Check out this conversation on Nutrition by the Whole Bodi Health Team. The whole Bodi Health team are disciples from New England who came together to provide all of us with resources on health & wellness right here on our ICOC NE App!
Helen, Michelle, and Jennifer all professionally work in the field of Health & Wellness.
The Conversation
Devotional
Pillar 2: Exercise
By: Jennifer Allen
Pioneer Valley Church of Christ
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’
Matthew 22:37
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
Mark 12:30
Your body is good! You are made in His image. Stop and think about this for a few moments! No really stop reading and meditate on this truth!
We must start from this place! I haven’t always been someone that exercises! It was not until later in my life that I began this discipline. I have not always thought that my body was good. It has taken many years to learn how and to understand that this physical body that I have IS good. That I get to represent my father in heaven… In HIS image!
In Matthew and Luke we are instructed to love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength. Each of these require us to be in touch with both the physical and spiritual side of life.
Exercise requires a physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve our health and fitness. Exercise is not punishment! Exercise or rather movement is given to us by our father in heaven. He also walked in the garden (Genesis 3:8) and it is in him that we live and move (Acts 17:28a).
This physical body is how we get to interact in this world. We get to show up in our lives for our families, jobs and our communities in this shell. Our bodies hold our stories, the stories that we tell ourselves and the way this world has affected us. We get to live out our calling in this life in and through our physical body!
- Sound mind: Exercise clears your head, eases anxiety and produces feel good hormones
- Strength: Helps you be strong for the tasks at hand
- Heart: Soul part of our lives – How we view and think about our physical body. The physical act of blood pumping is a sure sign of life!
Q: How does God use your physical body for his plans?
Q:How does taking care or paying attention to your body affect your walk with God?
Read Deuteronomy 30:15-16:
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
After reading Deuteronomy 30:15-16 do you believe that God cares about you having a vibrant long life?
Read John 10:10:
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Q: How does caring for your body with movement help you live life to the full?
Practicals:
- Journal through the questions in this quiet time
- Decide to move your body for 150 mins this upcoming week and notice how you feel! Find a friend that you can tell and that will help hold you accountable for this goal.
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Very informative and encouraging to take action seeking God’s will for me and continue to take better care of my “temple”!!! Thank you all very much!