God also wants you to dedicate your body to him. The Bible says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT).

How do you honor God with your body?

It’s simple: You take care of it.

“Sanctify your body” basically means “get in shape.” If you want God to use you, you’ve got to get in shape. Because the better shape you are in, the more energy you’ll have and the more God can use you.

Psalm 119:73 says, “You made my body, Lord; now give me sense to heed your laws” (TLB). God set up the principles of good health. He doesn’t just want you to have a pure heart. He wants your body to be in shape so he can use you more effectively.

Some of you aren’t getting enough sleep, and you need to get proper rest. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap!

Some of you need to work on your food intake. In 1 Corinthians 6:13, the Bible compares overeating to sexual immorality: “It may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that’s no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body!” (The Message). You might not ever think of cheating on your husband or wife, but God says that, like sexual immorality, overeating is a sin against the body. God is serious about wanting you to control what you eat!

Some of you have the wrong attitude toward your body. You neglect it, you reject it (“God, I want a different one!”), or you try to perfect it (the way some body builders might worship their bodies). Instead, God wants you to respect your body and protect it. Why? Because God created it, Jesus paid for it, and the Holy Spirit lives in it.

So what’s your motivation to get in shape? The Bible says, “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize” (1 Corinthians 9:25 NLT). Your motivation is to please God.

Athletes get in shape just to win an award. But you will have an eternal reward when you make the most of what you were given and take care of your body so that God can use you more effectively here on Earth.