S2S Sisters: "For We Are Temples" by Christina Baer

Our prayer is that you will be filled with the knowledge of His will, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power.

Welcome to Strength to Strength, sisters. My name is Marielle Frost, and I'm joining the meeting here from Ohio, and we have participants from all over, and we're expectant and looking forward to this talk by Christina. Welcome to all of you, and thank you for joining us. So the vision of Strength to Strength, sisters, is to encourage women to be catalysts in advancing the kingdom through biblical teaching, testimonies of faithful women, and thought-provoking discussions.

And Christina Baer is going to be bringing a talk today called "For We Are Temples," referring to the scriptural—I don't know what you call it—telling us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. And so given that fact, she's going to talk about how we should conduct ourselves inwardly, outwardly, spiritually, and what that means for our lives to be temples for the Holy Spirit. So we're looking forward to that. And Christina lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband, Sam, and their four children. And they attend a small house church that tries to bring the light and love of Jesus Christ to those in their community. She says on her bio she spends her days homeschooling, going outside, making simple yet nutritious meals, and has an open place at the table for guests.

And Christina has shared before on Strength to Strength, sisters. She shared her testimony back in 2023, I believe, and then was also part of a panel discussion on mothering, and now ready to share a talk with us. After Christina shares, we will have a question-and-answer time, so you can be thinking about that, any comments or questions you might have. I also encourage anybody who is able and willing to turn on their camera so that Christina can see you. If it's not possible, that's perfectly fine, but you will not be recorded unless you speak.

And we'll have more instructions about the question-and-answer time when Christina is done. All right, so why don't we just take a moment and pray? Father in heaven, I just want to lift up this talk to you and thank you that you make it able us able to be able to get together from all over the world on this platform. We invite your presence here. We pray that you would be with Christina, that you would fill her, and that you would speak through her, and that you would help us, Lord, to hear, really hear the message that you have for us today. We commit this time to you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Okay, Christina, you go ahead. Thank you, Marielle. Hello, everyone. Today I'm going to talk about believers being the dwelling place of God. I suggested to our Strength to Strength, sisters, team that we should have a talk about our bodies being temples, and then they suggested that I do it. So after prayer and discussing it with my husband, I agreed to do it.

Please know that I don't feel like an expert on this topic, but my prayer is that God may use me to share what He has placed in my heart. I grew up knowing the saying, "Your body is a temple," but not really knowing what it meant and definitely not living as such. Today we're going to open our Bibles and look at what it means for us women of God. Sorry, but we're going to open our Bibles and look at what this means for us women of God in our everyday lives.

First, let's look at 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16 to 17, where Paul writes, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." To me, this is a very serious thing to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, our holy God, perfect being, creator of all good things. His presence is dwelling within us.

So what is the temple? The temple is a place where God and mankind meet. In the beginning, the Garden of Eden was like the temple where God walked in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. When sin came into the world through disobedience to God's ordinances, mankind in their sinful state could not be in the presence of the holy God.

After God led the Israelites out of Egypt, the tabernacle was built so the presence of God and mankind could once meet again. The presence of the Lord was over the tabernacle in a cloud by day and by fire at night.

Then, when the Israelites settled into the promised land, King Solomon built a temple for the Lord. When the Ark of the Covenant was put into the Holy of Holies and the priests came out, the cloud filled the Lord's house and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

In the Old Covenant, God had laws for His people so they wouldn't defile His holy temple. Ezekiel 8 has many visions from God that show the abominations in the temple. In verse 5 to 6, it says, "Then he said to me, 'Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.' So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance. Furthermore, he said to me, 'Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make me go far away from my sanctuary?'" We read here in this passage that God is unable to dwell in the temple because of this abomination.

Idolatry is another abomination. Ezekiel is shown women sitting and weeping for Tammuz, a god, and men worshiping for the sun.

God gave specific instructions for offering sacrifices and laws for physical cleanliness. In the Old Testament, "unclean" referred to ritual impurity from sin, disease, or contact with death, requiring physical separation and purification to enter God's presence and maintain community order.

Now, I would like to turn to the New Testament. I would like to read in Acts 2, verse 1 to 3. "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house as they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues of fire, and one sat upon each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." I love this imagery of the tongues of fire that sat upon each of them. It reminds me of the pillar of fire that represented God's presence over the tabernacle.

