If you struggle to make healthy choices when it comes to food (and you’re not alone), here’s what I want you to try. When offered something unhealthy, I want you to stop and ask yourself some questions. Ask yourself if the choice you’re making will cause you to feel guilty later. Will it lead to you beating yourself up for hours? Will it bring you into a mindset of shame and a belly that aches?
We’ve conditioned ourselves to view certain foods as “rewarding” and delicious, but the truth it, these things only taste delicious and feel rewarding for a moment, a minute, and then the shame sets in. When offered a dessert or something else unhealthy, before you dig in, maybe just ask yourself, “how will I feel if I eat all of this and how will I feel if I only have a bite or completely pass?” No, having only a bite or passing entirely on dessert is not the cultural norm. Yes, people probably (for whatever reason) will still try and get you to eat more. Yes, your own mind will try and argue that it’s okay to have more. More, more, more, it’s always okay to have more.
BUT, I just want to tell you right now that your body and your health are worth it! YOU are worth it!
You can change, you can say no, you can resist—do you understand that you have the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead living inside of you! If that’s not power and authority, I don’t know what is. You don’t have to play the victim anymore. You don’t have to wallow in a sea of shame and guilt after every meal. You CAN say yes to health and, in that yes, pass on things that come against that yes and that desire to have a body fit to run the race set before us with perseverance.
Many of us tend to live in the moment, and we often think we are powerless to change this way of living—but, of course, we aren’t. Even if you’ve lived in the moment when it comes to those delicious and unhealthy foods all your life, you can still change. You see that chocolate cheesecake sitting on the table in front of you, and then envision yourself sitting down later and rubbing your stomach and feeling sick and ashamed, and you can so no to more cake or cookies or whatever it might be.
I have learned that sugar doesn’t make me feel good. I physically feel sick if I eat more than a bite or 2 of something sweet (so thankful for this!) So, when I have a bite of something sweet, I know I don’t want to feel sick later, and I know I don’t want to put something in my body that will zap me of energy. I know I want to do all I can to live out the rest of my life with health so I take a pass on another bite. And I’m no one special! This way of life and way of saying yes to health is available to us all, and I promise the more you consistently do this, the more natural it becomes.
The cool thing is you can use this with most decisions you face. To exercise or not?? In the moment I might feel tired and stressed and too busy, but then I can think of how, after I workout, I’ll feel better, have a better attitude and feel accomplished. To read my Bible or not?? In the moment I might feel like I have too much to do and don’t have time, but I know if I spend 15 minutes with God I’ll have such a better outlook on my day and be filled with more peace.
The truth is, we don’t have to live our lives based on how we feel in one particular moment. Maybe the kids kept me up and I don’t want to workout, or maybe I’m already working late and I don’t feel like reading my bible, or maybe I’ve had just had a fight with my spouse and some sugar seems like the perfect comforter—whatever it is, we don’t have to be enslaved to our feelings. We have God’s Spirit in us and we are powerful and we can say yes and no, even if we don’t feel like saying yes or no. Jesus didn’t feel like going to the cross, but he did. God didn’t “feel” like watching his own son be crucified, but he did. Isaiah and Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets didn’t “feel” like crying out for people to repent day after day, but they did. Esther didn’t “feel” like approaching the king on behalf of her people, but she did.
The truth is, you can say no to your desires and feelings and emotions in the moment, and you can say yes to something greater. You can. I’ll say it again, you can. True freedom and courage and bravery are found in saying yes to something greater than ourselves and our momentary, fleeting desires and feelings.
God has given you a spirit of power and of love and of self-control. So my only question to you is this: will you use it?
