Thursday, August 16, 2018

Caring for our temples


Caring for our Temples

This week the Holy Spirit placed on my mind the verse “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.” (1Cor.6:19, NIV)  As I reflected on this verse I have to first of all, determine what is a temple?  In my thinking, it is a holy place, a sacred place, a place of worship and adoration.
            Wow!  That makes me stop and really think—a holy place, a sacred place.  How does one take care of a holy place?  Certainly with reverence, maintaining it well.
            I need, to tenderly, lovingly care for my body, a holy place.
            Then, I realized I had to determine how to do that.  I think the answer is found in the mantra we’ve heard for years:  rest (7 to 8 hours of sleep a night), exercise (250 minutes a week), and eat a healthy diet is a partial answer to the question
            That last one is where we Americans can so easily get tripped up.  Watch TV for two hours in the evening and record how many food ads you see about unhealthy foods (i.e., junk food).  Open a Good Housekeeping magazine or a Woman’s Day magazine and count the food ads for unhealthy foods.  We’re bombarded with “Buy this; no, buy this.”
            When we enter the middle aisles of a supermarket, the potato chips, Oreos, chocolate chip cookies or Twinkies almost jump off the shelves into our carts.  We justify buying them with, “Well, Bill or Bonnie (spouse) likes chips,” or “The kids love Oreos.” 
            The question is this:  Does Bill or Bonnie or the kids need the junk food any more than we do?  Of course not, for their bodies are “temples of the Holy Spirit” also.  Since we are all members of the Body of Christ it’s up to all of us to care for and about ourselves and each other.  We need to tenderly, lovingly care for our temple and help others care for theirs.

                                                                                                            Sharon Witty
                                                                                                            August 16, 2018

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