Start Your New Life Today (23 page)
Your body is not only the temple of your spirit and soul, the house they dwell in while you are on this earth; it is God’s home as well.
Our bodies are our God-given instruments for experiencing life on earth and for doing good works. If we let our bodies become shabby or sick, it will be a constant distraction. To do the work we were meant to do, we need to keep our bodies in shape to allow us to operate most effectively for Him.
Feeling tired and sick most of the time deteriorates the quality of life. Everything becomes more of an effort, and just getting through the day seems to be all we can handle. God wants us to be healthy and energetic, but we need to do our part by using wisdom in how we take care of ourselves.
Respecting Your Body
I
f you went to visit a church and saw it was extremely run-down, what would you think? If you looked around and noticed peeling paint, broken doors, and smudged windows diminishing the amount of light coming through them, you might find the condition of the church distracting, if not disturbing. Instead of contributing to a feeling of peace, the condition of the church might bring on a feeling of uneasiness. If the pastor’s church building is his instrument for celebrating the glory of God, yet he doesn’t respect the church enough to keep it in good condition, you might be thinking about whether the pastor’s character was in as poor condition as the building placed in his charge.
A church building kept in excellent condition speaks of the excellence of God. Presenting ourselves well physically also represents God well. It is important to remind ourselves God does not expect us to be perfect in any area and to guard against falling into the world’s trap of expecting ourselves to have the perfect shape and look nearly perfect. We should work with our bodies, whether we are small-framed or large, whatever our basic makeup is, to be in good shape and present ourselves well without becoming obsessive about our appearance.
We want to keep our bodies in good shape to represent the Lord well, but also to allow our tri-part being to operate most effectively for Him. Jesus wants us to enjoy our lives, and that is very difficult if our bodies are run-down. If we are living in bodies we have basically ignored, experiencing God’s presence and His joy and peace in them is about as easy as it would be sitting in the dilapidated church building described in the previous illustration. It is obvious today many people in society are not taking care of themselves. Anyone can see in the way people look and carry themselves, they clearly feel terrible. We simply cannot look our best if we don’t feel our best! How we feel will show up somewhere—in our body language, a dull look in our eyes, sullenness of skin color, and so on. We often put ourselves at the bottom of the list of what we take care of, and it adversely affects every other area of our lives. Many people actually hate their bodies.
We often put ourselves at the bottom of the list of what we take care of, and it adversely affects every other area of our lives.
I recently interviewed a doctor on my television program who wrote a book titled
Making Peace with Your Thighs.
She explained how the image presented today by society regarding how we should look is driving people to be dissatisfied with their bodies and even hate them. How can we be comfortable living in a body we hate?
I believe we should take what God has given us to work with and do the best we can with it. Everything about your body may not be exactly as you would like it, but don’t despise your body. I have baby-fine hair that is a little difficult to manage, but it won’t do me any good to want someone else’s hair or hate mine. I have learned to deal with it and do the best I can. You might not like your thighs, your nose, your feet, or some other part of your body, but I encourage you to not focus on the one or two things that are less than desirable. Instead focus on living for God and glorifying Him in your body.
Willpower or God’s Power?
W
hen we begin to see things that need to change in us and our lives, it is tempting to think we can change by sheer willpower, but we need more than that. You are familiar with willpower. Willpower makes us not eat the chocolate fudge sundae sitting in front of us, even though every cell of our bodies is screaming for us to dig in. Willpower is that thing CEOs and professional athletes tell us they used to make it to the top. Willpower is what makes you get up and go jogging early every morning.
Willpower sure sounds like a great thing. We are led to believe that we have enough of it to fight off every temptation that comes our way. And sometimes we do have enough. But let me tell you a little secret about willpower. Willpower is your best friend when things are going well, but it’s the first friend to check out when you get weary. Willpower peers out Saturday morning at rain and forty-degree temperatures and says, “I’m staying home today!” The problem is willpower is closely aligned with reason, and reason is
always
open to being “reasoned” with, to being talked out of things. “You’re right,” it says. “Too yucky out for jogging. Sure, you’ll go twice tomorrow.” Or: “Sure, finish the last piece of pie now so you don’t have to put the plate back in the fridge, and then you’ll eat a really small dinner tonight. Makes sense!” Reason is always willing to risk the slippery slope leading to failure.
I have found that if I really don’t want to do a thing, my mind gives me plenty of reasons why I don’t have to. My emotion even joins in, saying, “I agree because I don’t feel like doing it,” but it is never enough to bring you across the finish line. We live not by our might or power but by God’s Spirit (see Zechariah 4:6). Now, what happens if, instead of turning first to willpower in your time of need, you turn to God instead? God releases His power into your willpower and energizes it to bring you across the finish line. Willpower does not get the credit for our success; God does. Jesus said in John 15:5, “Apart from Me . . . you can do nothing.” This is one of the most important and most difficult lessons we must learn if we want to enjoy the life Jesus died to give us. When we go to anything or anyone before God, He is insulted and is obligated to let us fail so we will realize “unless the L
ORD
builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127:1
NASB
).
We must learn to let God do the heavy lifting. Let Him supply the ability to energize our choice. We can choose to exercise or stop overeating, but our choice alone is not enough for complete victory. As I said previously, willpower and determination will get us started, but have been known to quit in the middle and leave us stranded. God never quits in the middle.
Willpower and determination will get us started, but have been known to quit in the middle and leave us stranded. God never quits in the middle.
