Your body begins to function as God intended (healthy).
Your cravings for unhealthy foods begin to diminish.
You begin to develop a taste for healthy foods.
Your overall appetite decreases.
You lose weight – automatically – and keep it off.
But weight loss is not the end-goal
What you need to be shooting for is good health – not some imaginary or documented ideal weight.
While weight loss unquestionably has a dramatic impact on overall health, you should have more building blocks in place than weight loss alone if you are going to get there…
Desire to please God first.
Good stewardship of your health.
Deep conviction to do the RIGHT THING in regards to your health.
Learning truth regarding the foods and habits that cause your body to thrive.
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
Super Foods for Weight Loss and Disease Prevention
Dr. Joel Fuhrman
As you may have read, my wife and I have changed our eating habits out of a conviction that we were being bad stewards of God’s gifts of our bodies & health. With His help, we’ve been able to shed pounds, feel better, and feel confident that we are pleasing God with the management of our health. The main resource we used t learn how to go about that process was the writings and research of Dr. Joel Fuhrman. The following list of super foods for weight loss and disease prevention are from his work:
Green lettuce – Packed full of nutrients, plant proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It’s also exceptionally low in calories.
Avocados – A great source of healthy fatty acids. Rich in substances that help lower cholesterol, and are high in powerful anti-oxidants. Avodcados also have anti-cancer properties.
Strawberries – High in iron, flavonoids, folic acid, and vitamin C. Contains only 60 calories per cup.
Kale – One of the most high-nutrient green vegetables. Kale can have a strong taste, so we put it in our smoothies and in various soups (you can’t taste it either way).
Blueberries & blackberries – Both are full of various nutrients that have cancer-fighting properties, as well as contributing to the prevention and reversal of age-related mental decline.
Sesame seeds – Are one of the most mineral-rich foods in the world. A potent source of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc, vitamins, and fiber. They also have unique anti-cancer substances found only in sesame seeds.
Flax seeds – Rich in omega-3 fatty acids (essential for your body’s health), they also have a positive effect on cholesterol levels, help with constipation, and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Cantaloupe – A vitamin powerhouse with only 56 calories per cup.
Carrots & beets – Both are high in fiber and antioxidants and contain a powerful cancer protective agent found to inhibit cell mutations.
Tomatoes – Linked to a dramatic reduction in the incidence of common cancers such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Healthy eating has to begin somewhere, and I suggest you take baby steps and build on them. Look over the list and ask yourself this question:
What items on the list can I begin including in my diet on a regular basis?
Take a few moments and watch this video from Dr. Fuhrman to get some of the facts about nutrition, health, and the possibility of reversing everything from heart disease to diabetes. And though statements like that may sound pretty grandiose, the truth is that Dr. Fuhrman has many documented cases of reversing those and other diseases through dietary changes.
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
Your health matters to God. It’s one of the greatest blessings He’s provided you (just ask someone who is not healthy). And the simple and weighty truth is that you will answer to God for how you have cared for your health. That’s why eating healthy matters.
I know it’s hard to make changes in this area (read my story). Eating healthy is not only confusing (what really IS healthy?), but also hard to do once you’ve set a pattern of not eating healthy.
Too often people who want to begin eating healthy make the mistake of biting off more than they can chew (no pun intended… OK, maybe a pun WAS intended). They try to do:
too much
too fast
with inadequate preparation
Very few people can truly begin eating healthy by taking an all-or-nothing approach. I think it’s better if you ease into it. Take one or two baby steps at a time to get yourself started on the right track. I’ve already shown you my Super Smoothie (video) – now I want to show you my daily lunch special to get you started eating healthy!
A salad a day keeps the Doctor away
This type of salad is what my family eats almost every day at lunch. If you like salad already, this shouldn’t be that much of a step for you. The hardest part will be figuring out a system so that it’s easy to do on a daily basis (I’ll give you some tips on that below).
As you can see… it’s a pretty colorful salad. What do we put in our salads? Any or all of the following:
Dark green lettuce of various types (Romaine, Green Leaf, Red Leaf, Spring Mix, Arugula, Spinach)
Cabbage (red or green)
Onions (red, white, or yellow) – great cancer-fighters, by the way!
Mushrooms (any type) – another great cancer fighter!
Beans (any kind)
Peas or snow peas
Corn
Beet slices
Green, red, or yellow bell peppers
Seeds of all types (sesame, pumpkin, chia, etc.)
Nuts of all types (cashews, walnuts, almonds, etc.)
Radishes
Avocados
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Raisins
Craisins (dried cranberries)
If you don’t like salad, you’ll have a harder time – but I can guarantee you, if you make the effort and get into the habit, you’ll not only come to enjoy salad, you’ll also benefit in some amazing ways!
