Lessons from the Gospels – Diet

It’s January of the new year. You know what that means? Gym memberships and enrollment in weight loss programs are at their annual high point. Every year, people make a new commitment to better health, eating and fitness. And that’s okay. Good health is an important component of our abilities to serve God in this life (though not essential as God can use anyone in any circumstance) and a desire to care for these “fearfully and wonderfully made” physical bodies is not a bad thing.

Jesus had this to say about His diet, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work”. [John 4:34 KJV]

We, His grateful followers, would do well to also renew our commitment to Jesus’ diet, whether at the start of a new calendar year or just on a random Monday.

I am in the process of being trained to teach a weight loss lifestyle program that focuses both on what to give up and what to ensure you get enough of in your diet. The thing is that it takes both – both cutting down on what is not so helpful for good health and adding what will help our bodies function at peak performance.

Good spiritual health is not different. It must include both cutting out what is spiritually toxic or at least not helpful and adding in what will support peace, faith, hope and joy.

I have found, in this training, that when we focus on what to include in our eating plan for best fueling our bodies that there is less room for the things that do not provide as much nutrition.

Again, the alignment of this with spiritual health is great.

In the church I grew up in, there was one phrase often repeated that would be very helpful in visualizing this. It is something like, “The only way to remove air from a jar is to add something else.”  Adding in the “will and the way” that comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to our lives, minds, and hearts, in other words, is what pushes out the “former man”.

In my opinion, and in my own experience with trying to remove sin from my life, this analogy is spot on. If I want to remove gossip, it is very helpful to replace that gossip with words that lift others up instead.

If I want to remove thoughts of fear or doubt, I can count my blessings instead or put on some praise music to focus my thoughts elsewhere.

Saying to ourselves, “don’t gossip” or “don’t fear” is not as effective (according to what I’ve read about how our minds work) as saying “speak words of kindness” and “trust God”.  

In the future separating of the sheep and the goats, we can see that doing (instead of removing) is the focus of that sifting work. The scripture praises those who showed godly love for the poor by clothing or feeding them, for example, rather than those who just didn’t steal from them.

A focus on more study and prayer time or more time calling or visiting the sick, rather than less time watching secular TV might be more effective than simply committing to less TV time.  

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. To fuel our bodies, we need to include plenty of the foods that nourish it, exercise to keep it running smoothly, and supporting our minds with input that supports its health.

The spiritual bodies that God is creating in us through the Holy Spirit are just as amazing. To fuel our growth in the fruits of the spirit, I encourage us to consider a focus on what to include in our thoughts and actions, as a way to remove what is ineffective, just like putting water in a jar removes the air.

I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments, or any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org