Losing Weight for Your Spiritual Health

I have been overweight for most of my adult life now.  It started out slowly and I really didn’t seem to notice it much.  But then I had my first baby and managed to gain 54 lbs with her.  Yes – I said 54 lbs! I definitely had the mindset that I was eating for two – grown men apparently!  I lost most of the weight soon after and was pretty happy with myself.  Then came a very difficult time in our family’s lives financially, and many, many moves from state – to state – to state.  And I ate – and ate – and ate!

Five years later baby #2 came and I truly did so much better – I only gained 27 lbs!  WooHoo!  But that was on top of all the weight I had gained back – okay, not so WooHoo!  Then came another move to a new state, and it ushered in one of the most difficult years of  life for my family and me.  Nothing was normal, there was no routine, and I was basically living as a single parent (my husband was working from 6 am-10pm and sometimes later, and my girls and I had to take him back and forth to the train station).  Again, I turned to food for comfort!

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.  (1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV)

Then one day I read 1 Corinthians 6:19 and it made me start thinking about where I was searching for my comfort in my time of need.  Was I turning to God?  I thought I had been.  I mean, I prayed all the time –  I cried out to Him often!  Did I turn to His Word?  Well, yes, I did my Bible study on a regular basis.  But what was I doing when I was in the heat of it?  When I was alone and the stress was taking over my thoughts?  I was turning to food!

You were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.

Those words seemed to ring in my ear when I read them.  I can’t get them out of my mind.  Did Jesus die on the cross for me to turn to a bag of chips when I am in need?  Or did He make the ultimate sacrifice so that I could talk directly to God, walk with Him, and know that He is in control?

As a Christian I know that gluttony (being overweight) is a sin.  I know that making food so important to me that I would risk health issues and diseases on my body, just so I could feel a little better for a short time, is a sin.  As a homeschooling mama of two little girls, this is something I am very aware of – the example I am giving my daughters of a woman of God!  So far I’m not giving them a very good one.

After reading 1 Corinthians 6:19 I decided to begin studying the Proverbs 31 Woman.  Have you read about her?  She’s amazing and intimidating all at the same time, right?!  But when you read about her and all that she does, think about what you don’t see.  She’s not sitting and wallowing with a candy bar.  No, she’s out there working to move herself, her family, and her husband forward.  She doesn’t just sit back and say, “Poor me!”  The Bible doesn’t describe her appearance, but in your mind’s image do you see an overweight, sloppy woman or a fit, put-together force to be reckoned with?  Yah – me too!  She is who I want to be for my daughters – I want to raise them to be Proverbs 31 Women, too!

So the next time you are reaching for that piece of comfort food think of this.

• Your body is a temple.
• You were bought with a price.
• You are to glorify God in your body.
• You are strong enough to become the Proverbs 31 Woman

Then, put that food back and pick up your Bible and read Proverbs 31 and be encouraged!  Know that this woman can be you.  You are a strong, confident in Christ woman, and you live to glorify Him.

Now it’s time to lose the weight for your spiritual health!