we seek attention, or put body over soul that becomes ungodly. Reading our Bibles and Prayer should be a priorities over physical fitness. The condition of our souls is what we will be judged for when Christ returns, not the state of our bodies.

-Melanie DiLeo