Stewards, Not Owners

Leader notes

• Keep the tone warm and honest. Everyone in your group has a complicated relationship with their body in some way.
• Never ask people to share their weight, measurements or medical details. Talk about habits and heart, not numbers.
• If someone mentions an eating disorder or a serious health struggle, thank them for sharing, don't try to fix it in the group, and follow up privately. Have a Christian counselor's name ready.
• Go first when sharing. Your honesty gives everyone else permission.

Open (10 minutes)

Ask one or two of these to get people talking:

1. What did you learn growing up about food, exercise or your body? Where did those ideas come from?
2. Have you ever heard a sermon or lesson about taking care of your body? What do you remember?

Read (5 minutes)

Have someone read 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 and Romans 12:1 aloud.

“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19b–20

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Romans 12:1

Discuss (25–30 minutes)

1. Paul says "you are not your own." Does that feel freeing, uncomfortable or both? Why?
2. What is the difference between an owner and a steward? What would it look like to treat your body as a steward?
3. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul is talking about sexual sin. Why do you think the same principle applies to how we eat, rest and move?
4. Romans 12:1 calls presenting our bodies "spiritual worship." How can something as physical as a walk or a meal be worship?
5. Read Psalm 139:13–14. How does knowing God made you "fearfully and wonderfully" change how you talk about your own body?
6. Our culture tends to either ignore the body or worship it. Which way do you lean? What does a biblical middle look like?
7. Read Colossians 2:20–23. Why don't rules alone change us? Where does lasting change come from?

Apply (10 minutes)

Invite each person to choose one small step for the week. Write it down and share it with one other person in the group.

• Pray before every meal and thank God for your body.
• Take a 20-minute walk three times this week, and pray while you walk.
• Go to bed 30 minutes earlier on three nights.
• Replace one sugary drink a day with water.
• Memorize 1 Corinthians 6:19–20.

Pray (5 minutes)

Close by praying Romans 12:1 together. Ask God to help each person see their body as His gift and to give them the Spirit's strength for the step they chose.