But now, instead of God's presence being in a stationary location like a building or a tent, it is in each one of us. We, as the children of God, are the place where God and mankind meet. We go out into the world with the Spirit of God present within us. How exciting is that?

When I first became a Christian and I started to understand the purpose of Christ's life and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in us is to bring heaven here to earth, here and now, was thrilling. This world is filled with sorrow, sadness, brokenness, despair, envy, and conflict. But through the power of our changed lives as Christians, we can bring hope, peace, and love to the world.

Going back to 1 Corinthians in chapter 6, verse 19 to 20, Paul says, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

The Greek word for body used here is naos, which refers to the holiest part of the temple. In the Old Covenant, only the high priest was allowed in the holiest part of the temple once a year and only after he followed a cleaning ritual himself. How much more important is it for us to ensure that we are living a life that is pure?

So after the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our King Jesus Christ, we live in the New Covenant, and we are no longer under the old law. However, these laws were put in place for a purpose by our Heavenly Father, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If the temple could be defiled in the Old Testament, then it can be defiled now too.

In Mark 7, 14 to 23, Jesus said, "There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him, but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man." Afterwards, his disciples asked him to clarify this parable, and his response was, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

It can be easy when reading a list like this in the Bible to think it's not for us, but let's take a little closer look. Evil thoughts sound extreme, but the word kakkos can be translated to bad, wrong, and ill. Have you had ill feelings about someone? Jealousy, perhaps? How about thinking the worst of someone, assuming they mean to do wrong?

What about covetousness? That can be defined as greed or a desire for advantage. How are we thinking about our homes and comparing them to others' decor, their cooking, their baking, or a desire to have our children outperform their peers? We must be careful not to compare ourselves to others.

Seeking wealth falls into this category too, I would say. Deceit is defined as the action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth. Are we honest with how we portray ourselves in stories we tell or things posted online? Do we try to slight things in our favor, even if it seems harmless? This would be considered deceit.

Lastly, let's take a closer look at pride. Pride is self-exaltation or thinking too highly of oneself, thinking we are better than someone else, including the homeless drug addict we see in the city, a gay couple walking down the street, or a divorced or remarried neighbor. Though we are not to condone sin, we must not think we're more important than others. Pride is also self-reliance, which involves relying on one's own strength and wisdom to achieve success rather than depending on God.

Remember, these are words from Jesus Christ, our Lord, and they will defile us, the temple of the living Spirit. To him, it is the heart that matters most. "Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life." That is a verse in Proverbs 4:23 in the NLT translation.

A child of God has the attribute of self-control. I know this because Galatians 5:22 describes the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God has given us a spirit of power, love, and sound mind, or self-control in some translations. In Titus 2:12, it mentions we are to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

Well, let's talk about self-control and what we must control. What we say. James talks about the tongue being a little member that can defile the whole body. Are we gossiping? I know in some circles, it's very common to sit around and talk about other people. Is it a proper thing to do while being the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit? The gauge that I like to use and ask myself is, would I say this if the person I'm talking about is standing next to me?

Are we being upbuilding with our words, or do we tend to tear down? Don't grieve the Spirit by the things that we say. There is a real enemy out there, and he brings chaos, confusion, and sin into the world. He wants us to be separate from God and to question the things that God says and to turn us against each other. If Satan, which means adversary of God, can make us point fingers at each other and fight with one another, then he is taking power away from the church.

We are the church, believers, followers, and obeyers of Jesus Christ, the reigning King. Don't let Satan make use of our tongues to tear down the church. I know there are different denominations out there, but there is only one church, and we are all on the same side, good versus evil.

My next point on self-control is eating.

It's so important as Christians to be mindful of what we're eating and how much. Overeating is not just detrimental to our health; it's considered sin. Many people are very strict with the use of alcohol, and rightfully so. There are no drunkards in the kingdom of heaven, but gluttony is listed with drunkenness. Philippians 3:19 says that whoever says, "And whose ends are their destruction? Their gods are their belly, and their glory is in their shame." Proverbs 23 says to consider carefully what is before you and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Food can be a difficult thing to control, but if this is an area that we struggle with, then we must be diligent.

