Glorify God in Body and Spirit
In today’s world, two opposite approaches to the human body often compete. On one side, we encounter a culture that glorifies the body and prizes appearance, fitness, and youth above all else. On the other, there’s a temptation within some faith communities to neglect the body, almost considering any form of physical care or attention to be vain. However, in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, Saint Paul reminds us of what is the truth:
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
This passage calls us to recognize that our bodies are gifts from God and that honoring them is not vanity, but instead, part of Christian stewardship. The key is to find virtue in the balanced middle, avoiding both the cult of the body and the neglect of it.
We can see the temptations of this world to glorify the body. This can present itself as having the perfect skin routine to have perfect skin. It can also be being a certain weight or having a certain level of muscle to appear attractive. Filters on social media giving the effect of a youthful and flawless look. Even models have lived their careers to look “perfect” and use Photoshop to “enhance” their physical appearance. Mathew 7:20 “So by their fruits you will know them”. These things are not inherently bad, but God did not intend for us to idolize our bodies. We can see this from the fruits that come of self-idolizing, which are anxiety about what others think, sadness or depression from not being able to reach unrealistic goals and expectations, and conditional self-love.
Some well-intentioned Christians may think that following the spiritual life is to ignore the body because it will lead to pride or self-absorption; however, neglecting the body is not an act of virtue because our bodies are not our own. They are gifts given from God. Our ability to physically move our arms or legs or move from one place to another is a gift from God. We are called to be good stewards of the gifts that God gave us and allowing ourselves to fall into poor health is not being a good steward of that gift.
We should strive to live in the middle which is a life of virtue with our bodies. This means honoring God our bodies while not idolizing them.
Practically speaking, this middle ground might look like:
Regular Exercise: Engaging in consistent physical activity to maintain strength, endurance, and cardiovascular health. Do what you enjoy and are willing to do consistently.
Healthy Eating: Choosing a balanced diet that sustains energy and supports bodily functions, without obsessing over “perfect” nutrition trends.
Adequate Rest: Allowing ourselves sufficient sleep and moments of leisure to restore and refresh both body and mind.
Prayerful Approach: Inviting God into our health journey. This could be beginning workouts or meals with a brief prayer of gratitude, and remembering that the goal is to honor Him, not ourselves.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 calls us to remember that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. There are people who glorify the body and there are people who neglect the body. As Catholics, we are called to glorify God in body and spirit. Taking care of our bodies is not vain, and can be an act of virtue. We can glorify God by taking care of the body He gave us and it can even be an act of worship by inviting him into our health journey.
Therefore, glorify God in body and spirit.