We are made up of body, mind and spirit. Our bodies are the flesh and blood part that we can all see and touch. But that body is simply a repository for our mind and spirit, where the real “us” resides. Our personalities, our thoughts, our reactions, our decisions—all the things that make us who we are—are functions of our mind and our spirit.
The body part of us is the one part which is temporal. It will only last a few short earthly years, maybe 100 at most. Once the spirit and the mind no longer inhabit our bodies, the body decays immediately and has no function. James wrote that the body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26).
However, the mind and the spirit within us are not dependent upon the body. When the body gives up and wears out, the mind and spirit will continue to live. And the Bible tells us that we will be given new bodies in heaven—bodies like Jesus’ resurrected body for those who have been born from above through faith in Jesus Christ.
Why did God create us like this? Well, we are all created to bring glory to God. Jesus told us that the most important commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. That includes all of us. We need our minds to think, to make decisions, to assimilate information and store up needed knowledge. Our spirits are necessary for emotions and feelings. Mind without spirit would be cold and lifeless.
You remember that in teaching the Samaritan woman, Jesus said that those who worship the true God must worship in spirit and in truth. Truth is the rational part; spirit is the emotional. We need to know the truth and be well-educated about God in order to worship him properly. But knowledge without spirit would be a cold and lifeless kind of worship. We need to worship with our emotions and our feelings, as well as our mind.
Did you ever realize that your body is supposed to be the servant of your mind and spirit? Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he strove to make his body a slave. That sounds very strange, doesn’t it? Nobody wants to be a slave. Paul said the reason he was striving to make his body a slave was in order to get a crown that is eternal (1 Cor. 9:24-27).
He wrote in his letter to the believers in Rome to present their bodies as living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1), because that is a spiritual act of worship. Again, he taught the Corinthians that the body is not made for temporal pleasure, but it is made to be used by the Lord. When we have been born from above and become a child of God, our bodies become his and are no longer ours.
This is a biblical principle that few of us understand or are willing to practice, because we all cater to our bodies. Believe me; I fight this along with everyone else. I want to do what makes my body feel good. I don’t like pain. I don’t want my body to be uncomfortable. And when our bodies are the masters of our minds and spirits, we get in trouble.
Since the body is the temporary part of us, we should be focused more on the spirit and the soul. But if you look around, you will see that most of us are dominated by concerns for our body.
Since Jesus created all things, visible and invisible, we know he created our bodies, the visible part of us, as well as our mind and spirits, the invisible parts. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:18 that we should fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. So, it’s clear that since our minds and spirits are unseen, they take priority over our bodies.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we ignore our bodies or that we mutilate them or harm them. Our bodies have purpose and deserve to be treated with respect, and if the body is not working well, it affects the mind and the spirit. Also, when we are born again, our bodies become the temple of the Holy Spirit. So there’s no doubt that our bodies are important and we should take care of them.
But what I’ve noticed in myself and in many others is the tendency to allow my body and its needs to dictate and control me. Now, it’s easy to understand how we humans can be that way. The body is the part of me which I can see and feel. My body has headaches, gets tired and hungry, needs rest, and generally demands a lot of my attention.
I should not be a slave to my body; it should be a slave to my spirit and mind, which are controlled by the Spirit of God within me. But since taking care of our bodies is time-consuming and necessary, how can we keep from being controlled by our bodies?
Well, in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul uses the analogy of running in a race, and points out that we should run our spiritual race in order to win the prize. The prize, of course, is to become more and more like Jesus, and to hear him say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Paul tells us that in order to win the spiritual prize, he makes his body a slave to his mind. He can’t be jumping every time his body yells at him. The body has to learn that it can do without things; it doesn’t have to have every need met immediately; it cannot “rule the roost.”
I heard a well-known minister say that every day he tries to deny his body something it wants. Maybe it’s the piece of pie after dinner; his body wants it, but he chooses to say no. Perhaps it’s an exercise program which denies the body the opportunity to flop. But he says he looks for something he can do on a daily basis to deny his body something it wants but doesn’t need.