Salad contains less calories than it requires for your body to digest it. TRANSLATION: Automatic weight loss.
Greens are some of the most nutrient dense foods that exist. TRANSLATION: Disease killers.
Greens are also one of the best cancer-fighters out there. TRANSLATION: Cancer gets a punch in it’s ugly nose.
Combining your greens with nuts and seeds increases the cancer-fighting properties of the salad by a factor of 10! TRANSLATION: Cancer gets a body-slam!
So, start with a salad a day.
Making a salad a day do-able
The hardest part for us was in the chopping. If you’ve spent time in the kitchen at all you know what a time-consumer it can be. Instead of trying to chop up condiments and lettuce every single day, we take one day to do the following…
The Vidalia Chop Wizard
Tear up the lettuce ahead of time and store it in zip-lock style baggies. If you want to, you can make each baggie one day’s serving size (makes it easy to grab and get started).
Then all we have to do is set out a buffet-style salad-bar on our counter, make our salad, sit down, say a prayer, and enjoy!
One final caution
One of the things about doing a salad a day in order to start eating healthy is that there is an easily overlooked problem. That’s the issue of salad dressing. Most salad dressings are based in oil, which is not a good thing for health or weight loss.
Most people don’t know this, but within 3 minutes of consuming food-type oil, your body has converted it to fat and stored it on your body. Not good. Not good at all.
Here are three things I’d suggest:(hardcore, medium, and easy)
Learn to eat your salad with no dressing at all. (hardcore)
Learn to eat your salad with salsa of your choice. (medium)
This salad-a-day thing may sound pretty radical to you. I understand. So do what you feel like you can do. 3 Times a week? Once a week? You’ve got to start someplace, so do what you can to get on the eating healthy train!
What are some suggestions or problems you might have related to having a salad a day?
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links.
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
Weight loss tips are a dime a dozen. Everybody has their own “expert” opinion about how to trim down.
Yes, I have my ideas about it too – but my opinions come from personal experience, not the latest weight loss craze that will be gone in a year or so. In the last 10 months I’ve lost just over 50 pounds, and the scale is still slowly inching downward. My wife Mindi has had the same results (she’s actually lost a bit more than me). I want to highlight 2 powerful things behind our success that overshadowed everything else.
Weight loss tip #1: Accept that you are responsible to God for your health
Through the work of the Holy Spirit we each became convicted about our need for improved health independent of each other. For the first time, we were deeply bothered by the extra pounds we were carrying around, not because of how we looked or felt about ourselves, but because we KNEW that before God, we were guilty of negligence. Our God has given us amazing bodies with which to accomplish His will, and He will hold us accountable for whether we care for them or not. We came to see and believe that we will answer to God for the extra pounds, just as we will for other patterns of sin in our lives.
This weight loss tip is the biggie (no pun intended). You won’t see any real, lasting results in improving your health until you develop a holy fear of the LORD about this issue (Psalm 111:10). The gifts God has given you matter to Him… and your health is one of His GREATEST gifts. How can you say you are faithfully handling His gift when your eating and exercise habits cause lethargy, mental fatigue, and potential health problems? I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I’m trying to make you feel mad… at yourself… so that you will make a change.
Weight loss tip #1 – accept that you are responsible to God for your health.
Weight loss tip #2: Learn what your current diet is doing to you
This weight loss tip served us as fuel for the first one. Here’s the chronology of how it happened for us…
We became convicted that we were sinning before God by neglecting our health.
We educated ourselves about what “healthy eating” really means. For example, we discovered that the majority of Americans think they are eating a pretty healthy diet, but in reality are killing themselves with the wrong kind of food. We were among them, to some degree.
As we discovered the lies we’d long believed about “healthy VS unhealthy” foods, we were sickened and convicted by what we’d been doing to ourselves.
Our new knowledge, combined with a healthy sense of shame, motivated us to take action and to stick with it when it became difficult.
We had tried many popular diet theories before, and didn’t want to have the same disappointing results as in the past. That’s where the LORD’s provision came. He reconnected us with the writings of Dr. Joel Fuhrman which we’d read years before, and this time we were ready to listen. His book “Eat to Live” is a good place to start, but we went beyond that and purchased his “Immersion Excursion” – a DVD of one of his weekend health getaways. Here are some of the things we learned…
The American diet CAUSES American diseases (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke).
If we didn’t change something, we’d inevitably be the victims of our own bad stewardship.
I can’t recommend this DVD set more highly. It is the tool the LORD provided that put our conviction into action.
Weight loss tip #2 – Learn what your current diet is doing to you
In my head, this is how these 2 weight loss tips work together:
What steps will YOU take to become a better steward of your health before God?