As wives, we should be providing nutritious meals for our husbands and families and ensuring that our children are developing healthy eating habits.

Since when did dessert become a thing that's expected? Sugar is so bad for our health. It's okay in moderation, but not in the amounts of the typical American and Canadian diet. There are studies that show the resemblance that sugar has on the brain to cocaine addiction. Isn't that shocking?

It takes a lot of discipline to say no, but self-control is a godly attribute. Our bodies are temples. We need to be treating them as such. Because this goes along with self-control and eating, I would like to talk about fasting for a moment. Fasting is a powerful tool that God gives us, and we should be harnessing this power.

Not only does it give weight to our prayers and bring true clarity to something that you may be praying about or move someone who you're praying for, but it is also so good for your health. Fasting promotes blood sugar management by reducing insulin resistance, fights inflammation, boosts brain function, aids in weight loss, and it could extend longevity.

Fasting even between meals and not snacking throughout the day gives your insulin and blood sugar a chance to come back down to a normal healthy level before it goes up again at the next meal. Then there's the three-day fast.

This can promote significant health benefits, including cell repair, a reset of the immune system, improved hormone sensitivity, a state of ketosis for fat burning, increased production for human growth hormone, lower inflammation, enhanced brain function, and potential improvements in heart health. Please note that I'm in no way an expert on this, and I do not know your situation or health background, but I know that fasting is healthy and God designed our bodies to fast.

We have so much accessibility to food now, and it's not the way it used to be. We're not designed to eat food whenever we want all throughout the day. It's incredible that God has given us a powerful spiritual tool that also rejuvenates our health. I just love how God has designed our bodies. It truly is remarkable the detail and thought he has put into his creation.

So when I first started to fast, I didn't really know how to do it or really any information on it. So I want to share some of the things that I've learned. The early church would fast twice a week. They would eat supper, and then they wouldn't eat anything until the supper the following day. And this is almost a 24-hour fast. And they actually did this twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Not that that part matters, I don't think. But if fasting feels daunting, then I suggest to start with one meal a day. I find breakfast the easiest meal to skip. You just skip breakfast, and then you eat lunch. Make sure you drink water while you're fasting. It's okay to drink coffee and tea. Just don't use sweeteners. And if you are doing a longer fast, you can buy electrolytes to help. Just make sure they are sugar-free.

I know some people experience headaches at the beginning, but your body should get used to it as you continue doing it each week. And I do suggest that this be a weekly discipline. There are times when people should not fast, such as when pregnant or nursing.

With that said, I did fast a little bit during late pregnancy and while nursing an older baby, but I highly, highly recommend that you talk to your doctor or your midwife about this before you try.

And for those of you that can do a long fast and you're feeling really brave or want to move God in a very deep way, there is a five-day fast. We've had some members in our church that have done this. My husband included a couple of times.

I've been nursing during these times, so I haven't had a chance to do it with him, but I hope I'm brave enough to do it soon.

Okay. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says that he brings his body into subjection. We should control the basic necessity of eating and not let it control us. In Matthew 9, Jesus says, "But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast." We are expected to fast.

All right. Let's talk about how we use our time. It is vital to my spiritual well-being that I connect with the Lord in the morning before I start my day. It takes discipline to go to bed early so I can rise early before my children and have intentional time for prayer and Bible reading. I do some exercises for 10 minutes each morning to take care of my physical body as well.

It's amazing how effective only 10 minutes a day can be for your energy levels and strength in your body. Maybe some of you wonder why I'm bringing this into my talk, but our bodies are temples, and we use them to glorify God. We are to take care of them and be healthy so we can serve and be a good witness to the world around us, to be good stewards of what God has given us.

It's good to be mindful of how we're spending our time in the day. We should be doing things that are profitable for the kingdom of God and being intentional with our time. Prayer is vital to our spiritual well-being. The Holy Spirit allows us to communicate with our Heavenly Father anytime we want or need. Take time to pray throughout the day.

There is definitely more that we could talk about in a self-controlled area, but I want to talk about things that are related with our bodies being temples.

