An attitude check for your body
Spend some time with these physical and spiritual reasons for respecting and protecting your body.
by Rick Warren

The first step in developing physical health is to develop a healthy attitude toward your body. Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." (NKJV) If you think healthy thoughts, you're going to move toward being a healthy person. But the truth is, most of us fall into unhealthy patterns of thinking about our body. What about you? What is your attitude toward your body?

Do you often look in the mirror and think, "Send it back! It's a mistake! God, you goofed!"? Or do you often make negative comments or jokes about your body? If so, you're probably rejecting your body.

Or you might fall into the opposite extreme of perfecting your body, constantly striving to be a perfect "10." Like the stereotypical body builders and models, you idolize your body.

If you're like many Americans, though, you simply neglect your body, ignoring your health. As a result, you probably find yourself dragging through life tired most of the time.

None of these options - rejecting, perfecting, or neglecting our bodies - leads to health. Instead, we should respect and protect our bodies. This begins with being motivated to change, for both physical and spiritual reasons.

The physical reasons for respecting and protecting our bodies mostly are common sense, yet most of us often ignore them.

First, you'll feel better. If you take care of your body, you'll have more energy and fewer pains. You'll be more alert and less depressed.

You'll look better. A lot of us men get furniture problems: Our chest drops into our drawers. But by taking care of your body, you'll be more attractive, leading to stronger self-confidence.

You'll also live longer. Countless studies show that people who take good care of their bodies have longer lives.

If these physical reasons aren't enough to motivate you, the spiritual reasons are hard to ignore.

God made your body. A passage from Psalm 139 shows a wonderful attitude of respect toward the Creator of our bodies: "You knit me together in my mother's womb. . I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (NIV) Because God made your body, you ought to take care of it.

Jesus paid for your body. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, he paid for you - for your soul and for your body. So, in a sense, your body is on loan; therefore, physical fitness is a stewardship issue. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, ". You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (NIV)

The Holy Spirit lives in your body. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, the Bible tells us, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" (NIV) If God made my body and Jesus died for my body and the Holy Spirit lives in my body, then I better do the best I can to make it a worthy temple, a place where God - not my body - is worshiped.

If you've had an unhealthy attitude toward your body, spend some time with these physical and spiritual reasons for respecting and protecting your body. Before long, you'll likely see your attitudes changing and you'll begin your own journey toward a fit, energetic, God-honoring life.