Glorify God In Your Body

"My dear friends, since we have these promises, let's cleanse ourselves from anything that contaminates our body or spirit so that we make our holiness complete in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1, CEB).
"For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. 4:4-5, NASB).

Our bodies are not our own as believers but have been purchased by Christ and we are His--He owns us!  (cf. 1 Cor. 6:20).  We must glorify God bodily as living sacrifices and offer ourselves up to Him daily; God doesn't call us to martyrdom, but to live for Christ as witnesses.  Glorifying God in our body doesn't mean we exalt it nor worship it, but that we show all due respect and not neglect or demean it.  We show no respect when we don't watch our diets and eat virtually anything, including thriving on comfort foods or fast food when we know they are not good for us and have access to good food.

I'm not addressing attitudes toward the opposite sexual persuasion, but toward our own body--remember, no man hates his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, according to Scripture though.  There is profit in exercise for this life (cf. 1 Tim. 4:8), but we must not overemphasize it and forget the more important exercise of the spirit in godly matters such as prayer, witnessing, and Bible reading--spiritual exercise.  The person with the best body doesn't win!

We all have a cross to bear and different responsibilities and we cannot and must not compare ourselves with others (cf. 2 Cor. 10:12)--we will be judged individually and held accountable for what God allotted us (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10,12).  One way to show respect for the body is to keep it clean, especially when in public or in the company of others.  Cleanliness is still a biblical principle, and though it was a ritual according to the Law, and Jesus wasn't serious about washing His hands, which offended the Pharisees, we show respect for others by bathing and not being unnecessarily offensive, thus creating stumbling blocks to our testimony.  We aim to offend no one!  Christ is offensive to some but that doesn't mean we are to be.

Being a good Christian doesn't mean we necessarily are spiritually measured by our weight as if we can't be a spiritual or good believer if we are overweight, but Christians shouldn't be addicted to food nor have food disorders such as binge eating.  Some people's sins are more visible, while those of others are not that apparent.  But we can be sure our sin will find us out (cf. Num. 32:23).  We are to reject no food on religious grounds that it's contaminated or unclean, for God has cleansed all food--all food is blessed or consecrated "by the Word of God and prayer" (cf. 1 Tim. 4:5).  But that doesn't give us free rein to eat foolishly on junk food with a devil-may-care attitude.  Gluttony is a real sin and was considered one of the so-called Seven Deadly Sins.

Then again, spiritual discipline and care far outweigh the physical, but we must never forget the offering of our bodies to Christ and realizing they belong to Him as our reasonable service and worship (cf. Romans 12:1). We are mere stewards of our bodies, on loan from God, and respecting them and treating them with dignity goes along with being pro-life in general.  Note that in Christ's servile act of foot-washing of his disciples, He showed that cleanliness is not merely physical, though we are "clean" physically if we have bathed--grooming and hygiene are equally of concern.  Christ also chided the Pharisees for declaring that nothing that enters the mouth defiles him, but only what comes out! Food isn't unclean nor evil of itself (cf. 1 Tim. 4:3).  Glorifying God in your body entails much more than respect for the body per se, but using it in good works, like lending a helping hand, having heart, sharing your strength and talents to help the weaker brother, walking the extra mile, putting your best foot forward, hearing, seeing, and speaking no evil, and so forth.

Also, it's a no-brainer that respected bodies entail clean clothes (cf. Zech 3:3-4), for there is much truth in the proverb:  "Cleanliness is next to godliness."  Ben Franklin had some noteworthy words of wisdom:  Dress to please others [especially pleasing to Christ if you're saved]; eat to please yourself [with self-control, a fruit of the Spirit]; and speak to please God [Paul strove to be offensive to no one--Acts 24:16!].  In the final analysis, Scripture lists one sin specifically against the body, namely, sexual immorality or adultery (adultery means impurity, uncleanness, making weak, mixing impurities with, or corruption by the way).

Paul bore in his body the marks of Jesus and it goes without saying that suffering in the body brings glory to God, as we bear our cross and follow Him. Paul had suffered the thirty-nine lashes minus one five times!  He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.  This is the real stigmata, not necessarily what Saint Francis of Assisi supposedly had.  Note that loving God with all our strength implies we use all the strength God has endowed and blessed us with faithfully and not fainting in the Lord's work, to become lackadaisical or slack.  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Search For Happiness

"...[F]or the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Neh. 8:10, ESV).

