Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn. And whether you're listening to this on your favorite podcast platform or watching on our YouTube channel, I'm thankful you've joined me for this episode. This is the second T as we walk through five T's for a strong 2025 and really a stronger life. A reminder that each one of these Ts, words that start with T that we're going through has the potential to make or break you. And each one is part of God's will for your life. And it's touched on in scripture. So we're walking through some ways to strengthen our year and take inventory of our life. I'll remind you of the list and then we'll jump right into the second one in this episode. The first one was time, as in how you use it. If you haven't listened to that episode, go back. Last week, we talked about how to strategize your time. Number two, your temple. We're going to focus on that one in this episode. And this is the totality of who you are. It's not just physical, although we'll talk through that, but spiritual. And then the third T is your talent, as in your skills and your spiritual gifts, then your treasure. That's your stewardship of resources like money and possessions. And then finally your trust. These are going to be your relationships, the people you run with, those who you let get close to you. Very important. The five T's in our lives deserve attention. All right, so our second one is temple. Here's the point that I'm framing up in this one it is strengthen your temple. So we move from strategize your time to strengthen your temple. And let me first define what I mean by temple. I'm talking about your spiritual health and your physical health. These are connected to all the other categories people are going to have, like mental health, which is really just your stability of mind, your emotional health. That's just your ability to stabilize your emotions and maintain self-control. And these are important elements of your temple, like your mind and what the Bible calls your inner man. Paul will refer to the inner man or your lowercase S spirit. It's who you are on the inside. But there's also the physical man or physical woman as in your body. And how you treat your body is going to affect everything else. That is proven. I once heard a Christian doctor who's very slow to lean on medications and toss out a prescription at every problem. He said this, oh, I always prescribe three medications for every one of my patients right off the bat. Number one, sleep. Number two, exercise. And number three, whole foods. Three very good, quote unquote, medications to help your body, help your mind. And God has designed the body to respond to those things in the right way. And so uh he starts there. I think that's a good place to start for all of us. And then he takes a look at what issues persist. Here's the simple truth: you only get one temple. In that, you've got one brain, you get one body, one heart, one life. And it's wise to take inventory of how you're treating your temple. So let me walk you through several priorities here and then help you apply them to your life. We'll go physical and we'll go spiritual here. Number one, prioritize your F E S. Your F E S. What do those letters stand for? It's the best medication in the world. It's the Christian doctor all over again. Your food, your exercise, and your sleep. Three important things that if you think are detached from your Christian life, you're not thinking very wisely. God is not detached from the body in that He has designed the body to respond a certain way to the way you feed it, the way you rest it, and the way you exercise it. It doesn't mean your body's gonna be perfect, doesn't mean you're gonna be able to stave off the negative effects of sin on the world. We are in a fallen world. So there's gonna be issues. You could be the most healthy person and still have a heart attack. It doesn't mean that you're never gonna get sick. But our bodies are designed to thrive like an engine in the right circumstances, and so we need the right kind of fuel. FES is a game changer for you. Food, exercise, and sleep are gonna affect your productivity, your focus, your mood, your attitude, and your general ability to run around with your kids if you have them, and certainly your grandkids. I was just uh joking around with my newborn this morning. She doesn't understand anything, English or sounds, let alone. She's just three weeks old. But I looked at her and I said, You're gonna be 20 when I'm 60, but don't worry. Daddy's gonna stay in the best shape he can for you, and I'll keep up with you. And my wife was chuckling, and I'm already thinking about the fact that my sixth child is going to be 20 when I'm 60, because now I'm 40. And the way I treat my temple, of course, according to God's will, barring any unforeseen circumstances, is gonna impact how I act at 60. Am I this run-down father who's just throwing it in the white towel with the last kid because I'm just exhausted and oh, I haven't taken. Or am I fiery still, up and at it, a spry 60-year-old? Doesn't mean I'm gonna be a fitness model by any stretch. I couldn't even do that if I tried. But am I healthy and I'm prepared, am I prepared, if the Lord would will, and number my days as such, to make it to 80 and enjoy some grandkids? I think these are good goals, they're godly goals, even though we're living for heaven. God gives us a life on earth to enjoy. Physical activities, physical strength for men, the ability to impose yourself, to defend your family, to protect your children. If there was a stray dog chasing down your kid, are you out of breath and you couldn't defend? If there was an intruder in your home, I know these are very