MISUSES OF THE BODY - Here are some other things we can do to place our body and its parts fully at the disposal of the redeeming power of God living in us. No longer idolize your body. Human ruin comes from placing ourselves at the center of our universe, in place of God.
This leads to worship of the body and to a life of sensuality. Then our body becomes our primary source of gratification and the chief instrument for getting what we want. For most people, their body governs their life. Even professing Christians often devote to their spiritual growth only a tiny fraction of the time they devote to their body.
So no longer make the body an object of ultimate concern. You don’t need to worry about what will happen to it—sickness, repulsiveness, aging, death—for you have placed God in charge of all that, and any issues that arise in this area you freely take up with him in prayer.
Do not misuse your body, especially as a source of sensual gratification or of domination or manipulation of others. Bodily pleasure is not in itself a bad thing, but when it is exalted to a necessity and we become dependent upon it, then we are slaves of our body and its feelings. Only misery lies ahead.
When we quit using our body to dominate or control others, we do not present our body in ways that elicit sexual thoughts, feelings, and actions from others. We do not try to be sexy. Giving up these things, of course, could be a fatal blow to the fashion industry and to other large segments of the economy, but we have to leave them to look after themselves. Misusing the body also includes intimidation by means of our body. The most common forms of it are social, for example “power dressing,” sarcasm, and “knowing” looks and remarks. Having given up our body to God, we do not then use it in these ways.
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