How do we get control of our body?

RETRAINING THE BODY - Spiritual transformation into Christlikeness is the process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it takes on the character of the inner being of Jesus himself. The result is that the “outer” life of the individual increasingly becomes a natural expression of the inner reality of Jesus and his teachings. Doing what he said and did increasingly becomes a part of who we are. 

But for this to happen, our body must increasingly be poised to do what is good and to refrain from what is evil. The inclinations to wrongdoing that inhabit our body’s parts must be eliminated. Then the body becomes a primary ally in Christlikeness. 

Without the elimination of such inclinations, the part of our character that lives in our body carries us away. James observed the incredible power of the tongue to stir up the inclinations of the body. It is perhaps the last bodily part to submit to goodness and rightness. No one can tame it. Physical violence is nearly always introduced by verbal violence (see James 3:5-6). 

It is only as we habitually subject our tongue to the grace of God as an instrument reserved to do his will that grace comes literally to inhabit and govern it. And when that happens the effects spread throughout the body. The proper retraining and nurturing of the body is essential to Christlikeness. When our heart (will, spirit) comes to new life in God, the old “programs” still run, primarily in our body. “Sin dwells within me, that is, in my flesh” (Romans 7:18, PAR). 

But when the law or force of the spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus becomes a real presence in our body, that opens the way to liberation from the force of sin in our bodily parts (see Romans 7:23). The result is that the body increasingly becomes a major part of the hidden source from which our lives immediately flow.