low-likely scenarios, but as men, even the ability to lift up box or a package or move a couch for a neighbor or help our wife open a jar, look, you and I should be doing our best to strengthen our temple. Longevity, according to the will of God, and let's make sure we're clear on that, is something that we should all be striving for. Healthy, according to the sovereign days he's numbered. If you're experiencing depression, mood swings, lack of motivation, lack of productivity, chronic health issues, inability to enjoy creation through physical activity. You can't even go on a hike or a walk without being out of breath so quickly. I want to encourage you this year. In addition to your time and your talent, your treasure and your trusts, look at your temple. One of the first places to look will be your FES. Let's start with Whole Foods. Let me break this down for you. Uh, today I'm a preacher of physical health as well as spiritual health. So walk with me here. Uh, also, for those of you wondering where in the world I get the gall to talk about this, I have a kinesiology degree. That was before I got saved, and I was a certified trainer. I don't know if people know that, uh, in the health industry before ministry. So I'm kind of nerdy on some of this stuff. But let me just encourage you. Whole foods, information on this is available to everyone. Are fruits, vegetables, unprocessed meats, eggs, some cheeses, beans, nuts, milk, plain yogurt, all that. All the things that make you go, ah, that doesn't sound very exciting, but they're so good for you and they can be exciting. They're not processed foods, they are easy and natural for the body to utilize and break down. They're typically high in protein, they're good fats, they're low in chemical-infused human inventions. And when it comes to clever marketing or gimmicks, don't buy in. You can use things like real butter, not fake. You can use simple breads like sourdough. You can check ingredients. And here's the deal it's a good thing to take care of what you're putting or take care of your temple by knowing what you're putting into it. And so if you look at ingredients, and there's a lot of words that remind you of chemicals and cleaning products, it may be wise to stick that back on the shelf and not in your body. Now, to encourage you in this, don't be hyper-obsessive about it all, where you can never enjoy something processed or a dessert, or due to allergies, some people, uh like even in our family, have to alter some ingredients. But the habitual lifestyle of a careless eater is going to catch up with all of us. And that is spiritual. I want you to understand when Paul is talking to Timothy, he goes, for bodily discipline is of some benefit. He doesn't say none, he's just making sure that Timothy's putting a higher stock in godliness. So you can be fit as a fiddle and love what you look like in the mirror, but if you're spiritually bankrupt, this is not a good thing. But it's of some benefit. And so it is spiritual to steward your temple. Think about this for a second. Just like not checking your bank account or your spending habits are gonna lead to financial breakdown, not checking in on our food choices and being informed about those things is gonna lead to physical breakdown. God designed food for the body, the body to eat food. That's how it's fueled. So we should be mindful of how we use it. That's F. Whole foods. That's a way to encourage you. If you want more, talk to your doctor, but there's some great information out there. Next, exercise. Exercise can look like daily walks, gym time for strength training, home workouts, Pilates, recreational sports, and more. But here's the spiritual side to it. It's going to take discipline. Discipline. Just yesterday I had a 6 a.m. workout, and later in the day I went to pick up my boys from school, and one of my sons asked me, Dad, do you like waking up at 5 30 a.m. to go work out? Isn't it hard when it's cold? Because the garage gym a buddy of mine owns is half indoor, half outdoor, and it's cold and it's dark. I know it's Arizona, but we still get in the 30s here in the winter. And I told him, buddy, just that morning, this morning I had a wicked little thought that around 5.40 a.m. I could sleep and just tell my buddy I can't make it today. I could text him. I don't need to really tell him why. I could just say, I can't make it. I said, that's what the wicked little voice inside of me wanted. My lazy little old crummy mummy, the old dead guy that keeps wanting to rise again and just give into the flesh. But here's what I did. I chose to obey what I knew to be good for me down the road versus what I felt like in the moment. I wanted to make my body obey me rather than obey my lazy inclination. He laughed and we had some spiritual conversations about what it means to buffet the body. And it was, I think, fun for my boys to hear that I battle the same temptations ever as everyone else. They're not even awake to get ready for school. But, you know, dad's in there going, Ah, do I even want to wake up? Yeah, we're all normal. We all go through it. And we all have to buffet our bodies. And what did Paul mean? He meant you've got to make it your slave, meaning no body, no laziness, no emotions, no feelings. I don't obey you. You're gonna obey me. And it was a fun new vocab word for the boys, not to just think of uh the word buffet as buffet, like a breakfast at a residence in Marriott, but a discipline of yourself to do what you know is best, even when gratification doesn't come until later down the road. My college coach used to always talk about delayed gratification. He'd say, fellas, you can have what you want now, you can go with your feelings now, you