Put On Your Oxygen Mask

Put On Your Oxygen Mask

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?

1 Corinthians 6:19

As women, in addition to handling multiple responsibilities in the workplace—whether it’s our home or an office—we serve many people: perhaps aging parents; our own children, adolescents, or grandchildren; students, if we are teachers; or young people at church. With all these people to care for, it’s easy to forget to take care of ourselves and our own bodies, the physical homes God gave us to live in. The results can be damaging.

We may think, I can’t take time out for me. That’s too selfish, and I’ve got too much to do. If that thought has ever crossed your mind, let me share an analogy with you. On a plane to Brazil recently, our flight attendant pulled down a yellow oxygen mask and demonstrated an important principle (even though many passengers ignored her): Secure your own mask before helping the child or another person who needs assistance. That’s not only helpful information for flying. It is also practical for everyday living. We need to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others, whoever those “others” are.

Is this really a spiritual topic? Yes! Taking care of our bodies, where the Holy Spirit dwells, is essential to a life of fruitfulness, and thus it is a very spiritual issue. If we fail to care for our own bodies, we get depleted, depressed, exhausted (and perhaps irritable, impatient, and joyless) and can’t take care of anyone else, much less handle our other challenges, jobs, or areas of ministry. This week we will look at this important topic so that we can better care for the temples God made, through which to manifest the love and work of Christ on the earth. —CHERI

Father, thank you for the body you gave me, and thank you that it is your dwelling place. Help me to take care of it so that I might serve you, and those you’ve given me to serve, more fully and joyfully.

Our body is the most gracious gift God has given us, and if we hand over the mainspring of our life to God we can work out in our bodily life all that he works in. It is through our bodily lives that Satan works and, thank God, it is through our bodily lives that God’s Spirit works. God gives us his grace and his Spirit; he puts right all that was wrong, he does not suppress it nor counteract it, but readjusts the whole thing; then begins our work.

—OSWALD CHAMBERS (1874–1917), SCOTTISH BIBLE TEACHER, YMCA CHAPLAIN IN EGYPT