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4, ESV).

NB:  Hedonism is the maximization of pleasure but more specifically the optimization of it, though it is physical, sensual, spiritual, or even intellectual.  

"If a man is not made for God, why is he happy only in  God?  If man is made for God, why is he opposed to God?"--Blaise Pascal, French scientist, mathematician, philosopher

"People mix up faith and feelings, for example, some people equate faith with a perpetual religious high.  When that high wears off, as it inevitably does, they start to doubt whether they have any faith at all."--Lynn Anderson, DMn


Happiness depends upon happenings and is volatile like a seesaw or as divergent as a weathervane in a whirlwind.  It's not a given, but a variable in the equation of life!  No one can say he's always happy and never sad or sorrowful.  We don't walk around on so-called Cloud Nine as believers or exhibit the Pollyanna Christianity of pretending all is wonderful and only seeing the bright side, nor even exist on the memory of some divine existential experience or encounter forever.  The point of Christianity is to be ever joyful and not to have it ever taken away from us no matter the circumstances.  

Joy is an inner event that comes from God and can even be experienced in prison-like Paul and Silas did. Case in point:  let's say you delight in going to the beach to get a tan; if this makes you happy, what will you pursue when you reach your senior years or will you fail to find the source of true happiness?

Christian hedonism is the enjoyment of God and taking one's pleasure in Him, not the hedonistic philosophy of pleasure-seeking, like eating, drinking, and making merry or mirth till death.  Some say the goal of their lives is to be happy; God wants you to glorify Him no matter your feelings.  We are meant to have fulfilling lives (i.e., intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and even sensual fulfillment)  all with purpose and meaning.  Paul said that he had learned to be content, not happy (cf. Phil. 4:13)! 

There is a difference: are you getting what you want out of life, and I don't mean the American dream or any pie-in-the-sky scheme or wish (e.g., chasing for pots of gold at the end of mythical rainbows).  Have you found your calling from God, for He exhorts us to make our calling and election sure in 2 Pet. 1:10. Too often we aim at nothing and end up nowhere!  We must expect great things from God, as William Carey said in a sermon, as we attempt great things for God!

We all want to leave a legacy and make an impact with our lives--to make a statement--and when we die we want to have had more than a good time--this is shallow.  We all need to feel important and that we make a difference, knowing why we're here and who we are in the Lord. Most Christians don't even know what their spiritual gift is nor know the inner joy and fulfillment of being used by God in doing His work, much less find happiness, meaning, fulfillment, purpose, and joy in life.   

We all have to choose our attitude and no one can take that away, it's our choice to be on the side of righteousness, and to stand up for justice, even social justice.  Yes, girls just want to have fun, but that is immaturity and we must grow up to see that there is meaning even in our suffering; this makes our faith so unique.  Yes, you could say that you would be happy if you made an impact and lasting impression on the world, and this is a higher consciousness than saying you want to go play golf as long as you can because that's your life.

Many men put too much stock in their jobs or careers and define themselves from them, and upon retirement find themselves bored and unfulfilled, because they've never achieved real purpose in living, though they may have accomplished goals--these are not equal incentives.   Hannah Whitall-Smith, the commonsensical Quaker, writes in The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life that we can find joy and thrill in everyday experience with Jesus.  Indeed, also in the writings of Bro. Lawrence, notably The Practice of the Presence of God, we see the inner joy in constant communion or companionship with God no matter the task--even washing dishes.  Note that the scriptural formula for happiness is given in the Beatitudes and this really delineates inner joy found only in God, not the happiness the world experiences or knows.

God does call us to be happy campers but this doesn't mean we make having fun or seeking happiness our goal--if we put God's kingdom first and seek the Lord, we will be rewarded with true happiness.  We are to seek God, not happiness, which is the byproduct of a good relationship and fellowship with Him through faith in Jesus.  One of the secrets to happiness is to be busy making others happy, and loving and focusing on them, even loving their lives more than yours in sacrificial love to the point of laying down your life for them--this is the real pro-life stance.