could take the quick reward now, or you could do the hard things now and get the reward later. Delayed gratification is where God blesses you most. And isn't that the truth? Like reading your Bible right now, once in a day, may or may not change your life. I get it. It can change your life if it saves you, like it did for me when I was reading scripture and the lights turned on. But you know what I mean. You wake up, you pray, you read, you're with the Lord, you think, well, it didn't rain down blessings from heaven. I didn't solve all the problems in my life. Yeah, but delayed gratification is a life of walking with the Lord, is gonna be a game changer down the road when it means something. Same thing with parenting, same thing with work, and so it is with exercise. Finally, as for sleep, it is God's gift to rest. Even Jesus, he rested. And you've got to know your body, you've got to do what's best versus what you feel, what you know is best versus what you feel. And here's the reality, and I just want to bring this before us to think about and be convicted by. We often say, I'm so tired. Then we scroll our phone, staring at the bright blue light, wondering why sleep is so hard. And studies are coming out showing that one of the most detrimental things for your sleep patterns, which God has designed the body to roll with and respond to by creating light and darkness night and day. There are patterns here that the body needs to operate by. One of the worst things for that process that God has designed is scrolling your little phone before bed. Your eyes and mind need a break from all that light and all that information, blasting your synapses. God designed us to wind it down in the evening. And we mess with that cycle when we impose foreign processes on it. And so consider maybe a little bit of reading. Slow down, lower the lights, pray, call it a night. When I encourage people, and when I aim to do this myself in our own home to do family devotions or family worship or a little bit of reading or a time of prayer, it's not this hyper-spiritual, like, look at me, I'm like Jesus, going away to pray, and no one can find me after 7 p.m. because daddy's on his prayer walk and mommy's in her prayer closet, and the children all sing their hymns and look at us, we're so spiritual. No, it's the winding down of the day to put all distractions aside. And by the way, all the things I just listed are great things. But all the distractions are aside. It's not a show of spirituality, it's enjoyment of the Lord and winding down the mind to dwell on what is above, what is good, what is lovely, what is excellent. It's not going to be found on an Instagram feed. It's going to be found in the pages of scripture as your mind slowly shuts it down. You give all things to the Lord and you say good night. That's a good thing. So your FES this year should be a high priority. Whole food, exercise, sleep. Number two, prioritize spiritual solutions for your stress. Many times our temple takes a hit from things like stress because beyond stress, how we manage it goes away. We don't manage our stress properly. Make this the year you turn to prayer, you seek wise counsel, and you read the word of God to calm your nerves rather than food and alcohol and smoking and Netflix binging. God's given us Christ as our Savior and our friend. He's given us the Holy Spirit as our comforter and our helper. You don't need a glass of whiskey. You need to go to God in prayer. And we all have different ways that we self-medicate. For some of us, it's comfort food. I've talked about this before. It was in uh a book that I wrote, and I talk about the inclination I used to have to just grab a bag of chips at night and just let it fly. Put on a sports game or Netflix and just I need to, I need to unwind from ministry. I need to unwind from my day. Maybe for you it's a it's an alcoholic drink. For maybe some of you, it's retail therapy. I mean, you gotta just buy some stuff, you start feeling good. Whatever that is, maybe it's time to look at our patterns and say, that's harming my temple. It's gotta go. Now, don't just break bad habits, you replace them with good ones. And so don't just say, I'm not gonna do that anymore. No, what are you gonna do instead? That will build your soul, leading to number three in our list, prioritize your soul care. You want a healthy temple? Oh, don't you just think about the physical, your food, your sleep, and and and exercise. Your soul needs care. I'm referring to the spiritual side of your temple that needs a strengthening program as well, your mind. I don't mean some psychological innovation or mystical discovery of new age practices. It's gonna unlock the special keys to a higher way of thinking. I'm talking about running to what the Bible says about a strong mind, a mind that fixes on that which is above, dwelling on what is good, lovely, excellent. I'm talking about dealing with deep-rooted bitterness and unforgiveness and anxiety by seeking biblical counseling, which will strengthen your soul. That's directly related to your temple because as the temple of the Holy Spirit, you're designed to respond to these things that are spiritual and from God. Paul says that in 1 Corinthians 6 19 on the subject of sexual immorality and the destruction of the body and of relationships and certainly of the mind from these things like pornography and sexual immorality, what perverts the temple. And he says, You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, saying your body, that which you are using for sexual sin to the Corinthians, your body was meant to be used for worship unto God. And so you need to be prioritizing your soul care. How's your discipleship this year? I