I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire. (Luke 24:32)
You are not your body.
You have been given a body to steward.
You are not your body.
You have been placed by God into a body, and one day soon you will leave that body.
You are not your body, and that means your worth, your value, your self-esteem, your identity are not wrapped up in your body. Your worth, your value, your identity all come from our Creator God, our Father in heaven, and He values you highly.
Listen to this. America’s founding fathers talked about our inalienable rights. Well, you have inalienable value. Your value is solid, unmovable, eternal as a creation of God, and it doesn’t matter what has happened to your body.
You are not your body.
You have been given a body to steward.
Maybe you don’t think it’s the best body. You should be taller, prettier, stronger, faster, better.
Well, guess what. The most beautiful people in the world all wake up one day and look in the mirror and say, “Oh my God, what happened?” And they probably aren’t praying to God when they say it, but they should be, because He has a message for them.
You are not your body.
You have been given a body to steward.
Yes, I keep saying this steward thing. What am I talking about?
Our body is like any other gift from God. He gave it, like raw materials, and He expects us to use it for His glory and for the good of His creation.
In radio I work with voices, all kinds of voices. I wish I had a dollar for every person who said, “I don’t have a good voice.” I tell them, “You have the perfect voice. You have the voice God gave you, and now you are the steward of that voice, called to improve it and grow it and use it for His glory and for the blessing of others.”
Are you getting older and not liking what you’re seeing? Don’t worry or stress about that for one more minute. Take what you have and steward it the best you can.
A steward is not the owner. A steward is a manager, responsible for handling something well on behalf of the owner.
We are to be good stewards of our body. Yes, eat right and exercise. Yes, take care of your teeth. Yes, stop smoking or taking drugs or whatever thing that’s bad for your body. That’s bad stewardship.
Yes, try to look good, but not for ego’s sake. You try to look good because God has called us to beauty and order and function.
“Well, Doug, I guess my body was built more for function than beauty.”
Well praise God for it! But keep in mind that you are not your body. Your identity and self-esteem should not ride one minute on how your shell looks on the outside compared to all the other shells walking around on the planet. That is a losing proposition for every single one of us.
Another thought: if you were to tragically lose a limb in an accident, how much of you would be left? All of you would be left because you are not your body. You are still 100% you, even if your body loses some of its abilities. And your value to God is still 100%, never forget that.
Second Corinthians chapter 5 talks a lot about our body, this “tent,” this “tabernacle” in which we dwell for a while. Then verse 8 talks about the day when Christians will be “absent from the body” and “present with the Lord.”
First Corinthians chapter 6 talks a lot about our body, and the last verse concludes, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body…and in your spirit…”
Your spirit is you, the real you. Or you might call it your soul. Different people define these words in different ways, but my main point is this.
You are not your body, so whatever there is about your body that you don’t like, don’t fret about it. Don’t think less of yourself. You are of the most extreme value to God your creator.
He gave you this body and He wants you to use it, to make the most of it, being the best steward of this wonderful gift.
“But Doug, I was born in the wrong body gender.”
No, God put you in the exactly the right body gender.
“But Doug, I have feelings of attraction that go against what the Bible says is right.”
Well, maybe your feelings are lying to you.
God has given us the framework for living in this body and for interacting with the rest of His creation.
Then First Corinthians 5 talks about what will happen when we leave this body. Verses 9 and 10 say that we should try to please God while we are living in this body, because one day we will leave this body and appear before the judgment seat of Christ where there will be an accounting for the things done in the body, “whether good or bad.”
So your body is of great value to God, no matter what the rest of the world thinks. And He is watching us closely to see what we will do with this incredible gift.
Another great thing would be if we would stop valuing other people based on their appearance. But that’s another lesson for another day.
For now, just soak up the powerful truth of these two statements.
You are not your body.
You have been given a body to steward.
May God bless you today.
I’m Doug Apple.
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