While studying for this talk, I was so inspired with the scripture I read. The Word of God is life-giving, edifying, convincing, and powerful. To read the Word of God is feeding your soul. It's the language that the Holy Spirit understands, and it's so important that we spend time reading and studying it. I know I have referenced a lot of scripture already, but I try to live my life by following the words of Christ. So bringing things back to Him is vital for me. With that said, I'd like to read 10 verses from Galatians. Galatians 5:16-26. This is Paul speaking. "I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

And these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, adultery, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, hearsays, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. And those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." Perhaps it's a good idea to go over the list of works of flesh during your next prayer time and ask God to show you if there are any areas that you can grow in or repent of. God is faithful, and if we are open and honest, He will guide us through His Spirit.

Ephesians 4 is a beautiful chapter, and in verse 30, it says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." This verse explains that we've received the Spirit as a sign that we are children of God, but that believers can cause the Spirit sorrow or distress through sinful actions. God is holy and righteous, and when we grieve the Spirit, it hinders our fellowship with Him. The Holy Spirit speaks, guides, teaches, comforts, intercedes, and even helps us make decisions. Let's not grieve Him. We need Him.

God wants us, or sorry, God wants to dwell with mankind. In the beginning, it was perfect in the garden. In the Old Testament, it was in the temple with external laws. Now, in the New Testament, these laws are internal from within the heart. Through Christ's sacrifice and then resurrection, we now have the Spirit of God, which cleanses us spiritually and sets us apart for a holy life of faith and discernment.

The things that we do matter. We must be aware of our actions, responses, and our time here on this earth. Let's do things for the glory of Jesus Christ and to live moment by moment in the presence of the Almighty God. Turn to Him throughout the day to praise or ask for help. I've been amazed at the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit in my life when I remember to communicate with Him throughout the day.

You are the temple of the Most High God. Walk carefully. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Christina. That was a lot of really good information and exhortation. I would like to open it up now for any of you to share your comments or questions for Christina or your experiences or wisdom on this topic.

If you're able to turn on your video and ask a question yourself, that would be wonderful. If you feel more comfortable, you can also enter a question into the chat, and one of us will read it.

So does anyone have anything that comes to their mind?

I was really blessed by that thought just now from Galatians 5, that passage that you read, and you said, "Are there any areas we need to grow in or repent of?" That comes up in that. That is a good assignment for our next quiet time.

I have a question here. How will we know when we have grieved the Holy Spirit? Do you have any thoughts on that, Christina? What does it feel like when you've grieved the Holy Spirit?

Yeah, that's a good question.

It's something I kind of wanted to include in my talk, but there's not really a lot of scripture about that, I think. I have personal experience, and I have read books of people, people's testimony or an autobiography, and then they kind of mention something like that. But anyway, so yeah, all I can really talk about is experience, I guess. And I don't know if this is completely accurate. I'm not really sure, but here it is. So I know that when I do something that's not pleasing to God, let's say I'm homeschooling with my children, I get really frustrated and I yell. I know that that grieves the Holy Spirit.

That's an outburst of wrath. That's unrighteous anger. That's not a godly thing to be doing. And I feel almost alone. I actually feel like the presence of God is not really with me. And I'll apologize to my children, and I'll repent to God for it as well.

But I don't know. I don't really know how to answer that question because I don't know if that's something that everyone experiences or it's

yeah. Okay. So another example, I'm reading a book right now by Isabel Kuhn. She was a missionary in China. And in her early days becoming a Christian, she decided she was reading a romance novel. Sorry. She was reading a romance novel, and she couldn't put it down. And this is in the 1930s, so it's not really one of the real raunchy runs that they have today, but still it was a romance novel. And she couldn't put it down. She ended up going to sleep at about 1:00 AM.

And she was tired the next day, and she tried to read her Bible, I think even before she went to bed, and she wasn't interested in the Bible. The next day, her prayer seemed pretty flat. And she was riding the bus to go to work, and she was just wondering, "Why, God, do I not really feel your presence like I was feeling before?" And then it came to her that she wasn't using her time well. She was reading this novel that wouldn't be a good thing for her to be reading. And she was grieving the Spirit with that, and she felt a physical separation.

Now, I'm not saying that the Spirit actually leaves us. I don't know that at all. But I have experienced, and this Isabel Kuhn mentioned something about just not having that presence, and godly things maybe don't doesn't have the same fullness that it would. Prayer times sometimes don't have the same fullness for me if I know that I've done something wrong.

