Tag: health

To Care for My Body

Incarnate Christ,
I marvel that you took on a body to satisfy the law and secure my righteousness through your perfect life of obedience. But you didn’t stop there! You offered up that very same human body as the unblemished sacrifice for all sin on Good Friday. Finally, you brought that lifeless body back from the dead three days later, just as you promised. Now you oversee all things for my benefit in that glorious body until you reveal it again on the Last Day.

Through all of this work you redeemed not just my soul, but my body as well. Surely this shows how highly you regard your gift of a body that you entrust to all people! Let me have that same high regard for my body. Too often we think too little of our bodies, rather than viewing them as the holy temple with which you have blessed us. Help me to see my physical body as a means by which I honor and thank you, and to tend to it in a way that aligns with this view. Since I also love and serve others with my body, I want to care for it and manage my health in a way that allows me to function optimally for as many years as you grant me on earth.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

To Care for My Body

Almighty God,
We are fearfully and wonderfully made. The more we discover about our bodies and how marvelously you have designed them to function, the more in awe of you we are. Not only are we as human beings the crown of your creation, but you also showed how highly you regard our physical bodies through your incarnation, clothing yourself in flesh and blood! Help me to remember that my body is a gift from you, and just like all gifts that you give, you entrust them to us to manage and care for in ways that honor you. 

While you are responsible for numbering my days, I want to do everything I can to protect and preserve the physical body you’ve given me. Give me wisdom regarding my diet and curb my appetite and desire for food that can negatively impact my health in the short or long-term. Guard me from being overly sedentary and instill in me the discipline to exercise and/or maintain a reasonable level of physical activity. Lead me to establish a daily routine that also allows for adequate sleep each night, enabling my body to receive the rest and recovery time it needs to function at an optimal level. All of this I ask so that I may glorify you and effectively serve my neighbor with a healthy body for as long as you determine. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.