In general, kids have the job of playing and having fun, but when they grow up they must set goals, find purpose in life, with and deeper meaning and orientation as an incentive to live; to joy and delight in the Lord's will is the highest form of happiness (cf. Psalm 40:8).  We ought to be like Paul, who learned the secret of being content in every situation or circumstance (cf. Phil. 4:11-12)  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Guilt Complex

"[B]y means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron" (1 Tim. 4:2, NASB).
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our consciences, but shouts to us in our pains; it's His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."--C. S. Lewis

Dr. Sigmund Freud relegated all guilt to suffering some form of "guilt complex" to be healed when he came into vogue.  He denied its reality.  People do suffer for doing wrong and condemn themselves, even if society doesn't.  You cannot convince a person who feels guilty that it is okay and he just has a complex.  It is good to have feelings of guilt and to feel bad because we become cognizant of wrongdoing--it is even therapeutic. Yes, guilt can be good for you and the development of your conscience.    Guilt is not a psychological disorder, but a real phenomenon and there is only one cure for it:  confession and restitution or reconciliation.  Wrongs must be made right and one must believe he is forgiven justly

Jesus does this by having the authority to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and to forgive us of all our sins.  A man may forgive you for what you trespassed against him, but Jesus can forgive all sins against everyone.  Guilt is no disorder to be cured nor a psychological phenomenon to be explained away but must be dealt with for a person to live in the real world of right and wrong.  It is entirely possible to feel guilty because they are guilty!  Just like we act human because there's such a thing as human nature.  Animals are not conscious nor responsible for wrong and will not be judged, but man will face Judgment Day (cf. Heb. 9:27) and having guilt only shows him he's got something to deal with before eternity.

The only way to live guilt-free is to have a relationship with Jesus and to have all your sins forgiven past, present, and future.  Moral relativism denies any absolute standards of right and wrong or universal truth, and people should make up their own values as they go along, basically according to whim.  Everyone has a conscience, and it can become muffled or ignored, but it's still there.  Even in prison, there's a prison code and convicts have a warped sense of right and wrong.  When we violate our own standards or even those we aspire to, we feel guilty and sense something wrong, no matter what terminology we use.  There is psychological guilt that is mean and cruel, but also God-given guilt that we must deal with.  It is not maladjustment, and no matter how you try to convince someone it's unreal, he knows it is and suffers as a result.  You cannot just explain away guilt psychologically!

Some guilt is unnecessary, of course, but that doesn't preclude the existence of genuine guilt.  Christianity is the only faith that deals decisively with this issue and solves it; for nothing but the blood of Jesus can wash away our stain and flaw of guilt.  We must not only be forgiven but have some cognizance of why and how it's accomplished righteously.  Only God can ultimately forgive one's sins.  We instinctively know that justice must be done, and God didn't sacrifice or compromise his justice in justifying us by His mercy and grace through the blood of His own Son.

The reason people deny guilt as real and only a psychological problem, or even illness, is that they deny absolute standards of right and wrong and our responsibility to live up to the universal moral order, and more specifically they adhere to the belief that nothing is our fault, but the blame should be placed on the evils of society--for we are all innocent and even victims. Our salvation is threefold according to the offices of Christ:  as our Prophet, Christ frees us from the ignorance of sin; as our Priest, from the guilt of sin; as our King, from the dominion of sin.

In the final analysis, a man can say he has forgiven you for the trespasses against him, but only God can forgive all trespasses and can solve the guilt problem and issue definitively and set a person free from it, mainly because God is both just and the justifier in the cross of Christ.  Remember:  there's nothing wrong with our nature or personality if we feel guilty as if it's a complex or flaw, but it's God-given to awaken our conscience and has therapeutic value to warn us and keep us on track and in line with God's will.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Can We Know God's Will?

"All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement:  Love your neighbor as yourself" (Gal. 5:14, CEB).
"Because of this, don't be ignorant, but understand the Lord's will" (Eph. 5:17, CEB).
"[B]ut act like slaves of Christ carrying out God's will from the heart" (Eph. 6:6, CEB).
"[He will] equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight..." (Heb. 13:21, ESV).

