You Can Thrive ~ Value Your Body With a Covenant of Care

In seminary one of our professors gave us an assignment: assess how you’re taking care of yourself physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. No fudging, tweaking the truth, or outright lies allowed. After all, we were seminary students.Once this was done, we had to create a list of ways to realistically pay attention to our well-being. It was called a Covenant of Care—and it was between us and God. But being short on self-discipline, I knew I had to soften the covenant part.  Here’s what I wrote:

“I will, to the best of my (limited) ability, seek to intentionally care for what God has given me spiritually, physically, emotionally, and intellectually.”

How about you?  Are you willing to do something like this in order to take care of God’s gift to you? The following is my response to the question “How am I valuing my body?”  Feel free to use my commitments to spur your own ideas, or come up with  something fits your life. Just be sure to answer the question: How will I value my body? The following exercise will help you decide to value the body God has given you.I Will Value My Body

• I will exercise by either going to the gym or walking four times a week for 45 minutes

Your plan:_________________________________________________________

• I will get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night

Your plan:_________________________________________________________

• I will be more intentional and careful about what I eat

Your plan:___________________________________________________________

• I will work to reach and maintain my best weight for my health

Your plan: _________________________________________________________ To help you to move forward with your plans, ask yourself the following:

• What obstacles block my good intentions? _______________________________________________________________________

• Which area of my physical health needs attention first?  Weight, exercise, diet, sleep?

________________________________________________________________________

• What two changes can I take immediately? When will I get going?

_________________________________________________________________God’s power is available to you, no matter the challenge. You can make the changes He impresses on your heart. Maybe they won’t happen immediately, but step by prayerful step, you will experience the Holy Spirit whispering, “You don’t need to eat more. Say no to yourself. Get up and get moving.” And you’ll be amazed and delighted at the power He gives you to do something you never thought you could!Blessings,Poppy SmithInternational speaker, multi-published author, Bible teacher, and spiritual coachInspiring Women to Thrive! Permission to use this article is granted provided the following credit is fully included.Poppy Smith is funny, warm, and passionate about helping women grow spiritually and personally so they experience the love and power of Christ in life’s ups and downs. A former teaching leader with Bible Study Fellowship, Poppy has a Masters in Spiritual Formation and ministers extensively as a retreat and conference speaker both in the US and around the world. For more information about Poppy’s heart, her books and ministry, please visit her website at www.poppysmith.com.The above graphic was purchased from Dreamstime and is used with permission © Andreykr | Dreamstime.com