He Said it So Well

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?  Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?  Never!  Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her?  For, as it is written, ‘The two will become one flesh.’  But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.  Flee from sexual immorality.” I Corinthians 6:15-18.

"Your body matters.  Your body belongs to Christ.  Not to you, to follow your impulses, but to Christ, to exalt His glory.  Not just your soul, but also your body.  It is the humblest part of you, but Christ says it matters to Him.

Epictetus taught that the mind and soul of man had divinity, but man’s body was something in common with the animals below.  Paul taught that both soul and body belong to Christ above.  He is present as our Lord and Savior in the whole of what we are, including our sexuality."

...so wrote Ray Ortlund in a recent post.   I found the last paragraph especially interesting.  I, along with many other Christians, would not dispute its truth.  If we "stumble" at it, I think it's because we limit its implications to sexuality.

There certainly are other ways to abuse one's body.  For me, one area was in overeating, eating food  that had no nutritional value, and eating food that was downright harmful to my body and its various systems!  

Clearly there are distinctive and unique physical ramifications of sexual immorality or else God wouldn't have been so specific about it.  But the principle of our bodies belonging to Jesus applies to my food choices and eating habits  (and many OTHER issues related to my physical body). 

He (Ray Ortlund) said it SO well.  

"(My) body belongs to Christ.  

Not to (me), to follow (my) impulses, 

but to Christ,  to exalt His glory."