How do you feel about your body? God very carefully designed us to have bodies, rather than have us just some sort of disembodied spiritual being. Some of the pagans who became Christians at Corinth took the message of Christian freedom the wrong way. They were using that as a justification for some unsavory selfish actions. They also seemed caught up in the Greek idea that the body was unimportant. You could do whatever you wanted with your body- it was only about the eternal soul.
Paul is so adamant that our bodies are vital, and what we do in and with our bodies is critical. Faithfulness sexually and every other way is part of the Christan way of life. At Easter Christ’s body was raised to new life. We too will receive a new body in heaven. We can’t ignore our bodies or treat them as unimportant. Our current bodies are utterly precious. They are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit delights in guiding us to be useful in showing practical help to others. We can’t do that without a body. Acts of kindness and love to others are core parts of our everyday Christian life.
Having a body, with its daily needs also helps us depend each day on God for the gift of life. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. We learn that we can’t do it all on our own, especially when there is illness or injury. Our bodies help to anchor us in what is real.
Finally, I believe that there should be some element of fun or enjoyment in life. Our bodies are designed to participate in play with others, and to do activities that we enjoy. We all need daily smiles and laughter, hugs and handshakes.
To paraphrase the ending of Mary Oliver’s poem, The Summer Day, substituting body for life:
‘Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious body?
