Therefore, I urge you, my brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – This is your true and proper worship. – Romans 12:1
So many people battle addictions. Often when somebody is said to have an addiction of some sort, we think of drugs or alcohol. But, everyone has some type of thing they seek for comfort and relief of stress. We go to things that God blesses us with to find comfort instead of the God who created them. I once turned to cigarettes to get relaxation and a sense of calm. I gave that up over 20 years ago. But, I am still not free from addiction because I have an issue with food. I love food! Food makes me feel content. I especially love almost anything with lots of sugar and oh how I love chocolate and ice cream and caramel…and lots of it! I love cookies and cakes and I love petit fours and all kinds of desserts. In fact, dessert is my favorite part of every meal! But, eating these things, like with all addictions, has consequences. Perhaps they may not be as severe as a drug or alcohol addiction, but they can become idols and hurt our relationship with God just as well.
Our country has a serious plague of obesity and a rise in health complications such as diabetes and heart disease as a result. Pastors have addictions to food and health issues just like the lay people. I am a Baptist. We are known by our love for food and fellowship. We joke about it. But, in reality, this is not funny. Our pastors are our spiritual leaders. We need pastors who see the problem with food addiction and overcome it. We need spiritual leaders who set a good example of treating our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit in every way…including and especially what we put in our bodies. We are told not to do anything that would cause another to stumble. Being a part of the Baptist community, that scripture is often used with alcohol consumption and/or activities involving some type of lust. Well, there is a very obvious problem with lust when it comes to food, and we do cause others to stumble when we abuse the blessings of abundance God has given us in food choices. Our country is obsessed with food. I love to create all kinds of fancy dishes myself. But, everything must be done in moderation.
So, I have chosen to try to be a better example. Does this mean I will stop making desserts and fixing delicious food? No. What it means is that I will eat in a way that I can enjoy the “desserts” in moderation, while taking care to fuel my body with good and healthy foods overall. I haven’t figured out how to do this yet, but, my spouse and I have started with a 30 day cleansing. This is not some drink or herbal concoction that will cause me to have to stay close to the restroom. It is a 30 day plan of learning and eating what foods work best to fuel my body and reduce the inflammation that improper eating has caused. There are several methods to this including the Paleo diet, the Daniel Fast, and the program I have chosen to follow for 30 days, Whole 30.
The idea is not to forever eliminate all “questionable” foods from my diet, but, to learn how my body responds to eating healthy. I do not plan to adhere to this program for life, but I hope to learn how certain foods affect me, when it is okay to have a little “treat” and how often. By slowly adding back foods that are not allowed on this diet, I will then see how they affect my body and whether or not I need to avoid them altogether. The goal is to be as healthy as I can and feel as good as I can so that I can give my best in service to God.
Today is day 3 on this diet and here are my thoughts for today:
Day 3 on Whole 30! Only 27 days remaining! Oh what I would give for a batch of nice warm chocolate chip cookies and a Starbucks creme brulee caramel latte!!! Haha! My tummy is having a hard time adjusting to not eating garbage. But, this is normal. I want to love God with my body so that means cutting wayyyyyyyyyyy back on my already rare trips to Starbucks and learning to drink coffee with almond milk and nothing else…wow…and that is NOT easy! But, my spouse seems to be adjusting. This is my first day with unsweetened coffee and his third. During this phase, they say it is normal to feel sluggish while your body is withdrawing from not having the junk the body is used to processing. I’m feeling it. I could hardly stay awake all day yesterday! I look forward to being cleansed and getting a restart towards a new way of eating. I want to offer my body as a living sacrifice to God by taking the best care of it that I can. I know that when it is all said and done, I will be feeling great and looking better! I can’t wait for that part! No pain no gain right? It’s worth the sacrifice to get to the end result! I am in this for the long haul!
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