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
The Apostle Paul did… Romans 7 gives us his account of the confusion that he once struggled with in trying to figure out that very issue. But thanks be to God, Paul was taught by God to understand that struggle, and therefore we can understand it too.
The following SCREENCAST is me, doing a bit of teaching (with some cool graphics), about this very thing.
I can’t tell you how literally TRANSFORMATIONAL the truths contained in this teaching have been to my own life. You need to know this stuff… and you need the Spirit of God to make it take root deep in your soul.
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
In our day of hurry, get-it-quick, microwave living, we don’t know the meaning of the word “rest.” But in reality, resting can be spiritual – one of the most spiritual things you can do at certain times. You may not understand… so let me give you a quick rundown of the concept.
Resting can be spiritual – Old Testament
God instituted the Sabbath in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:10-11) as a day of rest for His people, Israel. Depending on what religious background you hail from, you may have heard any number of things about the “Sabbath” being the LORD’s day, a day of worship, etc. But the Old Testament truth is that it was all about rest. Six days were for work, one was for rest.
Resting can be spiritual – New Testament
The New Testament does not require observance of the Sabbath by those who place their faith in Christ. That’s because all of the Old Testament laws were fulfilled in Christ, so we Christians are not required to observe them as a means toward receiving favor from God (Colossians 2:16). But that doesn’t mean the principle behind the Sabbath is not a wise one for today. Jesus Himself said that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27). TRANSLATION: The Sabbath was made for your benefit, not to be a tyrant over you.
What benefit is the principle of Sabbath? Rest… that’s the benefit. You are a human being, made to NEED rest. God designed you in such a way that you spend 1/3 of your life unconscious (sleeping). That fact alone tells you, YOU NEED REST! God’s command to His Old Covenant people (Israel) to take a day off each week was designed to keep them from running themselves ragged… to PROVIDE a much needed rest for them.
Resting can be spiritual - My story
My wife and I became very convicted about this almost 10 years ago. We attended a retreat within our denomination and the speaker presented a series of talks about Sabbath rest. We both felt a nudge to consider whether we were honoring God with our bodies through the practice of regular, intentional rest. So we left that retreat and worked out a “day off” plan that works for us. Here’s what we do currently…
Mindi’s “day off” is Friday – she can do whatever she wants – read, go out with friends, watch a movie, nap, pray, etc. – anything except her “normal” work (taking care of the home and kids). On that day, since I’m off from the church, I take care of all those things.
My day off is Saturday – same rules apply for me. I do wood carving, read, nap, talk with the kids, whatever – anything except my “normal” work (computer stuff, counseling, sermon prep., etc.)
Suggestions for putting it into practice
Do it. Don’t make excuses, make it happen.
If you married couples can pull off a Sabbath on the same day, more power to you. We couldn’t do it. Inevitably Mindi wound up at least fixing meals even on her “day off.”
Husbands take care to make sure your wife is getting time to rest. She works as hard as you (or harder), even if she is not earning a paycheck.
Teach your kids about rest, and give them “days off” too.
Include thoughtful times of reflection and prayer, to bring a sense of peace and rest to your spirit as well as your body.
Don’t kid yourself… you really DO need the rest.
Don’t get all “legalistic” about it. If circumstances periodically keep you from having your down-time, flex – but make an extra effort to ensure you get it the next week.
After practicing this almost 10 years, we can’t imagine our lives being sane without it. The difficulties we’ve faced in life have been HUGE, and these regular times of rest have been instrumental in helping us weather those storms. And more importantly, we are honoring God by resting. How’s that? By resting we are reminding ourselves that we don’t have to be striving to keep life in check. God does that, and we learn to trust Him.
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
If you’ve ever tried a weight loss program, you know it can be like a ride on a teeter-totter. Your weight goes down – then up. Down – then up. Maintaining your successes seems like the hardest part of the entire process.
What’s the problem? Why can you lose the weight but not keep it off? I believe there are at least 3 reasons why:
#1 – You are working at weight loss for the wrong reasons
To look good
To feel good
To feel better about yourself
To impress others
To be “skinny”
NONE of these are the right reasons to lose weight. You need to lose those extra pounds because they are bad stewardship of the body God has graciously given you. You need to do it because you want to do what is RIGHT in God’s eyes. The kind of hard work required to be successful in any weight loss plan (and keep the weight off) has to flow out of a deeper conviction than personal vanity. If it doesn’t, your commitment won’t last.
#2 – You are trying to change your behavior without changing your mindset
Behavior modification simply doesn’t work for the long-run. You can only “be good” on a diet so long – UNLESS you begin to THINK differently about food, and the reasons for it. God gave us food to nourish and sustain our bodies, not to gorge on until we are overweight and sickly. As Dr. Fuhrman‘s book title says, we are to “Eat to Live” not “live to eat.”
