Honor God with Your Body
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
Supplies
- One beach ball (or more depending on the size of your group)
- Bluetooth speaker
- Practice the workout ahead of time. Use the workout suggestions provided or your own version. This link is for armchair exercises. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLgvL3aGzMByecNYtMcyK_g
- Place the chairs in a circle.
- Play upbeat Christian music as the women arrive and during the workout. (See suggested music below.)
Low Impact Exercises
Warmups
- Sit and extend arms up over your head, stretch fingers. Bend arms in front of you and extend again. Repeat 10 times and stretch forward.
- Extend legs forward together, then with each foot touch your neighbor’s shoe to your right and to your left. Repeat 5 or 10 times.
- Exercise 1
- Extend your arms in front of you. Then bring your right knee up to your right hand, then down. Now your left knee to your left hand and down. Now bring both knees up to your hands. Repeat.
- Exercise 2
- Twist torso to your right and hold for 5 seconds. Smile to your neighbor. Now to your left and hold for 5 seconds. Repeat.
- Exercise 3
- One participant gets the beachball and sits. Put ball between your feet and hold. With your legs extended, pass beachball to your neighbor (only using your legs and feet) and hold your legs up until it is your turn to receive the ball again. Rest legs for a few seconds and repeat going on the opposite direction.
- Exercise 4
- Extend your arms in front of your chest. Hold.
- In this same position. The woman who has the ball, holds the ball in her hands and passes it to her neighbor. Hold arms extended in front of you, until you receive the ball again. Rest arms for a few seconds and repeat going on the opposite direction.
- Exercise 5
- Extend your arms and legs in front of you. Bring legs up and down and arms up and down at the same time, count to five and rest. Repeat.
Sit to Be Fit
Some of the things most women struggle with is caring for their bodies. In my experience, the older I get, the more difficult it is to stay healthy and to exercise. “I am too busy to exercise,” I say. “Eating healthy is too expensive and complicated.” But the truth is that I become too comfortable and simply choose not make time to care for my body. Can anyone relate?
Corinthians 6:12 says “I will not be mastered by anything.” Many of us, have unhealthy habits that affect our body, and we allow the things of the world to master us. We often look for satisfaction and indulge in foods and habits that hurt our bodies. It is important that we acknowledge these unhealthy habits and ask ourselves this question, “Am I bringing glory to God with what I am doing?” It could be something that affects our mind; the shows we watch, the music we listen to; or something that affects other areas of our bodies like the foods we are eating. Perhaps we are doing it all. We are sitting for long periods of time in front of the T.V., eating the wrong foods, and watching inappropriate shows.
God gave His people words of wisdom to be passed down from generation to generation. These words, which are recorded in the Bible are there for us to live by to have a full life in Christ. In Colossians 3:2 we are called to guard our minds. In Proverbs 4:23-25 David tells Solomon to guard his heart, his mouth and even his eyes and feet. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20, Paul urges the church to honor God with our bodies, because God Himself abides in us. Paul reminds the Corinthians that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Temple was a place of worship, it was to be treated with respect. Inside the temple, there were items that were there to bring God glory. Paul is calling all Christians to watch out for temptation and to abstain from sinful practices involving their bodies. These words are a call to keep our bodies healthy in every way.
Self-control is difficult, and it involves controlling every part of our body. Jesus said, “without me you can do nothing,” It is only through Him that we will be able to treat our bodies with respect, preparing foods that will nourish us and not hurt us. Memorizing this small portion of scripture; “Honor God with your bodies” will help when we are faced with important decisions when it comes to how we are treating our bodies.
Our challenge today is to do our best to treat every part of our body with respect, knowing that in everything that we do, we should be honoring Him who crafted us and gave us life.
Discussion Questions:
- When was the last time that you took time to care for your body?
- What are some things you should do to improve your health?
- What is the workout you most enjoy?
- What is one unhealthy habit you can give up?
- How can you honor God with your body this week?
Prayer:
God our creator, Your word says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We thank You for knowing us and for wanting us to live a full life that brings You honor. Help us to remember that You love us, and that our body belongs to You. Help us to be good stewards of what You have given us. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Other Resources:
The following are links to workouts to Christian music suitable for exercising.
Praise Workouts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7OnZCtISkI&list=PL9t2BfZ7yRhCZSEQESmYsGv-ZdhJrYR8y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnDH2jf3hZE
Cool Down:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR-jEGJ6xWM&list=PL9t2BfZ7yRhCZSEQESmYsGv-ZdhJrYR8y&index=5
