Biblical Stewardship of the Body: Loving God, Loving Others… and Learning to Care for Yourself Rightly

Biblical-Stewardship-of-the-Body

By Cara Lederer
April 17, 2026

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… and love your neighbor as yourself.” — Mark 12:30–31

There’s something important tucked into this command that we don’t always slow down long enough to notice.

We are called to love:

  • God first
  • Others deeply
  • And others as ourselves

But what does it actually mean to love ourselves rightly?

Not selfishly.
Not obsessively.
Not placing ourselves above God or others.

But also—not neglecting ourselves in the name of sacrifice.

Somewhere along the way, many of us as Christians have quietly absorbed the idea that caring for ourselves is selfish… that “dying to self” means ignoring our needs, pushing through exhaustion, and pouring out endlessly with little regard for our own limits.

And yet… that’s not how we treat anyone else we love.

???? What Loving Yourself Rightly Actually Looks Like

You already know how to do this.

You do it every day—almost without thinking.

  • You eat when you’re hungry
  • You drink when you’re thirsty
  • You rest when you’re weary
  • You tend to wounds when you’re hurting

This isn’t selfish.

This is stewardship.

Scripture reminds us that our bodies are not accidental or meaningless:

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit… therefore honor God with your bodies.” — 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

Caring for your body—your energy, your sleep, your nourishment, your stress—is not about vanity.

It’s about honoring what God has entrusted to you.

⚓️ Where the Confusion Comes In

We are absolutely called to:

  • Lay down our lives
  • Serve others sacrificially
  • Put others before ourselves

But here’s the tension:

???? You cannot give what you do not have.

Even Jesus:

  • Withdrew to quiet places
  • Rested
  • Ate
  • Prayed
  • Stepped away from the crowds

He lived in perfect surrender to the Father…
and perfect stewardship of His earthly body.

So the question becomes:

What does it look like to live poured out… from a place of being filled?

???? When the Struggle Becomes the Invitation (My Story)

There was a time in my life when my relationship with food felt like a battle I couldn’t win.

I remember thinking:
“Why this? Why couldn’t it be something I could just avoid—like cigarettes or alcohol?”

Something I could walk away from entirely.

But food?

Food is something you come back to again… and again… and again.

Three times a day. Every day.

And in that place—honestly, a place of frustration and even despair—I brought it before the Lord.

And in His kindness, I sensed something shift.

Not condemnation.
Not shame.
But invitation.

It was as if the Lord gently impressed on my heart:

“This thing that feels like it’s owning you… is going to become the very place I meet you.”

The very place of struggle became the place of surrender.

Again and again:

  • Surrender in the morning
  • Surrender at the table
  • Surrender in the cravings
  • Surrender in the weakness

“My flesh is weak… but His Spirit is strong.”

What I once saw as a burden, as slavery…
became a place of daily dependence and over time… freedom.

A place of closeness.
A place of transformation.
A place of freedom.

Not all at once.
But slowly, faithfully, over time.

Truly my greatest area of weakness has become His strength in me.

And I am forever grateful that I get to walk closely with Him, daily dependence, moment by moment.

The very thing that once brought me decades of anguish and slavery is now a place of deep joy and freedom in Him.

???? Suffering, Stewardship, and Purpose

We live in a broken world.

Our struggles—whether with health, habits, fatigue, or deeper pain—were never part of God’s original design.

But they are not meaningless.

God does not leave us alone in them.

He meets us in them.

He strengthens us through them.

And He uses them.

As Viktor Frankl so beautifully articulated in logotherapy—suffering, when given meaning, can become transformative.

And through a biblical lens, we see even more clearly:

  • God sees
  • God cares
  • God is sovereign
  • God is present

We are not abandoned in our weakness.

We are met there.

✨ So What Is Our Response?

If this body is:

  • A gift
  • A temple
  • A vessel for His Spirit

Then our response is not perfection…

It is stewardship.

Not striving.
Not control.
Not shame.

But daily, grace-filled participation:

  • Nourishing your body well
  • Prioritizing rest
  • Supporting your nervous system
  • Honoring your limits
  • Bringing your struggles to Him again and again

Because one day, yes—we will lay this body down.

But today?

We are called to care for it well.

❤️ A Gentle Invitation for This Week

Take a few quiet moments and bring this before the Lord:

“Lord, how am I caring for what You’ve entrusted to me?”

And maybe even more honestly:

“Where have I been neglecting myself in ways that are not actually honoring You?”

And then:

“What would it look like to steward my body, mind, and soul in a way that glorifies You in this season?”

Listen.

He is kind.
He is near.
He will answer.

???? Final Encouragement

You are not alone in this.

  • He sees you
  • He strengthens you
  • He meets you in your weakness
  • He walks with you in the process

And yes…

Even in the places that feel like your greatest struggle—
He is able to bring your greatest freedom.

???? If You Need Support

If you’re walking through fatigue, health struggles, or feeling stuck in patterns that are hard to break…

This is exactly the kind of work I do.

Through a body, mind, and soul approach, we look beneath the surface to uncover what’s really going on—and create a path forward that is both practical and deeply rooted in truth.

You don’t have to figure it out alone.

Together in the journey…

Cara Lederer