Your Body is the Instrument

The following presents some personal thoughts combined with notes I took 2 May 2002 at Women's Conference:

Our bodies are an inheritance from the Lord (1 Cor. 3:16-17). The body is the instrument of the mind, which is the foundation of our character. We are told to glorify God in our body (1 Cor. 6:19-20). We came to earth to be tested, tried, and proven within our body. According to D&C 130, Jesus Christ has a body as does His father. Having our body is a privilege. We know that the spirit and the body is the soul of man (D&C 88:15). Therefore, having a body allows to fully experience our Spirit!  With our body we are commanded to:

• grow
• learn
• improve our talents
• marry if possible and multiply and replenish the earth
• prove ourselves

In the New Testament book of Mark is the account of Jesus Christ casting out evil spirits who called themselves "Legion, for we are many." After being cast out, the evil spirits went into the bodies of swine, as if that were still an acceptable alternative.  They wanted a body, any body.

We should be grateful to have a body. Satan tries to destroy our body which would in turn destroy our spirit. Every hurt or thought we experience produces a physical response. We learn refinements of the spirit often through our body. Therefore, Satan targets the body through demonic tools such as:

• bulimia
• pornography
• immorality
• suicide
• murder
• immodesty

Does it surprise you to see immodesty in this list? It is one of Satan's most effective ways to demean and cause us to devalue our physical tabernacle.  It affects not only how others see us, but how we see ourselves.  Elder Theodore M. Burton said: that the worst discouragement is feeling inadequate in mind, body, or spirit.

Our body is a vessel of service to the Savior. Romans 12:1-2 calls it a living sacrifice. If we practice self-mastery in the flesh, we can more easily submit ourselves to God.

Romans 14:5 teaches us that we start with the mind. Once committed to Christ in our mind, our body will follow. 1 Peter 1:13 counsels us to "gird up" or prepare yourself. Life's battles begin in the mind--our thoughts. And our mind is the gatekeeper to our heart. The scriptures teach that the Lord requires the heart and mind. Alma 32, 34 teaches to expand our mind. There is no limit for us with enough faith. Alma 57:27 describes having trust in the Lord as having "minds that [are] firm."

Consider the eyes.  We know how these amazing lenses work. There is also an ocular spiritual principle described in D&C 88:67. We are told that having an "eye single" will cause us to be "filled with light" and there will be "no darkness in us." The light of the body, then, is the eye. Therefore, to keep the light of Christ burning brightly within us, we need to watch what we watch.

How about the heart...we all know that cardio fitness is good. God requires us to love Him with all our heart and our neighbor as our self.  We kept our first estate by obedience while in the spirit. Our second estate also requires obedience to certain laws. The universe is filled with temporal laws by which we are bound. Gravity, for instance is not a law that can be eliminated by refusing to acknowledge or respect it. There are temporal laws of health that affect the body, the instrument of the spirit. Our ten trillion cells will all change with time.  Let's give them superior materials to work with, things like:

• adequate rest
• regular exercise
• refueling through proper nutrition
• nurturing our bodies by taking care of grooming and mental and physical health needs

After all, our body is the vehicle that is going to carry us through eternity. Aging brings changes to our bodies; however, many losses are wrongfully attributed to age when the truth is that we just gave up. There are many stories of individuals who, after a long sedentary lifestyle, take up running after they are 60 and become marathoners.  This demonstrates that our bodies are truly instruments of our minds.  They just decide one day that they are going to do it, and little by little they do.

All seven vital systems in our body depend on movement and use. Our bodies are amazing the way they adapt to the stresses they experience. We literally grow stronger in both our minds and our bodies when we experience and do hard things. 

I pray that God will bless my mind and my body to be in harmony with one another. Fasting brings the body/mind in submission to the spirit. Fasting at least monthly (when health permits) not only allows our bodies to cleanse and rest and provides a means to help those less fortunate. It also, in a very real way, helps us practice avoiding temptation.

Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants outlines a principle with a promise. The more we take care of ourselves, the better we feel and the better we treat others. Proper care of our bodies has significant social, mental, and emotional effects.  Heavenly Father expects to do our best, whatever our circumstances, and move toward perfection.

With society's extreme emphasis on physical appearance, it is important to remember that more important than the type of tabernacle we have bee3n given is what we do with that tabernacle.  There are significant physical obstacles that many of us have to battle daily.  Eliza R. Snow said of her aging body,

"I will go forward. I will smile at the rage of the tempest."

Hebrews 12:1-3 teaches us to run with patience the race of life. Isaiah 40:31 promises that

"hey that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up as eagles."

I love that image. We have many eagles in our area of Idaho, and watching them and learning about them has convinced me that they truly rule the sky. Let us respect and revere life. If we do, we will not allow muscles to atrophy, and we will nourish our body tissue in positive, productive ways.