Previously, we looked at some ways we can change our thinking for right and fruitful living. Today, I want to challenge us much more on this thought. What are the possibilities that exist when we allow ourselves to adapt to a biblically focused lifestyle? The outcome can only be heavenly. Conciser these ways of changing our minds about our bodies and how we handle our time on earth.
What if I esteemed my body as God’s temple and not just an object?
How many people do you know who have a clean slate on matters to do with their sexuality? Probably few or none. Nevertheless, there is a sense in which we are responsible for what we do with our bodies. With the whole enterprise of showbiz, selfies and social handles, we need a right perspective in regards to these bodies we have from the Lord. Some of us cannot merely look at the opposite sex without necessarily sexually thinking of them.
Why is there such clamour when it comes to dressing and how much skin needs to be exposed? Or with the luscious music videos that present women for sex objects? The Bible tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). What would it look like of you valued your body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit? If you stopped demeaning your body for temporary pleasures of the flesh, how would that change your life? Maybe for you, it would mean getting off a bad relationship that makes the Lord’s temple mishandled. Or for someone else, it would mean that we throw out drugs and alcohol because they mess up members of the body, the temple of God. Try and see just how different things would be for your life if you started looking at others, yea, even yourself, as Temples and not objects.
What if its a lie that You Only Live Once?
YOLO has become the root cause of many young people’s wanton behaviour. The YOLO mentality says that you can do whatever, with whomever and wherever without care for consequences. If physics is applied, then we all know that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction, then it should go without saying that there is no way that we only live once. When we die, we will face eternity somewhere.
Scripture reminds us that our actions have eternal consquences (2 Corinthians 5:10). This is not a threat but a reality. All us, after we die, must appear the judgement seat of Christ for questioning. Unquestionably, we cannot believe the lie that we only live once. We live twice. Once you finish the first stretch, there comes another one that will never end. Eternity is real, my friend. If you deceive yourself that YOLO, then you are setting yourself up for destruction and eternal damnation.
Think about it; if all you have is today, then what is the difference between you and animals that have no soul? We are not just here for now, but for eternity’s sake. Once the physical is done, there awaits something bigger. Choose today to live a full life that is conscious of the fact that eternity begins with the decisions I make now. You always live twice (YALT), not once.
Take time and reflect upon these things. How could your life be different with these truths in mind? Would you be more productive and deliberate in your endeavours? Maybe some behaviours would change, and transformation would kick in. We don’t need another seminar for right living. We need a paradigm shift. A change of mind. The Bible says in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In other words, consider the “what ifs” of scripture as discussed above.