don't know if we think enough about our temple being an avenue for discipleship. It is not just how we're doing in our physical health. It is how are we doing spiritually? Just as important, and might I push further and say more important than your physical well-being is your spiritual well-being. That's why Paul says for bodily discipline is of some benefit, but godliness is a means of great gain. So I want you thinking of that this year. Be healthy, but don't be obsessive. It's kind of a almost a new Pharisee in town, and I'm preaching pretty soon at our church about fasting food and faith because we're in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus brings it up. And the Pharisees actually were very pretentious about the way they fasted. They want everybody to know what they're doing. And we're kind of like that today. We're getting into a very crunchy culture, and I'm all for health, but people like to show it. Like, oh, I'm I'm on carnivore, and oh, I don't do seed oils, and oh, I only live under red light. I don't have any normal lights in my house now. I have red light in my car, and even the headlights on my car are now red light. You know, God bless you. Good. Red light therapy is good. And I was in a sauna this morning with a red light after a cold plunge. I'm all about it. But hear me on this. It's not a spiritual metric or a status symbol. If you're spiritually bankrupt, but you have read everything from every naturopath doctor and RFK is your homie, and you haven't had a seed oil in three years, but you haven't read your Bible in just as long. What does it matter? What does it profit a man or woman to have six-pack abs and a perfect bill of health and to be empty and devoid of Christ? So do both and do them both well. But if you must obsess over one, obsess over your soul care this year, and the rest will follow. Number four, prioritize self-awareness. There's gonna be a number of other areas the Lord's gonna lead you to apply. I've got my own things I need to look in the mirror on and say, come on, Costi. What does God's word say? Why aren't we being more honest about that? We got to get sharper there. And what do I do? I look to Christ. I go to his word. I want to go to him humbly in prayer. It's not like I'm gonna be better now because I'm gonna this and I'm gonna that. No. But self-awareness is the ability for us to look in the mirror and be just honest about things. Denial is one of the great perils of not just the American church, but just Americans in general. We don't like to admit things. People avoid the doctor because they don't want to face the music. Maybe the difference maker in strengthening your temple this year is getting honest about where you're at with some things. Is alcohol your go-to? Is food your security blanket? Are you prone to laziness and making excuses? Do you avoid wise counsel because you don't want to hear the hard truth from somebody who's going to tell it to you? Whatever it is that is derailing your ability to bear the fruit of the spirit this year and to strengthen your temple for maximum output under the glory of God, self-awareness is going to be your secret weapon. I want to wind it down with this God is sovereign and he's numbered your days. It's completely accurate to say that nothing you do or I do will make us live longer than the appointed time God has determined. However, God has given us the ability to steward our temples and maximize how we live out the days He's appointed for us. Perhaps the words of the psalmist, teach us to number our days, while most certainly apply to everything spiritual. Teach me to number my days also can relate to how I steward my temple, and this clock is ticking, and I've got one life and one mind and one body to use unto the glory of God. The New Testament breaks down a great deal about rewards in heaven and about the judgment seat of Christ and about giving an account for what we've been given. Certainly it relates to money. The Bible makes a big deal about that. But think about your body, your mind, your life. It is a stewardship. And we want to be careful to detach the temple that we exist in from that stewardship and that judgment. It's not just, oh, how did you use the spiritual gift I gave you? How'd you use the money that you had? No, no. How did you use your body? According to the Lord's will, the difference maker between a life fully lived for his glory and one wasted with half the effort or less could be how you stewarded your temple. Maybe it's not the only thing. There are five T's we're going to talk about, but I want you to take a good look in the mirror. I'll do the same. And let's rid ourselves of time wasters and temple killers. We get one life, one body, one opportunity. So let's use it well for the glory of Christ this year. Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching. Thanks for supporting. I hope this episode and this series overall are helpful for you and encouragement. Maybe picture them as kind of pastoral coaching and counseling sessions where I encourage you. Some of them will be a little more expositional, some of them topical, but overall I want to point you to the biblical principles that will help you take your quote unquote life to the next level, but not in some weird way, in a simple biblical way. By just doing things the right way and doing the right things. For free resources, you can check out our YouTube channel. You can subscribe there. And if this podcast has been a blessing to you, we'd be honored if you'd leave a review and encourage others to listen. For more information about our ministry, go to for the gospel.org. I'll be back next Monday with another episode of Keep on Living for the Gospel.