Friday, July 01, 2005

Weight Loss and the Kingdom of God

I struggle with equating weight loss and spirituality because of a certain group that will not be named. However, something occurred to me the other day.

Sheryl and I are doing Weight Watchers together. And we're doing this flex points things where each amount of food is worth a certain amount of points and you get a certain amount of points each day. Well, some days it's harder to stick to the plan than others, with dinners and family reunions and what not.

But as we've been doing this, one of the things that I'm starting to see is that the whole point of this is not necessarily losing a certain amount of pounds, although that is a big part of it. The point of this is to become a more healthy person and eater. And the habits that I develop as a result of this are a positive that I can take with me throughout my life.

So, if I don't do so well with the points on a certain day, I don't beat myself up about it for the rest of the week. I say, "OK. I'm going to do it today. The point is to be healthy."

It's the same with the Kingdom. The point of being Christian is not to simply to be a good person who doesn't sin (break Shalom with God). It's to be a partner with God in the Kingdom. Not sinning will hopefully follow as a result of that.

So if I struggle with something one day, whether lust or pride or jealousy, I don't beat myself up. I say, "Ok. The point is not to not sin. It's to work with God in the Kingdom." Not sinning should follow.

9 comments:

Tony Arnold said...

Great analogy Phil.

Also, I must commend you on the not naming but including a link part. That was great!!!

I greatly admire new, creative ways to express sarcasm and irony. That was one of the best I have seen in a long time. Technology provides some great ways to be sarcastic without speech.

I guess that is not a great Christian attitude. Oops. But I am not going to beat myself up over it.

Tony

judy thomas said...

Thanks for the link Phil. I am so grateful that Sheryl long ago disassociated with GS and WD. It didn't take her long to figure that something else was going on besides weight loss. GS was always nice to us, but I really had no difinitive contact with her.

WD sounded like the best thing since sausage gravy when it began, but how quickly the prideful do fall!

Malia said...

It's funny how cyclical things in blog land are. I recently had a reference to the one whe don't speak of on my blog as well.

I'll be praying for you and Sheryl as you journey together towards better health and eating habits. David and I are doing the same, and really trying to train our thinking about it as well. It's so hard because I'm with you on the whole pairing with spirituality because of the time I spent listening to the words of the one we don't speak of. Plus not beating myself up when I have an off day or since being Florida, an off week.

Brandon Scott Thomas said...

Phil, great to see you today at Maddie's b-day party.

I am doing a weight loss for charity thing you might be interested in. You lose wieght for charity (of your choice - perhaps a certain mission trip).

www.40daysoffat.com

Starts officially August 1st, but the early bird starts July 6th. Would love to hear from you there.

Peace,

Chris

Anonymous said...

Uhm, that last comment was not really Brandon. I just hijacked his computer.

Jana said...

That last paragraph...AMEN!

c said...

Phil, glad you were at the cohort today. Hope to correspond more with ya.

peace,clark

Michael Hickerson said...

A couple of years ago, my church offered a program called First Place. It was simliar to Weight Watchers but the added bonus was it was a small accountablity group that included a Bible Study daily. I'd tried to lose weight before and never was all that successful, but this program worked for me. I had the discipline of daily readings and study and a memory verse each week (often set to cheesy music on CD but it helped!) that would be a good comfort when that piece of cake just called your name. Also, the group would have a prayer partner each week that would call or e-mail to check in on how you were doing that week...It really worked for me and it helped give me some discipline in my dieting and what I ate that helped me shed 50 pounds. And the good news--I haven't gained it all back, which is nice as well.

I am so glad that when I decided to do it that no one said what I wanted to hear--no, you don't need to diet, you're fine....

Michael Hickerson said...

Also, one of the disciplines I learned from dieting that translates to my spiritual life...

On a diet, you will make mistakes...and the thing is you can't just throw in the towel. YOu have to accept what you've done and keep on going. You can't say--well, I ate a chocolate chip cookie today and so the whole diet's a bust now where's the ice cream to go with it? No, you've gotta keep going and try to learn from that mistake...pick yourself up, ask forgiveness, accept forgiveness and keep on going. Just like our walk...we're gonna make mistakes as we're human..but just cause we head down the path doesn't mean we can't turn back or acknowledge our mistake, ask forgiveness and learn from it.

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