An oldy, but a super-goody! This was originally written (by hand) on January 31, 2006:
I’ve had a sort of epiphany over the last few days. As a Christian, I’ve heard numerous times that Christ lives in me and that my body is God’s temple. I’ve started thinking more deeply about the obvious and not-so-obvious implications of this concept. It requires a paradigm shift to what I’m calling “Temple Thought.” I know that this idea is not a new one, but its all-encompassing effects and how I should apply them are certainly new to me.
For instance, I like to stay up late. In fact, my mother says I’ve been a night owl since birth. Now, I’m not saying that I’ll totally be changing my sleeping habits, but I need to be aware of how important, sleep is. My body needs to be well-rested to do/be my best. I must do/be my best if I want to glorify God with my best. Besides, would I deny Him rest? Of course not. Therefore, I also shouldn’t deny rest to His temple.
However, that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. It also affects my diet, finances, relationships, pastimes, etc. All of those (and more) can affect my body/mind/soul, thereby affecting the “temple.” For example, if I have a problem with a friend, I must follow God’s plan for reconciliation (Matthew 18:15-20). If I don’t, I will feel stress, discontent, etc. Those emotions can have physical consequences, too.
For those reasons, in all things, I will try to focus on bringing glory to God through “Temple Thought.”