God promises to make His will known in Scripture as the privilege of children of God; it's our responsibility to inquire and to search it out.  No one can claim a lack of revelation!  We have no excuses because we have both the resident Spirit and the complete will of God in the living Word (cf. Acts 20:27), as well as spiritual overseers who have a word of wisdom or knowledge to discern.  Wisdom is merely knowing the best means to the best ends, and God's will is always the wise choice.  We never sacrifice anything for God's will but are always in a win-win situation. Therefore, in exchange for the awesome privilege of knowing God's will as individual priests, comes the duty to carry it out.

We must no longer insist on being in charge of our lives, but must surrender once and for all time, (cf. Rom. 12:1-2) and be constantly or daily renewed to a willingness to do His will once known.  Jesus did say that anyone willing to do His will would know it (cf. John 7:17).  This surrender to God's will is what is meant by accepting His lordship as an unconditional surrender, and another way of saying it is to follow Jesus through thick and thin, come whatever may, and let the chips fall where they may.  Our motto ought to be to do God's will, as indeed was Jesus' own philosophy of life, as He always interposed the Father's will on His own.

The Lord directs our steps and delights in us doing His will.  We exchange our life for His and substitute His will for ours, as we don't so much as an imitation, as an inhabitation.  This is also known as relinquishment.  We are not called to be stoics though, and to grin and bear it, no matter what, and just accept our "fate."  Ours is not a philosophy of the "stiff upper lip."  We make voluntary choices and are responsible for them--life is about making choices.  The biggest problem we have is stubbornness and God is able to give us a change of heart and make us willing to do His will (cf. Ezek. 36:26; Phil. 2:13).  This is when we die to ourselves and put Jesus in charge of our life as our autopilot.

The problem with Christians, though, is not finding God's will, but doing it; we are blessed by doing it, not just knowing it.  As they say:  "Good intentions, poor follow-through."  There is a constant struggle to say "Yes" to Jesus' will, but we must first say "No" to ourselves.  The more surrendered we become, the freer we are the less enslaved to sin.  We must always subordinate our wills to God's and forget about Number One as being the chief care in our life.  We will find that it is hard to kick against the goads, as Paul found out, and this means fighting God's will.  Because the essence of doing God's will is a life of obedience, sacrifice, discipline, and commitment.

We don't try to fit God into our plans, but make no plans without His guidance.  Christians have a lighter yoke to bear than the Jews (cf. Matt. 11:29), who were under the Mosaic Law; the yoke of following God's will is light when Jesus is in control and guides us, never forsaking us.  Some Christians ignore God's will, and these believers are actually practical atheists because their lives show no difference from those of the world. We don't want God to consign us to our way and say to us:  "Okay, have it according to your will!"  As is the case with everyone, our problem is not in knowing God's will, but in doing it--we don't have guidance issues, but submission ones.  Christianity, according to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1979 and now canonized, is doing the will of God with a smile--[all else is commentary]. 

We must know God and His will if we want to know how to live, the infidel doesn't know these things.  We don't want God to say to us that we can have our own will, because God is wiser and His plan for us is best.  So get on board with God and get with the program!  David was a man after God's own heart because he fulfilled all God's will.  In the final analysis, we must ask ourselves if we are the master of our fate and the captain of our soul, or does the Lord own us?  "He will do unto me whatever he has planned, he controls my destiny" (Job 23:14, NLT).      Soli Deo Gloria!

The Sanctity Of Life

"In nonnegotiables, unity; in negotiables liberty; in all things, charity."--Saint Augustine of Hippo
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.  Choose life so that you and your descendants may live" (Deut. 30:19, HCSB).  
"So then, each of us will give account of ourselves to God" (Rom. 14:12, NIV).  
'The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life"  (Job 33:4, ESV).
"You have been my God from the moment I was born" (Ps. 22:10, NLT).
"... [B]ut You prepared a body for Me" (Heb. 10:5, HCSB).

