day 10- body (strength)

"Love the Lord you God with all your strength..." Here Jesus is talking about our bodies. Our body is our presence in the physical and social world. We are more than our body, in that our consciousness goes beyond what is physically "wired" into us. However the way we actually work out the decisions we make using our mind and chosen in our hearts is usually through the body.

The body is where we can get in a lot of trouble. It is not that our bodies are evil, created by God after all, but we often act through our bodies without thinking. The Bible often calls our bodies "flesh" or "human nature." Through our bodies we are prone to sin. Living our lives by our feelings and the instincts of our bodies we are left with the pursuit of pleasure and/or power as the driving forces of our existence. Using my body to gain pleasure and using my body to gain influence over you.

Rage, attack, withdrawal, seduction, manipulation and such all have body elements attached. Even the way we speak about it gives us a clue. We talk about reading someone's "body language."

Notice today when you are influenced and/or tempted by your bodily whims and desires.