Marielle, do you have any other things to add to that?

Yeah. I mean, I think you're right that it's not like we can give this biblical answer because God didn't tell us exactly what that would look like or feel like. However, yeah, based on experience and testimony, I would say that it has a lot to do with that lack of peace.

I know for myself, sometimes there'll be a situation that I feel like it's maybe my place to say something to one of my children or whatever. And so I'll have this kind of sense of duty or like, "I really should do this," or maybe you feel like you should witness or something. And sometimes that's the flesh, and there's no peace that goes along with it. But sometimes that unction comes with this sense of, I don't know, just peace. And then when you walk through with it, you just know that you were pleasing God. And when you don't, you can feel that sense. It's a very emotional thing in a way. I mean, not that it's dramatic, but for me, I feel it.

It's like, "Oh, that aloneness," like you mentioned. I think that those are good ways of describing it. I'd be very interested to hear from others. What is your experience? How do you know when you've grieved the Holy Spirit? What do others have to say?

I'd have to say it has to do with just going back to the scriptures and seeing where my behavior or if it's someone else for myself, grieving the Holy Spirit, how my behavior doesn't line up with what we're called to do in scripture or how it may better line up with the sins that we're supposed to be controlling our flesh against versus a feeling because I have feelings that are all over the map. And so it's I don't sometimes I can be at peace. Like you said, you can be at your flesh can be at peace in a sinful situation.

Or sometimes you can have unrest in doing what God has called you to do. So yeah, I think that that and probably feedback from other peers, my husband, to help me to see some things that maybe I didn't.

That's good. That's very true. Sorry. We as humans, and especially as women, can be very feeling-based. So that's very true. We can't just base things on our feelings. So that's a very good point. Thank you for including that.

I was going to share something. Sorry. About that, in relation to that, I remember listening to, I think it was the book I dared to call him Father. I don't know if you've ever listened to that book. But anyway, she speaks about this feeling that something wasn't right between her and God. And anyway, I prayed and asked God about that. Give me this. I want to live in this place where that is how clear it is to me. That it's so clear. It's just very, very clear to me. And I feel like since then, I have been blessed with that. So I think we can ask God for that, for clarity and a relationship with Him.

That is so I feel that unrest that we can ask God, "What's between you and me? What have I done? What do I need to fix?" And I think we should be living in that place. And I think God will give that to us if we ask.

Christina, I do have some questions that have come into the chat here. So I'll go ahead and read the first one. It says, "Are there any practical ways of fasting while nursing?"

I am not a doctor, a midwife, or a nutritionist at all. So I don't know if I should answer a question like that on a public platform like this.

When I would fast, it was when my baby was eating solids as well. I was not strictly nursing them, and it would only be one meal.

But again, please talk to your healthcare provider or something like that before. I wonder if a fast of this is just an idea of certain foods could be would that count? Like your favorites, the things that you really look forward to having. You're still eating, of course. You're eating only those things that are of the best quality for yourself and your baby, but that special treat maybe you look forward to at the end of the day or I don't know. Could that be helpful in some way to give you that time to really focus in to pray during the time where you would have done that, to dedicate that time to God?

I think that denying yourself of the things that you would like or the extras are definitely a good thing. It's a good thing for exercising your self-control. I've heard before too that in the early church, I can't remember exactly, but I know that there were times where people would fast, but they would still drink bread and water or eat bread and drink water.

Yeah. Thank you, Christina. I was really blessed with your talk. There's a few more questions here. I'll read the next one. When fasting for a whole day or more, do you do less work over that time so as not to max yourself physically, or doesn't it work that way?

I try to go about my day like I normally would. My husband is in construction, and he will go to work and build houses. He might not choose the times where he's building a roof to do a fast, but we try to just go about our day. And it's more difficult at the beginning. Give yourself some grace and some leeway, but just try to go about your day. And actually, another thing is I find if I'm busy, you don't really think about it as much. You can kind of just keep your mind off of it and be busy with things. And that's actually a good thing.