Christians profess a doctrine of the sacredness of life, basically because we are in the image of God (imago Dei in Latin).  That entails: we enjoy interpersonal relationships in communion;  we have the capacity to enjoy ourselves; we have the unique power to reflect on ourselves critically; we have a desire to praise, thank, and worship God; we also have a conscience (knowing right and wrong), are responsible for our behavior and actions because of this.  This image is tarnished by sin, but it's still there because we are social, moral, intellectual, spiritual, rational, communicative, and emotional beings, who have a purpose, meaning, and dignity from God, i.e., they're extrinsic.  We have many attributes in common with God, in other words, and are capable of fellowship with Him, knowing Him, and even loving Him, and with this comes a concept of eternity with God.  Like God, we have imagination and are creative, able to express it.

The theory of evolution teaches that we are merely grown-up germs or the result of some cosmic accident, that we came from nothing but blue-green pond scum or algae, have no purpose in living, and are going nowhere, except to be food for worms.  If we are animals, it follows that we can act and live like them too.  People just don't want to admit there's a Judge, Ruler, and Creator, and don't want to be accountable to anyone but themselves.  The Bible's Decalogue is, therefore, obsolete and no longer relevant to today's modern world, and it's too binding to their personal mores.

Humanism is when we deify man and dethrone God.  Man is the measure of all things (Homo mensura).  It's up to man to decide what's good and evil!  We start with man and explain the cosmos, not as the Bible says, "In the beginning God...."  Where you start determines where you end up!  We must start with God in the picture and explain everything from His viewpoint.  We have a divine revelation to do this, and it does take faith to accept it.  But I posit that it takes more faith to bet the farm on science as the only reliable means of knowledge. 

Humanists are very religious too; theirs is a religion without God.  They seek to explain away reality without God in the equation, which until recently was the default position, even among scholars and intellectuals.  Humanists version of our dignity is that we are just at the top of the food chain and the principle of the survival of the fittest applies.  Shakespeare summed it up through the musing of Macbeth: that life is an idle tale, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing--what a bleak outlook without God in the equation!

Christians believe our rights are conferred by God, not the government, which exists to secure them, and if it fails, the government is illegitimate and in the wrong.  What the government gives, it can take away, therefore rights come from God who doesn't take them away and we must fight for our rights in our freedom battles. Since humans have God-given rights, their lives are sacred and of utmost value to God, and an assault on them is seen as an insult to God's nature.  Murder of mankind is made a capital offense in Scripture(cf. Gen. 9:6).  Human rights matter, because we are in the image of God, animals are not.  To do anything that destroys, maims, debilitates, or harms human life (and indeed all life) is an insult to the gift of life, much more the Giver of life. 

It is an exercise in futility to be dogmatic concerning the point in time when the soul enters the fetus, or even if it's after birth upon breathing the breath of life from the Spirit who gives it.  The Bible does say that life is in the blood (cf. Lev. 17:11), but it also says that God breathed into Adam's body (presumably having blood) the breath of life.  NB:  animals don't have souls and God was referring to them in this verse (cf. Lev. 17:11) concerning giving sacrifices.  Man is unique in having the breath of life and is a living being.  It's impossible for life to exist without blood (cf. Lev. 17:11, NIV, "the life of a creature is in the blood"), though, but there can be blood without viable, self-sustaining life. 

The power of life may be in the blood, but that doesn't necessitate the soul being in the blood.  Pointing to one Scripture as a proof text only invites undue controversy in the body, we don't pit verse against verse and believe only the ones that fit our dogma.  The point is that you can make a biblical case both ways.  There are areas of gray and some doctrines are disputable and up to the person to govern his own conscience (cf. Rom. 14:22-23).  It's a fact that people only believe the facts that fit their worldview or opinions anyway.

Job talks about dying in the womb and being as if he never existed (cf. Job 10:19, NLT), and David talks about God being his God from birth, not conception (cf. Psalm 22:10).  Jesus talked about God preparing Him a body, not a soul (cf. Heb. 10:5).  Souls have self-consciousness and a will, bodies don't.   Pro-lifers like to point to Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13, and Psalm 51:5, where God knew them in the womb or created them in the womb, conceived at conception, but God knew us before creation and did create our bodies in the womb (all that we were at that time), but the Bible doesn't say exactly when human life is given a human soul, people can be brain dead with bodies fully functioning and as far as medicine is concerned they are deceased.  NB:  Jesus spilled His precious, efficacious blood, but He gave up the Spirit and breathed His last.  Soli Deo Gloria!