Sermon Info
Summary
We are beginning a new year and a new opportunity for spiritual health and discipleship. Many make New Year's Resolutions but few keep them which leads to disappointment and frustration. With the help of God and each other, there are resolutions we can accomplish. Day by day we can be resolved to grow into the likeness of Jesus. Today we look at the word of God concerning our physical health. We will see that salvation involves not just the souls but our bodies as well. With the help of God, we can use our bodies (which God lives in and owns) to display His glory.
Content
Turning a New Page
New year’s resolutions – many people make them each year, but statistics show that few actually follow through on them. Why? Because sticking to something over the course of a whole year can be challenging. It’s hard to make a goal and stick to it, especially when we’re trying to do it on our own. Truthfully, there’s nothing special about January 1. There’s no magic in this day that makes it possible for you to start something new or stop doing something. However, there is something in that it’s a new day, a new opportunity, a new blank page that allows you to truly feel like it can be the start of something beautiful. That’s what makes new year’s resolutions so enticing and hopeful.
Now, what if we started viewing the new year through the lens of Scripture? Rather than simply turning the page and wanting to get healthy to look better or feel better about ourselves, what if we saw this new year as an opportunity to glorify God, as a chance to point others to Him with our lives? What if we set aside our striving for the sake of ourselves and worked to bring God glory in all that we say and do this year?
We can, friends, through the help of the Holy Spirit, God’s Word, and God’s people. Let’s learn how.
What the Bible Says in 1 Corinthians 6
For many, their new year’s resolution has to do with getting physically healthy, which, in itself, is a good thing, for God tells us in His Word that our bodies are temples of His Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). However, it’s easy for us to get caught up in the “workout culture,” meaning getting fit and healthy just because it’s trendy or because we want to look good on the outside. God doesn’t care about what’s in style or what we look like on the outside, so long as we are keeping our bodies fit and healthy. The reason for this is because our bodies matter to our faith.
God designed us the way we are on purpose. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well (Psalm 139:14). Our bodies are a great gift from God, and they are what God designed for us to go out and make disciples and to fulfill His purpose for our lives. Whether you particularly like your body or not, God made you the way you are, and He calls you beautiful. That also means that our bodies should be cared for because they are what God has given us to house His Spirit. This is the only body we’ve been given – let’s take care of this gift.
However, that ultimately means that the purpose of our bodies is to give God glory and to fulfill His plan for us with them. They aren’t for us to worship or idolize: For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come (1 Timothy 4:8). But, they also aren’t for us to detest or be constantly critical of. For many of us, we can tend to swing from one extreme to the other – idolizing our bodies and our image to hating or disliking it. Neither are what God designed for us. He designed for us to use this body for His glory, and that’s through being self-disciplined and God-focused each day.
Taking a Step Today
If our bodies were designed to bring God glory, then that should change our whole perspective on being physically healthy. It should take us from idolizing our bodies to having a proper value on our bodies. It should take us from disliking or constantly criticizing our bodies to thanking God for the gift He’s given to us. Because, ultimately, physical habits pave the way for spiritual habits.
Self-discipline is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and that fruit goes hand in hand with the prioritization of our physical health, of the one body that God has given us. Though for many of us, our new year’s resolution may revolve around our bodies or our physical health, without a plan, others to support us, and God’s help, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to be consistent and disciplined in our resolution simply because it’s a new year.
So, here are four steps to help you practically get healthy physically, starting right now.
- Have a purpose.
- Have a plan.
- Be more committed today than yesterday.
- Do it in community.
None of us can do it alone, so make a commitment today, reach out to a friend who can hold you accountable, and take a new step today.
