The Discomfort of Comfort Foods

The holiday season is over and I am stuffed. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I guess it depends on what you ate and how it makes you feel and act.

That sounds dumb! It’s just food!

Or is it? And is it able to nourish your body?

Don’t say anymore; now you’re getting into something personal, some might think.

My mother always said the reason many people didn’t feel well or had low energy was their bodies were not getting the vitamins and minerals they needed because they were not eating their vegetables.

Another thing she said about eating was ‘moderation and variety’, ‘moderation and variety’. I heard it many times. I believe it is the truth.

Mom was one of 9 kids, growing up in northern Illinois on a small fruit and vegetable farm that her father owned and they all worked hard to make a go of it. They grew up knowing what good produce looked like and tasted like. So they had the variety, and the moderation came about, I’m sure, because there were so many mouths to feed at each meal…not too many got seconds.

So today, when we’re down and stress is high and we want to pamper ourselves or someone else, too often we reach for comfort foods…delicious concoctions of salty, starchy or sweet, buttery flavors. I love it as much as the next person. They’re easy to prepare… or just order in- don’t even have to think about cooking. No need to worry about learning how to discover a genuine ripe melon, or find some fresh green beans, we’ll have our vitamin C in the tomato catsup on our hash-browns.

But…over time our body will begin to complain with aches, pains, low energy, skin conditions, organs begin to shut down, inability to concentrate for very long, and a general low grade feeling all the time.

Don’t reach for the medicine cabinet! Reach for the grocery cart and get some fresh food to put in your body. Take care of it like you would your car. Put in the right fuel and see how many more miles you’ll get from your day.

Come on…this year let’s take good care of our bodies!

You are worth it!

 

A Home for God

I am a home for God. If you belong to Him then you are a home for God.

I believe God wants us to take care of ourselves and honor God with our bodies, not just with our words and saying we’re committed to him, but really, truly take care of our physical bodies.

Chances are He has been dealing with us about our eating patterns…if we’re eating good real food so our body can be nourished and function well…our exercise or lack of exercise to keep our energy up…the amount of sleep we get…keeping clean-not only us but our children as well.

The other day it really struck me how much of a treasure our bodies are and God gave us that treasure. A treasure is something we would guard and take good care of and be careful not to lose.

Not that many years ago, I was in the categories listed above…every single one. I was working at an office job, sitting at the desk eating snacks, donuts, working long hours, getting up early, not getting any real exercise and began to ache just about everywhere and felt horrible most of the time. I’d come home, crash and start over again the next day.

I remembered I didn’t used to feel this way and didn’t think I could blame it on old age, 50 is not old, so I began, painfully to walk and exercise a little every day. I began to try to eat better and not eat the donuts every time they were brought in. Gradually I began to feel better and lost over 8 bags of flour worth of weight! If you look at it that way it helps see your progress!

I think sometimes God’s people disregard their treasure and actually despise it, thinking it’s bad or corrupt or going to pass away anyway so why bother. They think their body is unimportant and only their spirit matters. Or they think, ‘God will take care of me, so I can eat whatever I want and do whatever I want.’ They end up destroying their body through carelessness, neglect and bad habits.

If you are in the above category, God wants to help you…help you change the way you see yourself so you can feel well, feel strong and be able to use your body to glorify Him. Take these areas to God and ask Him to change you. He is willing.

God wants to keep us strong and healthy so we can help others and not be a strain needlessly on them….(not talking about things beyond our control)…but there is a lot with in our control that too many do not take control of and they get sick and worn out and cannot function in their God-given capacity.

God wants to meet our needs so we can be able to help meet the needs of others, and if our body is not in good health because we haven’t taken good care of it, or we have no strength because we aren’t using it to keep it toned up, then like anything else that is not used, it tends to wither, lose strength and become useless.

Anything worth having takes effort-hard work….but you and your body are worth it!

“…Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.” Says 1 Corinthians 6:19 MSG

 Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you.” I Corinthians 6:19 TLB

Remember too, there is no condemnation in Christ and God is for you- an ever present (now) help in time of need.

Start today…begin to restore your home for God. Tell Him about it.