I watched this documentary once, and it was about the longevity of life. And this one episode was about fasting. And this man did a five-day fast. But in that episode, there was a village, and I don't remember much details about it now, but they would travel over the mountains to get to some place where they did worship once a year. And for those, it was a three-day journey. And for those three days, they wouldn't eat.

And so they were journeying over mountains and sleeping outside at night and getting to this place. That was three days. And then they would do it on the way back as well. And very interesting, it was an older man that they were interviewing.

And he was saying, or his daughter said that she doesn't ever remember him being sick. And I've noticed that too with myself. Now that I fast, I rarely get colds and flus. My immune system is so much better than it used to be.

I had a question. Thank you, Christina. You did an awesome job. And I just. Thank you. What your thoughts were on how this affects us practically when it comes to where we go, the places that we go. Just thinking of ourselves being a temple of the Lord, I think of 1 Corinthians 6, not 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 6, where Paul is talking about how we are to come out from amongst them, how we are what fellowship does God have with another idol, what fellowship does a believer have with an unbeliever. And I just wanted to know what your thoughts were on how that has affected where you go and what you do when you're there.

Yeah. That's a good question.

I know that there's places that if I were to go to now that I used to go to before I was a Christian, that I would feel very out of place and not proper for me to be there.

I don't attend these places, but it depends what our purpose is there too. Are we there because we are trying to make contact with someone that is lost? The example I'm thinking about is people that go and talk to homeless people on the streets. There's some pretty dirty, grummy streets out there in the world.

But you see Christians out there that are trying to help. And I don't think that it's wrong that they are there.

And a few years ago, a couple of years ago, I was volunteering with this ministry where they would go to strip clubs and try to build relationships with the women there and try to help them out of that situation and, of course, ultimately lead them to Christ. But it was a time thing where you had to keep going so that they would trust you and build relationships with you.

And when I would go, you could hear the music that was playing, and it was music that I used to listen to. And I would know the words to the songs, and they were not good songs. And it was something that really bothered me.

And I don't know if I prayed about it, but I was confessing it to my brothers and sisters one time that this is something that goes on, and it brings back bad memories, and it's something that I don't feel good about. And the next time I went, I didn't even realize it until I left, but I didn't even hear the music. God, the Spirit is so powerful that He knew that I was struggling with that, and then that was blocked out. And each time I would go, I just didn't really hear the songs at all. It was amazing.

So I'm not sure if that answers your question at all, but that's my experience with that. And I think we need to be careful. Now, if I were to go there just to hang out, yes, I think that's wrong. But I was there for a purpose. I was trying to build relationships with these women. We went around, we talked to them, and once we kind of talked to everyone, then we left.

In the chat box, it says, "I appreciated the teaching here. Thank you for being specific about gluttony being a sin. I do not hear teaching on this. Would you be able to share any more benefits you have personally received from fasting?"

Well, I mentioned my health is definitely a lot better. And it changed my I don't know. It changed the power that food has over you. Sometimes it's hard to say no to food, or you do want to eat that, or you want to eat more. And fasting shifts that. It puts it back into this proper place where you eat because you need to eat.

And don't get me wrong. I still enjoy sweets sometimes and just eating something for the fun of it, I guess. But it's changed something. It changed my relationship with food. Definitely strengthened my immune system, like I mentioned. And then I'm not sure how it works exactly, but there is some sort of power. There's something that happens in the spiritual realm when we fast and we're praying.

It moves God. I've seen work in my family's life. My family is not Christian, and I have seen God do amazing and powerful things on days, especially days that we're fasting in their lives. So yeah.

Yeah. Thank you. Another question is, "What is the balance between hating your body and being proud about it?"

That's a good question.

The balance between hating your body and being proud of it can be a fine line. I think it's important to take care of our bodies because, like I mentioned, we are the dwelling place of the Spirit, and we need to have physical bodies that are capable to serve and to be helping and taking care of our children and husband. And please, I know that there's disabilities and people with illnesses and things like that.

Please don't be offended by what I'm saying. I'm not referring to you, just the average person. But when it goes too far is denying yourself things all the time, or maybe I can't eat that even though I would like to have a sweet sometimes, or I want to eat that even like a plate of pasta. Well, I can't because carbs are not good for you or things like that. That is an unhealthy balance. That is being too prideful, I would say.

