Servants of Righeousness

A month ago I pulled on a pair of dress pants for a dressy occasion, and about a minute later, pulled them off again. I’d gained weight, and I’m not having fun being too big for my clothes. Every day, now, I pray for the grace to burn up those excess pounds.

In general, we think of dietary discipline as legalistic. I would guess that nearly all of us—myself included—generally miss the point.

My body is admittedly not the most important thing. Exercise and right eating won’t necessarily add a day to my lifespan, nor will it necessarily make me any happier or more effective. If my body is gone, however, I lose absolutely any possibility for being effective. Paul wrote more about this topic than anyone else, and it’s pretty clear—at least, I think it is—that my opportunity to impact the world exists while I’m still breathing.

First and foremost, scripture tells me that my body is to be a servant of righteousness. While righteousness is an internal state, there are acts of righteousness that can only be performed by a body. If you are in such bad shape that you can barely climb stairs, how can you, for instance, assist someone else who needs help moving into their new house? Having a right heart and a willing spirit will not by themselves accomplish any good thing at all. Every good thing that the Lord does inside must flow out through my body before it can positively impact anyone else.

Secondly, I am responsible to discipline my body and its whims and fancies. We would all agree that no man has a right to go have sex with every pretty girl who catches his eye, but most of us think that if a hot fudge sundae calls us, we have a right to gobble it up, as long as we have the money to pay for it. We wouldn’t dream of getting drunk, perhaps, or smoking a cigarette, but we need food to live, after all.

We get so caught up in being legalistic or not legalistic about eating that we lose sight of the most important thing: are our eating habits making our bodies more fit to perform acts of righteousness?

I can tell you absolutely that you don’t need me or anyone else to tell you what you should and shouldn’t eat, and how much of it you should eat. You don’t need me or anyone else to tell you what kind of exercise you should get, or how much of it. (Which is not to say that a little education in those areas is necessarily amiss.) The Lord is entirely willing to tell you all of that. He made your body, and He knows it best.

But in case you’ve forgotten, let me remind you that your body does have a purpose, and it isn’t to sit in front of the TV and sleep. Your body was created to do good works.

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