Why would he do that? Is he trying to mutilate his body in order to find favor with God, like monks in former days who punished their bodies? No, he does it because he sees himself as a runner in training.
Just think of what a runner or any good athlete must do to their body in order to be able to run the race and win. Each day they put their body through hours of intentional pain, hardship, discomfort and inconvenience so that when they are finally in the race, they can endure to the end and win the race because their bodies have been brought into subjection through training and discipline.
The same is true of us spiritually. We will not win the prize for which we’ve been called in Christ Jesus if our bodies dictate our priorities, dictate our behavior and control us. Therefore, daily denials of our bodies, teaching them that they are not in control, enables us to be ready for the spiritual race we face.
In what area does your body need to be brought under control? Can you think of ways in which it is doing damage to you spiritually because you have not disciplined your body?
Many people lose their effectiveness for Jesus Christ because they never discipline their body. Let’s think of some of the more common forms of bodily temptations where our tendency is to do what our body wants us to do.
For example, sexual temptation is a temptation for our bodies. It stirs up physical desires and lust and makes us want to have those desires met. You’ve heard people say they were so overcome by their sexual desire for someone, that they couldn’t stop themselves. Well, that’s the truth. They’re not used to telling their body “no,” so when some sexual temptation comes along, they are easy targets since they usually give in to their bodies’ desires.
Now, when we allow our bodies to dictate our sexual behavior, then the results are bound to be disastrous to our spirits and our minds. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 6 that when we sin sexually, we sin against our bodies, and that is particularly detrimental to us. Often I counsel people who are still struggling years later with their past sexual sins. They know God has forgiven them, but they can’t seem to put it behind them.
Another very common bodily temptation is food. I tell you the truth, if I ate what I would really like to eat every day, it would be a menu of the highest cholesterol, most calories, least food value you’ve ever seen. I love all that grease and sugar, and my body wants it. And the more I have of it, the more I want it.
A friend once completed a very strict diet of several months, and lost a significant amount of weight. She told me that as she learned to say no to her body’s demand for food, she learned so much about herself. Previously she had submerged all her feelings with food. Learning to deny her body and not to jump every time it yelled for food, she discovered how much damage she had done to her mind and her spirit by being a slave to her body and feeding it every time something happened.
Another area where we often cater to our bodies is laziness. Our bodies were created to work, and hard work is good for us. The Bible teaches us clearly that work is given to us by God, but if you listen to your body all the time, you’ll want to get out of work. You’ll find yourself doing nothing, vegetating in front of the television or sloughing off on the job. That’s giving in to the ole’ body’s tendency to be lazy.
Many times you’ve heard me talk about how some of us are workaholics and need to learn to relax, but for every workaholic, there are probably ten lazy people.
Proverbs 10:4 says, “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
In the parable of the talents, as found in Matthew 25, the master gave a most severe condemnation to the servant who had done nothing with his one talent. He called him a “wicked, lazy servant.” Laziness is not just a minor little problem some people have; laziness is a sin, and for those of us who are Christians, we should take it very seriously.
Do you tend to be a lazy person? Let me tell you, it’s addictive. The longer you allow your body to be lazy, the more difficult it is to change. I imagine there are many who need to do something drastic about bringing their body into subjection and not allowing it to be lazy. It is a spiritual problem, one you need to pray about, but you must also simply resolve to discipline that body and force it to work hard, as it should.
If you listen to your body and let it control you, it will lead you into many areas of sin. Remember, Romans 12 tells us we are to offer our bodies daily as a living sacrifice.
Now that may sound to you like a hard life—to offer your body as a sacrifice and not give into your bodily cravings. But let me tell you, that’s not true. When our bodies control us, we find ourselves in very difficult situations, and our minds and spirits suffer as a result. So, disciplining our bodies and not allowing them to be our master is by far the best way to live. It will bring fulfillment and contentment and freedom from guilt, just to mention a few benefits.
Someday we’ll have a new body free from all these problems, but meanwhile as ambassadors for Jesus Christ, we need to bring our bodies into subjection. Ask God to help you do that.