If it consumes your time, it's not good. Or if it's very big and overwhelming, then that might be a bad thing as well. So there is a line, but it depends on how much time and energy you're spending on it, I would say, that makes the big difference.

Another question says, "You mentioned how we use our time, Christina. What rhythms and habits throughout the day have you found very helpful for your spiritual life?"

Well, like I mentioned, in the morning, I get up and I pray. I actually just recently started doing my 10-minute exercise before I pray. It just gives me energy and I feel alert. So I do that first now. And then I pray, and then I read my Bible. And there's times in my life where I wasn't always doing that, maybe after a baby, of course. Then you give yourself leeway in those areas.

So it's not that I live this life all the time. There's ups and downs, but I do know that if there's too many downs, like you get sick for a little while, my spiritual life, my mental health really crashes quickly. So I try to get back into my good rhythm as soon as I can.

And I'm trying to bring God into my everyday life. For example, I homeschool, and I've noticed a real difference. If we pray before we do school, I feel like school goes much better, and I'm a more calm teacher, and my children are just better learners. And I know it's a difference. There's days where we don't start at the same time, so I don't have that prayer with everyone. It makes a difference. So I try to bring God into my day all throughout the day. So that's another example.

I don't know. I'm a very scheduled person, so I tend to have things at the same time each day. That's how our family runs. I think children thrive on that as well. So we have meals at the same time. We do the same sort of things in the morning and in the afternoon and such things like that.

I'm really trying to carve out a consistent time in the afternoon where I get on my knees and pray for even five minutes. For some reason, I don't know why that's hard to be consistent with that, but that's something that I'm really working on. And then another thing that I do that I think is important is I pray with my children before they go to bed each night as well. I want to get them in a good habit of praying, and I want to pray for them as well.

So those are some of my rhythms throughout the day.

Yeah. I like what you said about praying before you start school or before you start anything, really. It is powerful. Here's another one. "I have found it hard to have wholesome time with the Lord when I've grieved the Spirit. It takes some intentional efforts to get back to wholesome fellowship." That was just a comment, I guess, there.

And then one more. "I admire Christina with all the decisions she's making. So beautiful because of Jesus." Amen. Praise the Lord.

Back to having a—it's hard to have a wholesome time with the Lord after you feel like you've grieved it. I completely understand what you mean.

It's something actually that God has really been pressing on my heart lately and trying to figure out. I do believe that some of my perfectionist qualities are the reason for this, and that's not a good thing to be like that.

I don't know how to explain it exactly because it's something that I'm definitely working on right now. But I know that I need to forgive myself. I find that's the hardest thing to do. If I have repented and I truly am sorry for what I do, then that's valid. And God forgives.

And if I've made right with whoever I did wrong with, if that's the case, you apologize or you make things right and you repent, then the next step is you need to forgive yourself as well. And people make mistakes, and that's unfortunate, but it's the truth. We make mistakes, and we just need to get back up and ask God to help us in our journey. And the next time, something that I've learned recently and learning, I guess, is before I react, I stop and go, and I pray, "God, please help me in this situation." Sometimes my children, I think, look at me because I'll just stop, and I just am silent.

And then I say something or I do whatever that I feel is the Spirit leading me to do. And that's taken a lot of discipline, and it can be so hard sometimes not to just have a first reaction, but to just stop and turn to our heavenly Father. The Spirit wants to guide us and let Him guide you.

Yeah. So those are two things I would say about that comment. That's good. Thank you for those. We do have another question here. "How do you do fasting if you have a family with small children? How do you do mealtimes?"

It gets easier. It does.

Yeah. It's one of those things that gets easier with time. Don't taste things. Don't stick that little piece of something in your mouth quickly. You just need to learn not to do that. Drink water. I sit down with my children at mealtimes. It's one thing that I feel like I lose a little bit of the benefit of fasting is I don't actually just stop eating and go and pray. I still am sitting at the table at mealtime and being with my children, and it's okay.

It will get better with time, but that's what I do. Sometimes I read to my children. I occupy my own time, and I'll do something like that. But yeah, I get a glass of water. Sometimes I'll get a cup of tea, herbal tea, and I'll drink some tea, and I'll sit there and we have lunch together or whatever meal it is.