We think about being good stewards of our money, of the land, our homes, even our children, but what about our bodies? Oh yes, you may be thinking, “I am a good steward of my body…I keep my body pure from sexual immorality and I dress modestly.” But are you being a good steward of your body with the foods you put into it? Are you harming your body by all the toxins from processed food and sugars that ravage your body? Are you eating healthily the way God intended and even commanded?

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). If we are not being good stewards of our bodies by putting junk into it, then we become ill. When we become ill, we do not feel well. When we do not feel well, we cannot work to our full potential as workers for the Lord as we are commanded to be (Ephesians 2:10). We begin to fail ourselves and God. We have no excuse if we have brought some health problems on ourselves (some we have no control over). God designed our bodies beautifully and He wants us to take care of our bodies. He has given us all that we need to be healthy and to be wise stewards of our bodies. Our Creator has given us vegetables, fruits, herbs, grass, plants, nuts, fish, meat, and poultry (and many other things to keep us healthy). Man has tried to become wise in His own eyes (Proverbs 26:12) and has begun to genetically modify our foods, to use harmful pesticides, antibiotics, and various other chemicals to “make our food better.” These things can harm our bodies rather than make things better. Toxins take and do not give anything good for us to use. They deplete our cells of nutrition because our bodies were not designed by God to use chemicals. The chemicals become stored up in our bodies because our bodies have no idea what to do with those chemicals (a great deal of them do not come out in our waste as we might think or hope). We then become weak from these foods.

I know of what I speak first hand. A few years back I was having severe problems ranging from panic attacks, severe upper back pain, and insomnia. I wanted to but couldn’t homeschool our son because I was having too many problems. I went to medical doctors who told me that it was just anxiety and gave me medicine. The medicine did not help and actually made some of my symptoms worse. So, I began being my own advocate and doctor. I found a naturopath doctor who told me that I had low blood sugar (which can cause anxiety and insomnia), that I was gluten intolerant, and that I had a great deal of inflammation (which can lead to heart disease, cancer, and other diseases), and I had a lot of toxins and pesticides in my body. It was the processed foods, the gluten, the starches, and sugar that were slowly destroying my body. Wow! Well I had to do a major overhaul and it was not easy to change the way I was eating. It was especially hard to get off refined sugar (it’s an addictive drug when you really think about it). I love sweets! However, as I began to really think and research, I began to see how eating the way God intended was being a good steward of my body and I was not helping our child by not providing him with healthier food options. I also began to think how not taking care of my vessel in a godly way was probably very disappointing to the Maker. I was harming the very body He gave me! Our Creator gave us all we need to be healthy and He only wants the best for us!

Here are some verses to meditate on pertaining to our vessels (our bodies).

• “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food’” (Genesis 1:29 ESV).
• “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything” (Genesis 9:3).
• “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
• “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). (Yes, we can destroy His temple with what we eat and drink.)
• “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Our God is so good in all that He has provided for our bodies to be healthy. We should use what He gave us. He supplies our every need (Philippians 4:19). Don’t let neglectful stewardship of your body lead you down a path where you are physically unable to do the Lord’s work. Begin to think how you may be causing damage to your vessel. We don’t want to break the Holy vessel that God has given us to do His good will. Start today and become a steward of your body! “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

By Nadia Smith
Nadia or “Nikki” (as some of her friends and family call her) Smith and her husband Eric worship with the Redland church of Christ in Valdosta, GA where they are very active members in the Lord’s church there. Eric works for the Air National Guard. Nikki is a homemaker, artist, photographer, and maintains the New Testament Christian Resource Site. Eric and Nikki have one son, Jett who is nine years old (he wants to be a preacher when he grows up).