Let us examine ourselves to see whether we are faithfully living for Jesus in the lives we are now to be living in our bodies by faith in Christ (Gal. 2:20):
1. When was the last time that I glorified God by praising Him for fearfully, wonderfully, and marvelously making my body?
Ps. 139:14 – “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
Ps. 50:23 – “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.”
2. When did I last pray to the One whose “hands have made me and fashioned me” for understanding to learn His commandments concerning the members of my body, which He has commanded me to present to Him as “servants . . . of obedience unto righteousness”?
Ps. 119:73 – “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.”
Rom. 6:16, 19 – “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? . . .I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.”
3. How long has it been since I fervently wished for myself and for others physical well-being matching the prosperity of my/their soul(s)?
3 John 2 – “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
4. How faithfully have I ministered to Christ by ministering to sick brethren?
Matt. 25:36, 40 – “Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. . . . And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” cf. Ps. 41:1-3; Acts 9:5; 1 Cor. 12:22-27; Gal. 4:13-15, 6:2; Col. 1:24; 1 Tim. 5:10; Heb 13:3; James 1:27
5. On how many days have I exhorted others so that they would not be hardened by the deceitfulness of some sin pertaining to bodily appetites?
Heb. 3:13 – “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
Prov. 22:3 – “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.”
1 Cor. 10:12 – “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
Prov. 25:16 – “Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.”
6. When was the last time that I delighted in God’s word and meditated on it throughout the day concerning what He has commanded concerning glorifying Him in my body?
Ps. 1:2 – “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
1 Cor. 6:20 – “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
7. How submissive have I been to exhortation from God-appointed ministers concerning needed changes in my lifestyle for my health sake?
1 Tim. 5:23 – “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.”
Prov. 3:7, 8 – “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.”
Prov. 14:30 – “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.”
8. How diligent have I been to worthily take the Lord’s Supper by judging myself concerning failure to love others properly with respect to my eating and drinking?
1 Cor. 11:21, 28, 31 – “For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. . . . But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. . . . For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”
Prov. 15:17 – “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.”
9. What Scripture have I recently treasured in my heart so that I would not sin against God concerning my body?
Ps. 119:11 – “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
Prov. 30:7-9 – “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.” cf. 1 Cor. 8:11-13
10. How careful have I been to not openly judge or despise brethren who are seeking to honor God in living their lives in the body in ways that I have a differing opinion of what is right to do?
Rom. 14:3 – “Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.”
11. When did I last search diligently as I would for hidden treasure the Word of God concerning glorifying God in my eating and drinking and thereby come to understand His fear and find the knowledge of Him?
Prov. 2:4, 5 – “If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.”
1 Cor. 9:25 – “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”
12. When have I recently been a Christ-like friend to another believer by sharing something special that I have heard from God in His word concerning glorifying Him in my body?
John 15:15 – “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
Ps. 29:9 – “In his temple doth every one speak of his glory.”
1 Cor. 6:19, 20 – “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
13. How willing am I to glorify God through faithful stewardship of the abundant physical strength that He would give me through Christ to sacrificially meet the health needs of others whom I providentially encounter?
1 Pet. 4:10, 11 – “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
Luke 10:33-35 – “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.”
14. From the Scriptural records of people who failed concerning glorifying God in their bodies, have I learned not to fail to glorify God in my body like they did?
1 Cor. 10:6, 9 – “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. . . . Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.”
15. How faithful have I been to confront young people I interact with about remembering their Creator now and removing everything in their lives that is unjustifiably harming their physical bodies?
Eccl. 11:10, 12:1 – “Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;”
16. How mindful have I been of my need to be a good steward of my body for His glory while I expectantly await the imminent return of Christ?
Matt. 24:48, 49 – “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;”
Luke 12:45 – “But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin . . . to eat and drink, and to be drunken;”
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