‘God bought you with a high price. So…honor God with your body.’ 1 Corinthians 6:20 NLT

Respect your temple (1) At the resurrection, ‘Our earthly bodies…will be raised to live forever’ (1Corinthians 15:42 NLT), but in the meantime you must ‘honour God with your body’ by observing a few basic principles like: 1) Exercising regularly: Half of us who start exercise programmes abandon them within six months. The secret is to start slowly. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park the car and walk, play ball with the kids instead of watching TV. God designed your body to move, and strolling from the car to your desk every morning doesn’t cut it! Exercising thirty minutes 3-4 times a week reduces blood pressure and stress, and boosts your sense of well-being. 2) Eating right: Many of us eat for the wrong reasons, like fatigue, anger, and low self-esteem. Eat to live, don’t live to eat. Insufficient fruit, vegetables and fibre and too much fast food can wreak havoc with your health. Practice self-control. Remember, ‘Those who belong to Christ…have given up their old selfish feelings and…things they wanted to do’ (Galatians 5:24 NCV). 3) Getting enough sleep: Pastor Tony Jenkins consulted his doctor about his wife’s snoring. ‘Does it really bother you that much?’ he asked. ‘It’s not just me,’ Jenkins replied, ‘It’s bothering the whole congregation!’ Seriously, we live in a sleep-deprived society but most of us require 7-9 hours shut-eye. You can probably get by on less, but do you just want to ‘get by?’ The Psalmist said, ‘It is no use…to get up early and stay up late…The Lord gives sleep to those he loves’ (Psalm 127:2 NCV). So turn off the TV and the computer and turn in at a reasonable hour!