Hot, sweaty, tired...

“…your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit

…honor God with your bodies.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ncv

I laced up my hiking boots and walked.

I stepped on the scales.

I wrapped a tape measure around me.

I signed onto my Live Strong account, and Monday through Sunday, I recorded everything I ate (well, I slipped on Friday) but logged 12.5 miles of walking. 

I took my first focused steps toward getting my life back into of proper order. Step one: the care of my body.

Like many people, I have a lifetime battle with weight issues. By the grace of God alone, they have not become a life-threatening health issue…and I’d like to keep it that way.

Ten years, I lost 50 lbs—the greatest success of my weight-challenged life. I kept it off for five years, and then slowly but surely the pounds came back. The key to the success was simply paying attention to it, being conscience of it, making it a priority of my life. Obviously, I lost the key. And, so, here I am again.

During that weight loss I dealt with some childhood issues and came to realize the true meaning of my body being a temple of the Holy Spirit.

As a child, someone very important in my life made a comment which became negative in my head. They did not mean it to be disapproving, but that’s what stuck. They said something about the shape of my body not being hour-glass like theirs. Those words translated into my head as “your body is imperfect and unacceptable.”

Then years ago, as the weight came off, God undid those words. He said, “I chose for you to have green eyes, dishwater blonde hair, long fingers…and a pear-shaped body. I took delight in sculpturing your face and the shape of your body. I knew you would need strong legs to roller skate and hike and backpack and take long walks. I gave you long fingers to dance across keyboards to play music and to write. It was all part of my plan for you to serve Me with your whole being. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, formed by My hands in your mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

When I heard His words I sobbed until my heart ached with tears of joy and of guilt.

For years I complained about my shape. For years I sabotaged my body as I tried to make it conform to those childhood words.

I wept some more as a picture came to mind. I saw splattered paint, demolished pews, and stained glass scattered on the floor of the beautiful little church where I first heard of Jesus. It was a picture of me destroying the temple of the Holy Spirit.

For the past five years I have again fallen short on the upkeep of this fearfully and wonderfully crafted body God created to house His Holy Spirit. This time it wasn’t due to a childhood voice in my head but rather my own neglect.

(Father, forgive me…cleanse me…renew a right spirit within me...again)

A life out-of-control isn’t what God desires. An undisciplined life is vulnerable to the lion roaring about looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Thank you to those who prayed for me as I took these first steps to set my life back in proper order. Let me know how I may pray for your journey.

Step Two: Setting my house in order…and all material provisions. (Philippians 4:19)