Our bodies belong to us. And yet this is only partially true. Our bodies ultimately belong to God. And in this way they are holy.
To be sure, we often just think of our bodies in terms of its functionality. And while we might readily concede our ability to objectify and lust after each other physically, rarely is the body considered honorable. Perhaps tolerated at best.
To be holy is to be sanctified and set apart for special use. And certainly this includes our very lives – given as a living sacrifice for the sake of God’s kingdom. But it’s helpful to bring this view of holiness to our bodies as well.
To treat our bodies as holy means they’re reserved for special use. This is what we’re communicating, for example, when we reserve sex for just our wife. While we’re capable of having sex with anyone, we’ve dedicated our sexual bodies for the exclusive use within the bonds of our marriage.
But even this is just one level of holiness. More than our bodies being holy and set apart for our wife in marriage, they are to be holy and set apart for God in his kingdom. As such, we must also consider how we’re using our bodies to communicate God’s truth, goodness, and beauty.
For instance, are we allowing our bodies to communicate truth through our strength and vulnerability? Are we displaying goodness in action by using our bodies to protect and defend, or simply to be a comforting shoulder to cry on? Likewise, do we allow even the glory of our masculine form to point to the order and harmony of God’s kingdom – allowing the beauty of holiness to be communicated through our very embodied presence?
Whatever it looks like, our bodies are not to be treated as merely common objects easily discarded. We’re able to love when we remember our bodies are also holy.
In the end, we’re called to be holy. And this includes our very bodies. Learn to give your body the dignity it deserves because it’s been set apart to be used as a vehicle of love.
Photo by Chermiti Mohamed on Unsplash
