How the Bible Talks about Your Body

We know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God.

2 Corinthians 5:1

When the apostle Paul talks about “the tent that is our earthly home,” he is talking about your body. Notice, Paul does not say that your body is like a fort, or a castle, or a battleship. He says it is like a tent with canvas, ropes, and pegs. It is a fragile structure, adequate housing for the time being, but never intended to be your final home.

Think about your body: It’s made of strong ropes; it has tough canvas. It can endure some heavy weather, but it’s only canvas. The ropes can fray; they have a breaking point. Your nerves are like ropes that can fray; there are limits to what your body can take. The delicate chemical balance in your brain is like a canvas that can very easily tear. Your central nervous system can carry a certain load, but the ropes have a breaking point.

Once you see this, it will not surprise you that sometimes the children of godly parents struggle with unimaginable conditions and disorders. Their bodies are only tents. And it will not surprise you to discover that a missionary is on antidepressants, or that a respected Christian leader has to step back from ministry because of the strain that has come on his family.

It is easy to lose heart if we’ve imagined that, since we’re Christians, we must be like forts or battleships. But Paul says, “No, your body is like a tent.”

Are you being realistic about your body? Or are you telling yourself that it is indestructible, like a castle or a battleship?