By Briana Bass, Christian Romance Author, Devotional Writer & Certified Professional Coach

Earlier this month, I spent a week eating only plant-based meals. I am no vegan by any means, nor do I intend to be one full-time. A vegan diet is wildly different from my usual diet, and it allowed me to trick my brain into paying better attention to what I eat. Generally, my diet consists of fast food, convenience meals, and junk food. I know it’s not healthy, but I love a quick dinner or snack that I didn’t have to spend ages preparing.

So how did I trick my brain? By eating vegan for a week, I had to consider where I was getting my proteins, fiber, amino acids, and vitamins. If I had attempted to do this with my regular diet, I would have easily fallen back into bad habits and reached for whatever was quick and available. Choosing a radically different diet for a week forced my brain to pay attention to what I was actually putting in my body.

Now, that’s not to say that everything labeled vegan is good for you. There are loads of plant-based convenience meals in the frozen section of the grocery store that are full of chemicals and ingredients you can’t pronounce. That worked in my favor though – instead of grabbing pre-packaged meals, I was forced to find vegan recipes and make my meals from scratch. And it was easier than I imagined! I’m now able to take the lessons I learned from that week and apply them to my omnivore diet, focusing on cleaner eating and taking care of my physical form.

Here is the Temple

I’m a big believer in holistic health: spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, and mental. When one of these is out of whack, I just don’t feel good. Taking care of my physical form is just as important as making time for prayer and Bible study every day. They go hand in hand, as Paul writes in his letter to the church in Corinth:

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV

God gave me this body. He entrusts me with it. That’s an important responsibility. Now that I’m in my mid-thirties, I have to pay particular attention to my body. It’s not as easy as it used to be to lose weight or maintain my flexibility. Most of us will struggle with taking care of our physical forms at some point in our lives. For me, cleaner eating is a great start to treating my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

During my vegan week, I carefully inspected the labels of every canned or packaged item I bought. I deliberately chose low-sodium and/or organic cans of chickpeas, black beans, and corn. If an item was full of chemicals and words I couldn’t pronounce, it didn’t go in my cart. Thankfully, there are clean snacks such as popcorn made with coconut oil and sea salt or white cheddar chickpea puffs (still dairy-free and plant-based!), so I never felt deprived. I had a better understanding of what I was putting in my temple – I mean, my body. And I felt good! I knew mentally that I was making good decisions and physically the results spoke for themselves through increased energy. My temple rejoiced!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

This isn’t me championing a vegan diet, or any kind of diet – please talk with your doctor or a certified nutritionist if you are planning to change your diet. Be aware of physical health fads and misinformation or dangerous advice online. It’s so important to include trained medical professionals in conversations about our health. But I will suggest that you take some time to consider how you treat your body. Do you treat your body as a temple, or a junk yard?

Just as God created me and my body, He created you and your body, too. God’s been with us from the very beginning of our earthly existence: “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139:13-14 KJV). Your body and spirit were carefully crafted by the Lord. When you were born, your physical form was entrusted to your family. As you grew older, it became your responsibility to take care of yourself. How are you doing with that responsibility?

I know that’s a charged question. Some people have strong negative feelings about their bodies. I’ve been there, too, looking in the mirror and wishing the fat rolls on my back would disappear, or frowning at the stretch marks on my thighs. Our feelings on our bodies can be complicated. At the end of the day, though, these are the only bodies we have. We can certainly make positive changes to mold our physical forms into shapes we prefer, but that won’t always lower our cholesterol or our blood pressure. Our bodies go beyond the outer layer of what people see. It’s important to take care of the inside, too.

Get Moving

Nothing beats a greasy cheeseburger. In moderation. Overnight oats made with oat milk and maple syrup are pretty good, too. Like with most things in life, our eating habits require balance. We must take time to care for our physical health in addition to our emotional and spiritual health. Sitting down to read the Bible is great, but maybe set a timer so you stand up, stretch, and walk around every once in a while.

Your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. You are the hands and feet of Jesus. It’s imperative that we take care of our physical forms so we can complete the work God sets before us. I’ll admit it’s not always easy. But the reward is always worth it.