God's Dwelling Place....YOU

WOW! Who knew a workout could change my recovery (for the better that is). I mean I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. God has spoken to me through movement before…why wouldn’t He again?

My latest workout reading has been “Love to Eat, Hate to Eat” and it really is a great book about our relationship with food and our body in a way that is pleasing to God. It’s not the best book I have ever read, but it has good points. And one of those points hit me square in the face today.

We are God’s dwelling place.

I’ve heard the verses before. Verses like Ephesians 2:22

“And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by hHs Spirit.”

But when I have heard these or thought about them it has always more been about how close I am to God and the power He puts in me. But never about how I treat my body. But this book framed it different.

You see God lives in us. Stop. Think a moment. Don’t just gloss over that. The living God. The Holy One. The Creator of the universe dwells in you. He makes your body His home. Where His Spirit resides. As 1 Corinthians 3:16 puts it 

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

Our bodies are His home. His dwelling place. Some recent issues in my living situation and going home this weekend showed me just how much our dwelling place can mean to us. We decorate our homes, clean our homes, fill our homes with love so we can have sanctuary and peace. This is something we feel we deserve and have the right to. A place called home. And so does God. And the his Adress is 101 You. Right in you. In your body.

I don’t know about you, but that changes things for me. My recovery and being good to my body takes on a whole new meaning. Like a mother who becomes pregnant and begins caring for her health more because of the unborn child inside of her….this realization has made me want to take care of my body because of God in me.

Any time I tear my body down by denying hunger because I don’t feel it’s the right time to eat. Or choosing a safe meal when I am craving something else. Or skimping portions. Or going to the gym longer than I said I would. Or even simply not getting enough sleep. I am hurting my body. And honestly, before today I didn’t really care about that. It’s not that I want to hurt my body…but to me it just wasn’t that important. 

And I now my non-ED readers may struggle with this too. Getting caught up in life and not caring as much about our body. Not getting sleep. Not going to the gym when we should. Not taking time to de-stress. Not going to the doctor when we should. It's easy to slip into the non-chalant attitude towards our body. 

But now I realize doing those things...things that hurt our body. Pushing our bodies to the limit or not nourishing them as we should. It would be just like walking into a church or walking up to God while He is sitting in His rocking chair on his porch and tearing down the wallpaper. Or writing on the walls with sharpie. Heck it’s like taking a match to His home. Because I am injuring His dwelling place. I am wrecking the place He calls home.

Now before you go walk off in shame and guilt and let beat yourself up for unhealthy behaviors...stop (because that stinking thinking doesn't help anyone). This realization means something else to. This means each and every moment you choose to eat. Or to get enough sleep. Or to feed your craving. Or to choose the fear food. Or take a rest day. Or just do the amount of exercise you agreed to. Or to not purge or binge if that’s something you struggle with. 

Or for my non-ED readers when you choose to go the gym. Or do what your doctor said. Or go to bed early instead of staying up to watch Hosewives of whatever city they are in now. Heck even when you remember to floss or brush your teeth. You are building up God’s dwelling place.  Putting up a new portrait. Bringing in the new décor from Pier One. Painting the walls real nice. You are making His house a home. And I don’t know about you, but I want to do that for God. Especially now when I can’t do that for my own home.

I don’t know. Maybe to you this isn’t revolutionary, but to me it is. It changes everything. My

recovery takes on a different meaning and when ED is yelling at me that I don’t deserve that fear food or a day off or x,y,z…or that it doesn’t matter…I can tell him it matters because I am building and protecting the dwelling place of God. I’ve beaten it up enough and it’s time for Extreme Makeover: God’s Dwelling Place edition. It makes me realize even moreso why each and every recovery decision I make makes me feel so good. Because I am building up the dwelling place of the Spirit and as He smiles at my decorating skills…I too am filled with joy.

I don’t know about you, but I am ready to keep making the scary decisions as I have been (sorry haven’t updated but I am challenging some big food rituals and little portion descrepancies and major fear foods in a  three-week challenge to get to the “normal”….we more “normal” eating I desire).  And to do so with joy and excitement knowing I am building up God’s house and making my body a pleasant place to stay for the Spirit. Providing Him the home He deserves. And hey…this home makeover comes without the need for a single power tool or dollar bill. Just the power of Christ in you and the commitment to make the right choice.

So when ED is screaming or you are torn between two decision, just picture God’s house and go with which decision you think betters His dwelling place: you. And pick your head up, pull your shoulders back, because you, beautiful, are the dwelling place of the Most High. And don’t worry. We all struggle. We all make decisions that aren’t the best or lose our way. But the great thing about God is He is forgiving and the great thing about dwelling places is they can be rebuilt. You just make the next right decision….because even if you put up the wrong paint, your next right decision can put up a new coat of paint. You have the power and you can do it.