Theology of the body

As we begin to move back to our former norms and transition to a post-pandemic era, we find that many of the unhealthy habits that had previously (before COVID) marked our lives are returning. Instead of holding on to the healthy lessons of taking care of ourselves, resting, and having a more balanced life, we are rushing headlong back into a life without margins.

A margin is the amount available beyond what is necessary. A page, for example, has margins of about an inch on each side above what is necessary. It’s the amount that we have beyond what is necessary. Creating margins is about learning how small changes can make a big difference in our lives. One of the norms of modern living is that we have none or very little margins in our lives. Our tendency is to take everything to the limit or beyond the limits that God has set. We cram everything in and push limits in almost every area of our lives. When this happens, we squeeze out the margins which are necessary to keep us healthy and balanced.

Would you say that you occasionally, or often, feel stressed?

Would you say that you feel some financial tension or stress?

How often do you say, “I really wish that I had either more time for myself just to relax?

We normalise ‘multi-tasking’, ‘split screening’, ‘Skyping’, ‘Face Time’, ‘Hands-free’, and we’re expected to maximise everything and live without margins. Let’s consider margins as it relates to our bodies. This is one of the areas that many of us struggle with. We have very little margins when it comes to issues of our bodies and our physical health because of the lack of care and the approach we generally have towards our bodies.

We experience life through our bodies and, when we don’t have margins generally in our lives, it puts stress on our bodies and they break down. Stress in our bodies is expressed in sickness and disease. For many of us, we are not creating the capacity in our bodies to deal with the stress of modern living, and we’re not putting the necessary margins in place. Some cancers, high blood pressure, and some types of depression are as a result of not having margins in relation to our bodies. We need a shift in the way we consider our bodies, and we need to change our theology of the body.

God gave us our bodies to experience the life that He created us to live. He wants us to have the best life possible. So, in order to experience the life that God has for us, we must take care of our bodies. God wants us to take care of our bodies. He doesn’t only care about our spiritual well-being, God cares about our physical well-being as well, and many times we miss that. God created our bodies individually. David wrote in Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT) “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous — how well I know it.” If God made us so thoughtfully and wonderfully, what we do with our bodies or cause to happen to them matters to Him. God knows us better than we know ourselves and He has given us guidelines in the Word to care for our physical body.

Next week, we will find out what God’s theology is for the care of our bodies.