There are some people in the world who claim to be self-made successes, but if we follow their lives all the way through, there may be some area of life in which they fall apart. God has not created us to function well without Him, and the sooner we learn that the better off we will be.
Start by asking God to get involved, then continue with God and finish with God. What should we do when the burdens in life seem too heavy? Jesus said, “Come to Me.” He will give rest to the weary and burdened (Matthew 11:28).
Receive God’s Love
A
bove all, we need to concentrate on receiving the gift God offers to us every day—His love. His love heals all our wounds and hurts and makes us whole. Once we know how much God loves us, we can begin to love ourselves in a balanced way and then we in turn get to pass it on to others. Receiving God’s love is an important step, because we cannot love others without it. We cannot give away what we do not have.
As we begin our new lives in God, we have much to learn and always remembering God loves us will help us receive His correction as a good thing. Love is the greatest gift that can be given, and it is offered to each of us every day, yet few of us have the faith to accept it.
Nothing frustrates me more than people who don’t know how to accept gifts. It’s a joy to express my love or appreciation to someone by giving them a gift I know they’ll like. But if the response is, “No, no, I can’t accept that,” or “Really, you shouldn’t have,” or “No, take it back,” that drains all the joy out of it. It becomes downright embarrassing if you have to force a gift on someone. You can even begin to wonder if you should have offered the gift at all.
Those who are uncomfortable getting gifts usually have some deep-seated insecurity that prevents them from accepting others’ kindness. We often respond the same way to God’s free gift of love. Because we have low self-esteem and deep-seated insecurities, we cannot imagine that a perfect God could love an imperfect us. That attitude can prevent us from receiving what God is offering. I must admit I don’t know
why
God loves me and wants to have an intimate relationship with me, but His Word says He does and I accept it by faith. Being willing to do that has changed my life, and it will change yours too.
God wants to do many things for each of us. He has gifts prepared for us that we will be unwrapping the rest of our lives. The Bible says, “What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Receiving is an action. It isn’t passive. You must make the decision to reach out and grab it. Think of a wide receiver catching a pass in football. He isn’t called the
wide target.
He doesn’t just stand there and wait for the quarterback to stick the ball in his hand. No, he
wants
that ball. He goes after it like a dog after a bone. He’ll do anything to get it.
That’s how you need to be toward receiving God’s love. Be passionate about it. Go after it. Study God’s love. Meditate on it. As you seek it eagerly, you will receive a revelation deep in your heart that will be life changing. Learn how to receive God’s great gift of love every day and how to give it to others.
For years I desperately wanted to be a good Christian, to give my love to others and have them love me back to help fill the emptiness I felt inside. Yet it never quite worked. I couldn’t understand why, and I became frustrated with myself and others. Why was I unable to walk in love? Why weren’t people giving me the love I needed? Then I finally realized I had never received God’s love—never reached for it. I never liked myself, always feeling unworthy of any gift, much less one as immense as God’s love! I made the commitment, opened my heart, and let God rush in with His healing love. Then and only then was I able to love myself, to walk in and enjoy His perfect love, and to give my love to Him and others.
All we have to do is open our hearts and make the decision to receive it. If we never lose sight of God’s amazing love, we will be able to enjoy our journey with Him. As God convicts us of things that need to change we set goals for ourselves.
If your goal is to lose fifty pounds and you lose two pounds the first week, should you get discouraged because you are forty-eight pounds heavier than you want to be? No. You say, “Hallelujah, what a great week!” and continue with your plan. Think about your successes rather than your failures. Maybe you ate a little too much today, but the good news is you didn’t eat as much as you used to before beginning your new journey toward lifetime health and wholeness. Perhaps you intended to walk thirty minutes but got started late and could only do twenty minutes. Don’t feel that you are a failure and should have done better; remember when you did not exercise at all and be happy for your progress. Having this positive attitude toward your progress will breed more progress.
What matters is not where you are, or how far away your destination is, but the direction you are headed. Be proud of
today.
Live one day at a time. Don’t look at how far you have to go; look at how far you have come. As Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34
NIV
). Do everything you can to make the day a success, and when it is, allow yourself some deep satisfaction in the evening.
What matters is not where you are, or how far away your destination is, but the direction you are headed.
Concentrate on making right choices. Every right choice is one more step toward your destination. Be excited that you are heading in the right direction. It is right to feel good about your progress, rather than bad about how far you still have to go.
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6 to put on the helmet of salvation, meaning we are to be full of hope and expectation. Learn to be positive about everything. Now that you have begun a new life in Christ, one of the benefits is you can think about everything in a new way. The more you renew your mind and learn to think like God does, the more you will enjoy His good plan for you (see Romans 12:2).
Curb Your Spiritual Hunger
T
here are some things in life we can’t control, and some of those things bring us pain. Illness or injury brings physical pain. Other people can say or do cruel things that cause us emotional pain. And sometimes it doesn’t take people at all; circumstances can deal us a bad hand and cause a lot of pain and suffering. Not all of these events are necessarily traumatic. Lots of small hurts in our lives can add up to a general state of sadness or low-grade despair. Sometimes the simple lack of stimulation or loved ones in our lives can contribute to boredom and loneliness, which can be some of the hardest emotional suffering to endure.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could control the people and circumstances in our lives and avoid pain entirely? It’s a natural wish; nobody likes pain. Unfortunately, none of us have that control. We all have to live the life we have, and through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ we can enjoy our lives whether our circumstances suit us or not.