“Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this
world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its
rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These rules, which have to do with things
that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands
and teachings. Such regulations indeed
have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false
humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in
restraining sensual indulgence.”
Colossians 2:20-23 (NIV)
As
Americans steadily gain weight, a national obsession with dieting has
occurred. Diets have been
held forth as the “solution” to weight problems, but they have failed, miserably. Yet even with a literal epidemic of dieting
failure they have somehow managed to succeed in the grandest dupery of all
time--leaving dieters feeling like they
are the failure (because they didn’t have enough “willpower”) instead of the
solution being given them. Most people end up physically and psychologically worse
off than if they had never started on a diet in the first place. Americans, many of them Christians,
are being given a false “solution” to the wrong “problem”. It’s time for that to stop. Overweight is not the
problem, overeating is.
But it takes two to
tango, as they say, and we are responsible for our part Church. You would think that after decades of dieting
failure (individually and collectively) people would stop embarking on the next diet, but many still look to diets (and now their substitute cousin—drugs) as the
answer as if totally oblivious to dieting failure. The Church, much like the world, is still
abuzz with new and improved diets as if believers don’t have discernment or
because the flesh pulls us to try to “fix” a problem that is bigger than
ourselves. If you look to the next new
diet, perhaps you have been convinced that it was your lack of “willpower” that
resulted in failure in the past. Or
maybe you have been convinced of the newest diet since you know someone who has
lost weight in the short-term (and I stress short-term). I find it particularly uncomfortable that
brothers and sisters in the Church, with their extra measure of credibility in
Christ, give praise to the fad diets even when the authors promote
philosophical agendas in their books that contradict God’s Word. Perhaps many believers so easily follow what
is popular in the culture as if that is their only option because it is the
only option being given, one that
seems to make “sense”, often proffered by self-proclaimed “experts” and
wholeheartedly supported by the medical profession and Christians alike.
But
dieting for weight-loss is not your only option.
In fact, it shouldn’t
be an option at all. God
has a much better way.
N.E.W.
LIFE is
very effective for weight-loss (95% of the people who have come to a N.E.W. LIFE program have raised their
hand when I asked who was there for weight-loss), but God’s plan goes FAR
beyond just losing weight. In fact, the
reason why N.E.W. LIFE is so
effective for weight-loss is precisely because
we take the focus off of weight and put it on behavior and health
instead. N.E.W. LIFE stands for Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness for
LIFE—notice there’s no “diet” in the name.
My prayer is that the words I share and the work of the Holy Spirit will
help the reader to break any “diet mentality” that may be present. A diet mentality is in direct opposition to
God’s Word, so it is no wonder that it leads to physical, emotional and
spiritual havoc in so many lives. Diets
are based on “man’s law” instead of God’s law, and even God’s holy law can only
show us where we fall short. The law
shows us what is required but has no
power to help us do it. It is the
job of the Holy Spirit, a gift of a deposit in those who have received Jesus
Christ, to make happen what the law says should happen but doesn’t have the
power to make happen. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can become free from
bondage, walk in optimal health, and live an abundant life.
“I
say then: Walk
in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that
you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led
by the Spirit, you are not under the law. .
. But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16-18, 22-25 (NKJV)
Are you beginning to
see how your relationship with God, and walking in the Spirit, is where you
will find the power to overcome
the desires and fleshly behaviors which you may be in bondage to? But how does one “walk in the Spirit”, be
“led by the Spirit”, “live in the Spirit”?
The believer who has repented for sin and believed and received the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior is saved (by grace, through faith—Ephesians
2:8) and is filled with the Holy Spirit in an initial baptism of the Spirit, a conversion
to a new man having been born again spiritually. Then and only then can one be filled with the
Holy Spirit, and then it is up to us to live a life in step with the Holy
Spirit. An important part of the process
which follows salvation (which is called sanctification) is to continue to be
fed by the Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God to grow and continue to be
transformed. The Holy Spirit saves and
sanctifies. Our role is to believe and
to surrender, and that is an ongoing process.
Read the Word of God daily and see what happens.
In future posts I will
discuss why the “diet mentality”
will not only fail you (God won’t), but
how diets are actually harmful—very, very
harmful.
Dear Lord, Thank
you for sending Your Holy Spirit to us and for your Holy Spirit-inspired Word
that we can continue to be filled with and strengthened by. May Your Holy Spirit minister, teach, lead
and heal. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
N.E.W. LIFE
(Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness for LIFE): Biblical Support for Health and
Freedom from Bondage to Food and Diets
Print book $20 https://payhip.com/b/aLGtD
E-book $10 https://payhip.com/b/JKrMG
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