There’s a hypocrite Living in My Earth Suit!
I am a hypocrite! There I’ve confessed it. I have been trying to write this article for a week! I could not – with a good conscience – write this truth. I haven’t been living it! I invite you to keep reading and understand that while I know what is true – I have not lived the truth in this area of my life……I am – sadly – a filthy sinner! 🙁 I’m not kidding!
Long time ago in a church far away we had a fellow minister and his wife who we loved(actually we still do)! Our fellow minister went to the doctor one day and was diagnosed with very high cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The prescription from the doctor – change your diet (he loved hot dogs) and exercise. The man became a maniac with his diet. When he would dine at a restaurant or ate at someone’s home – everyone eating would have to listen to him talk about the food that was served. He had a compulsion to report the cholesterol and triglyceride impact on everyone eating the meal. EVERY SINGLE TIME. We were sick of hearing how sick we were going to become. Finally, one day, I said, “PLEASE! George, (not really his name) YOU are going to die healthy but WE want to die HAPPY!” Everyone laughed. He got the message and finally we all returned to our high cholesterol/ triglyceride lives. WHAT was I thinking?
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” I Corinthians 6:19
Fast forward – I’m happy but my body is not healthy. Ministry couples are very aware of many sins against the body such as the sexual sins mentioned in I Corinthians 6. I find that ministry families can easily focus on the sexual sins of others but live hypocritically when we do not acknowledge the fact that we sin against our own bodies. I readily acknowledge the differences in earthly consequences – but sin is sin.
Do I dare say……From One Hypocrite to another?(maybe…maybe not) let me know.
Hi, Diane. I’ve been walking a similar journey this year. God has been working in this area of our lives as a couple, at the same time which has been soooo neat! Something changed a couple months ago in both of our minds when it came to nutrition and eating well. It’s not that we ate a lot of unhealthy processed stuff before, but we both desired to be even more intentional about eating healthy. I know sometimes we separate the spirit/soul and body…perhaps even subconsciously…thinking we can nurture our relationship with God on the inside but treat our bodies like garbage by the junk we put into our mouths. But we are whole beings and what we do with our bodies or our souls affects the whole of us. For us, it’s not been about desperately depriving ourselves and being miserable, but really enjoyable actually. It’s a powerful thing when we make the switch from, “I CAN’T have _______” to “I don’t WANT to eat _________”. It’s so freeing not to count calories. This time last year I was doing just that and it actually led me to eat less healthy items to cut down on calories so I could save room for some empty junky calories for all those treats I wanted to munch on in the evenings. Talk about “playing the system”. Sure I was limiting my calories, but I wasn’t giving my body what it needed to be healthy. Now I am eating all the time and not worrying about it at all because I’m feeding my body healthy things…stuff it needs to function properly…oh, and I’m shedding pounds too. Imagine that. And I’m sleeping better at night…and I’m not needing a nap every afternoon…and I’m much more prepared emotionally and mentally to handle the stresses of my life. I really cannot believe the transformation. I’m learning a lot as I go and I really don’t want to become a “food snob” as my husband calls it. Trying to be balanced…especially when it comes to our budget! Some of the practical things we’ve been doing…avoiding processed foods when possible (making lots of things from scratch, but thankfully I love being in the kitchen anyway), buying only foods with one or two ingredients (or at least making sure that the ingredient list is all recognizable as food), cutting out white sugar in favour of more natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup or even date purée, cutting out overly processed flours (I’ve always made our bread anyway, but I’m having loads of fun experimenting with all kinds of whole grain flours…would love to even get my own grain mill one of these days). We’ve cut out a lot of meat too and now only have it a few times a week and always make sure it’s very lean chicken or fish…that sort of thing. Anyway, sorry this post is SO long. Can you tell I’m excited about this?! 🙂
Thank you for this post. As Christian leaders we are sometimes guilty of seeing the speck in our neighbors eye while ignoring the beam in our own. Thank you for reminding us that we all can be hypocrites about something and the reminder that the care of our physical bodies do matter as I decided to eat unhealthy this morning. Lol Couldn’t believe that I read this post just after eating unhealthy breakfast. Thanks!
My husband and I have been going through the same struggle. In January we were blessed to be able to go on a cruise to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Before we left, but even more so after we got back, we came under conviction about our weight. My husband is a pastor, and his shirt buttons were pulling and he had to purchase an expander for his collar, even though we had gone up a half size in the neck of his dress shirts. As we looked at the Christmas pictures that were taken, we both realized that we were not taking care of the bodies that God had given us. January 22nd we made a conscious choice to change our eating habits and to begin a real exercise program. We joined LA Fitness and we are both feeling so much better. I am pleased to report that my husband is back in sport jackets and suits he hasn’t worn in years due to the loss of about 20 pounds. It has been difficult, but prayer has been a tremendous help. We aren’t starving ourselves or gone crazy with an exercise program…just trying to be sensible and remember that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. I have thought about that over the years. The temple of the Holy Spirit…would I take something into my church that would harm myself or someone else or bring reproach upon my God? The answer of course is NO. Then why do I do it to my body? The church building is just a building…the real church is me and all other believers. Dear God, please help us realize the importance of keeping our temple free from anything that would bring harm upon ourselves or reproach upon our blessed Savior! If I spend more time with YOU and less time thinking about food and indulging in it, how much better off I would be!