I was reading in Philippians this morning and a few verses jumped out at me. Chapter 3 verses 7-14 and 19-21:
“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
(19) Their (the enemies of Christ) destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
When I read this, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Food can become a god to us. ”Their god is their stomach”…their god is fulfilling desires of the flesh…with food…with tv…with anything besides God…seeking to meet some need and fill some void. But as Christians, it is sinful to do so. We are to consider those earthly things as garbage…not filling those needs OUR WAY…with food, with tv, relationships, etc…we are to strive to know God and to overcome these things that replace God. When we run to something besides God, we are making that thing our god. Doing this only fuels the cycle of shame and the need to fill that void. But we have hope in Christ…we can go to Him with all of this, every craving, every temptation to eat the unhealthy thing. We can have VICTORY in Christ when we run this race WITH Him, and not in our own strength.
In the book Made to Crave, it said that we crave what we eat. I realized this morning that this applies to so many other areas. When we watch a good tv show, we can’t wait for the next episode…or worse, we’re watching on Netflix and have access to the whole series and can’t wait to keep watching more and more. When we eat a certain food or type of food (sweets, salty food, etc), we want more of it…whether it be seconds that same meal or more the next day, etc. When we have sex, we want more sex. The more we read the Bible and pray, the more we want to read the Bible and pray. The more we exercise, the more we want to exercise.
In my life I see this to be 100% true and accurate. When I have a Starbucks drink (any kind), I will fight the temptation every single day for the rest of that week to go get another one. When I eat sweets I want more. When I eat good, healthy foods, it fuels my desire for more good healthy foods. When I watch a good show, I want to keep watching more and more (For example, I watched the entire series of Lost in 2 months…so that’s an average of 2-3 episodes PER DAY). When I exercise, I have a hard time taking a rest day. It goes on and on. Now how much of this is healthy and ok? It depends on what that craving is for. If it is for healthy, beneficial things like exercise, healthy food, and God, then its fine. If its not, then there’s a problem and you have to look deeper to discover what the emotions are that are fueling the desires.
With Christ, all things are possible. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. This weight loss journey is possible. Changing old habits is possible. Enjoying things in moderation is possible. Is it going to be hard? Absolutely. Is it going to be worth it in every facet of life (mind, body, soul)? Absolutely.
