11 A Christian Guide to Body Stewardship, Diet and Exercise Summary • God’s Word, not cultural or self-perception, must ultimately determine how we understand and use our bodies. • A proper theology of the body is dependent upon accurate biblical interpretation, including reading verses within their respective contexts. • God created us as embodied image bearers. Though our bodies, like all creation, bear the effects of the Fall, redemption comes through God the Son embodied. • We were made by God to glorify him through worship, which includes the use of our physical bodies. Therefore, sanctification necessarily incorporates what we do with our bodies (e.g., physical acts of worship, the ordinances of the church, self-control, service). • The claim that a Christian should be a good steward of his body is an extension of the claim that everything belongs to God. • Exercise can help to develop a mindset and promote habits of perseverance where we will actually gravitate toward dealing with the hard things of life in a healthy way. • A properly stewarded body is more effective and typically more enduring in ministry, and venues of physical activity provide contexts for evangelism. 25 Important Verses About the Body 1. Genesis 1:27: So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 2. Genesis 1:31: And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 3. Genesis 2:15: The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 4. Deuteronomy 6:5: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 5. 1 Samuel 16:7: But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 6. Proverbs 21:25: The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. 7. Proverbs 31:30: Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 8. Song of Songs: A recognition of the goodness of the perceptions of beauty between spouses.
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