What is your relationship with your body?

In 2014, during the Jerusalem LAB, we watched an animation that explained how the Second Temple was built. In the video, there was a portion that showed how the men lugged those tremendous cylindrical blocks that would form its columns. They used some sort of contraption to make it possible to transport those gigantic discs at all, but even so, it was a gargantuan, arduous task. I don't remember much of the technical details, because what struck me was the immense physical effort it took, as evidenced by the look of suffering on the workers’ faces and how they strained to pull the stone along.

"Wow," I thought. "So much effort put into the building." But of course; it was the temple of God, the one place the Spirit of God was said to reside. Even now, Jews from all over the world flock to Jerusalem just to dahven before the Western Wall, the wall closest to the Holy of Holies.

And then it hit me: we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?–1 Cor 6:19 

All that honour and effort given to the house of God was simply because that was the one place His Spirit dwelt. But as Christians, we believe that the Spirit of God dwells in all of us. My body is a church.

When I look at a church, I would never deride it, no matter how simple or modest. Instead, I often find myself commenting, "What a lovely place. The Spirit of God is there." Why, then, do I not take the gracious attitude towards my body? Would I criticise a church building for being short? Ugly? Simply average? I detest my eyes, the way they droop, and my fat cheeks that will sag with time. My skin tone is uneven, and still holds the acne scars of ten years ago. Would I look at a church in the mirror in the morning and despise the way it looks? That's not even the point. I love it simply because God is there, and that is the same for us.

That night, I resolved to treat my body with the same graciousness, honour, and kindness as I would a church. No longer "wow I'm so damn ugly," but "wow, how beautiful. the Spirit of God resides in you."