May your whole spirit, soul & body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
{1 Thessalonians 5:23}
God cares more about your soul & your health than He does your weight.
The bible does however tell us that we are one complete being made up of a spirit, soul & body. We cannot have one without the other. In fact, in order to walk on this earth, each part must sustain the other.
While caring for the soul & growing in our spiritual walk is vital, our body is what holds those other parts of us. So neglecting it’s health is as bad as neglecting our spiritual health.
There is a fine line of being careful not to seek a certain weight to conform to an image the world says we should meet, while having a balance of a healthy weight.
As a nutrition coach who feels called by God to help women find freedom from body image issues, talking about weight is something I actually like to avoid.
This is because I know the weight charts that are available in mainstream society are typically way off for what most people should strive for. In fact, many of them are absolutely unreasonable. You can be completely healthy & still be at a weight that is considered overweight on the charts. This is because we have a creative God who doesn’t like to make people from a mold. He likes to create people unique, in personality, in passions & in body shape.
There does however come a time in which some people need to seek a weight loss plan for health reasons, for physical reasons & even for spiritual reasons, because as Christians sometimes extra weight is a symptom of a deeper issue.
So if you are on a weight loss journey, I want to give you some scriptures to use in your prayer life as you seek the healthy weight God created you to be.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have from God & that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. {1 Corinthians 6:19-20} … this verse sounds cliché because we have heard it too often regarding things like body piercings or tattoos, but the reality is that your body houses the Holy Spirit. You cannot accomplish the calling & purpose He has for your life without your body! What you eat, how you take care of yourself & everything about your body matters to God!
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And god is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted He will also provide a way out so you can endure it. {1 Corinthians 10:13} … if you are truly on a weight loss journey for health, it will require self-control & discipline. This will inevitably bring temptation. You will want the extra cookie or bowl of ice cream. But if your weight loss journey is focused on health & you determine to move that direction in order to more faithfully serve God & love others, then God will help you with the temptations you face. God will provide a way out for you, simply ask & look.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. {1 Corinthians 10:31} … if you are seeking weight loss for any reason other than the glory of God, then you might as well stop. You might achieve a goal on the scale temporarily but you will be left with a longing for something more. We were created to serve & worship God & if we are seeking anything outside of those reasons, we will never be satisfied. You were made for more than selfish ambitions or the approval of man. So ask yourself, “why do I want to lose weight?” Determine that answer between you & God so that your journey can be for His glory.
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. {Galatians 1:10} … as I mentioned in the last point, selfish ambitions or seeking the approval of others will leave you empty. The comparison game is a real trap. Unfortunately what we often seek is not reality. It’s an airbrushed, edited image of unrealistic bodies or the highlight reels of the lives of others. You are created as an individual by God. You were meant to live a life in the body He gave you, in self-control, yes, but not because you want to achieve what the world says is good, because we want to walk in the righteous ways of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control; against such things there is no law. {Galatians 5:22-23} … self-control is probably the hardest one of all of these & it is likely the driving factor behind all of the others as well. It is hard to control what our flesh wants. We are a people who like for our physical desires to be satisfied. But there are in fact times in which we need to exhibit self-control. Weight loss is dependent on it. We must make the choice to do things our natural self does not want, such as choose lettuce over chocolate or working out over watching television.
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