READ MATTHEW 6:19-34, JOHN 10:1-10
Why do you want to be healthy?
We are all motivated by something & I would offer that all motivation falls into one of two categories: FEAR or LOVE.
We worry so much about our physical looks that we don’t trust in Jesus & our thoughts of worry are wrapped up in lies that we believe from the outside world which stems from fear.
The “thief” who has come to steal, kill & destroy has done so by plastering images of perfect bodies all over magazines & social media. He has told us that if we could just lose a little bit of weight, we would be happy, healthy & more liked by those around us
Out of fear, we are chasing a “desirable” body that we’ve seen on someone else because that “perfect” body somehow makes us think that the life lived in it is perfect too.
While there are actually great reasons to manage our body weight, eat healthy & be active, if we believe these things are the solution to all our problems, then we are wrong.
Jesus is the solution to all our problems. Our level of health will either help us live for Him or not.
If we are healthy {eating well, sleeping well, minimizing stress & being active} we will be able to serve our Father, our family, our friends, our church & our community. Eating whole, unprocessed foods will give us the energy we need to be able to sustain this service for a long period of time. Choosing to work on our health will allow us to enjoy life more.
These motivations come from a place of love. Loving God, loving ourselves & loving the people we are given.
One of the greatest offerings of love we could ever give to God is to live a life of self-control & offer Him our healthiest self for His service. Respectively, it’s the greatest gift we could give the people in our lives as well - the healthiest version of our self.
But choosing to diet only to lose weight is going to leave us feeling defeated & unsuccessful. Our motivation is wrong when we simply choose to lose weight instead of getting healthy.
Health involves way more than our weight, the food we eat or the way we look.
Our health ultimately involves truth. What truth do we believe & what lies do we believe?
If our eye is the lamp of our body, then what we look at & focus on will have our attention. In the same respect, what we listen to {the Shepherd or the thief} will have our audible focus.
So in other words, what we focus on will become the biggest thing in our lives.
If I am focused on Jesus then I increase my ability to show goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control over my life & my body, but if I give my attention to the body image that the world {again the thief, Satan} wants me to see then I will become more fearful, thus focusing on how I need to perform or behave to gain significance.
If I ask you to think of 6th grade you immediately have an image in your head because you were there & you experienced it.
If in turn, I ask you to think of your identity in Christ, do you immediately have an image in your heart, mind & soul of what that is?
How much of our attention are we giving to the perfect body image & our restrictive diets to obtain what we believe will give us distinction in this world, when all the images we are trying to emulate aren’t even real.
Instead let’s focus on the real image of Jesus, who showed us exactly how to live & then sacrificially gave us the Holy Spirit to help us walk in those ways.
As believers, we have to detox ourselves from the ways of the world in order to go into the world. We do this by making Jesus our biggest focus & letting Him guide us into living a life that seeks to glorify Him.
How can you change your focus from what the world calls healthy to the truth of what God says about your health?
Today ask Jesus to help you focus on Him in the area of your health instead of believing lies about a stereotype you should fit into.