Before you will be ready to maintain real weight loss, your mindset must change. How do you change your mindset?
Begin with admitting your problem to yourself and to God. Confession really IS good for the soul. God says it brings about healing and cleansing (1 John 1:9).
Follow up your confession with dependent prayer, day after day after day. Confess your need for God, and your inability to accomplish His “weight loss” will apart from Jesus (John 15:5).
Ask Him to help you, to change you, to give you a new mind regarding weight loss.
#3 – You are not giving your body what it needs to succeed
God created your body to function well, which means that it knows how to maintain an ideal weight. It can only do that if you give it the right “fuel.” If you find yourself riding the weight loss teeter-totter, it means that your body is not getting what it needs in order to do what you’re asking it to do. You need a nutrient-rich diet that actually has the ability to fuel weight loss success. Simply put – you need to be eating your veggies, beans and legumes, fruits, nuts & seeds, and whole grains as the main parts of your diet. Poultry, oils, fish, dairy, sugars, and meats can still be a part of your diet, but only a very SMALL part (less than 10%).
Get off the weight loss teeter-totter
In my experience, these 3 things are what keep you going up and down, up and down. Get off the teeter-totter.
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
Our SUPER SMOOTHIE recipe was one of the first steps Mindi and I took (along with our family) in moving toward better health-stewardship (read our story HERE). Looking back, I can see this:
When beginning to make changes to your diet for the sake of good health stewardship before the LORD, you need to start with things that will encourage your efforts… so that you keep moving forward!
This SUPER SMOOTHIE was exactly that, for these reasons:
It’s easy to make!
It doesn’t require expensive ingredients!
It tastes GREAT!
It is truly GREAT NUTRITION that you don’t have to think about!
Health stewardship
Health stewardship (the right and proper use of your physical body, for the LORD’s sake) has been overlooked by the majority of Christians in the western world. We eat what WE want, WHEN we want, without a thought of what the LORD might think. I truly believe that in this area, most of us will not hear a “well done” from the LORD (Luke 19:17) – unless we begin to take the issue seriously and make some significant changes.
It’s becoming a much better-known fact of science that the typical western diet is mostly to blame for the prevalence of cancer, heart-disease, and diabetes in our society. It’s a pity that so many people are coming down with these conditions when they may not have to. Eating the proper “fuel” our bodies were made to run on not only produces good health, it also prevents disease. THAT is scientific fact.
Since my wife and I have made adjustments in how we eat, we feel better physically, are stronger and healthier, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY we have a greater sense that we are pleasing the LORD with our bodies as well as our spirits! It’s a great feeling!
SUPER SMOOTHIE VIDEO AHEAD!
So… check out the video below, where I show you EXACTLY HOW to make our SUPER SMOOTHIE the way we do it most mornings!
My encouragement to you is this:
Start here… with a relatively easy, simple step. Build on it over time. Keep yourself moving forward one step at a time.
And if you feel ready to learn more on the subject of what it really means to “eat healthy” – check out the book, “Eat to Live.” (affiliate link) It’s the book that Mindi and I first read to get started, and is the research-based pattern we follow in creating a menu that produces optimal health for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
When it comes to body health, I must admit that I’ve been a typical American most of my life. Since the time I was small, I’ve eaten whatever was put in front of me, and too much of it. Once I made it past 21 or 22 years of age, my body weight seemed to balloon more easily than I thought possible.
The sad thing is, I didn’t consider my nutritional habits in light of what God thought at all. I knew the teachings of the Bible that instructed me to be a steward of the things God has given me… (Matthew 25:14-26), but I didn’t “get” that my physical health was one of those things.
What happened to make me aware of the connection was a gracious gift from the hand of God. Here’s the story…
My body health story
Due to a handful of factors, I found myself in need of a break from ministry in the fall of 2011. My church family allowed me to take a break from ministry (called a sabbatical) for 4 months, from November 2011 through February 2012. That’s right… for four months I was allowed to be off work, while still being paid. It was a lavish gift that I needed in many, many ways. I was weary, tired, mentally drained, and emotionally on edge. One of the phrases that came to mind, and that I said to people who were asking why I needed a break was this; ”If I don’t get a break, I’m going to break.” It was true.
One of the realities I was facing going in to the sabbatical was that I was overweight. As I began the time away, I was seeking to refocus on my relationship with the LORD and get the physical rest I needed so that I could return to the church energized and ready for the future. One of the things that became apparent to me and my wife (Mindi) was that we both needed to do something to improve our health. Our reasoning was simple… if we don’t work on our physical health when we have 4 months away from the demands and needs of ministry, we’ll never work on our physical health at all. It was the ideal time.
So, we began with prayer, diligently seeking the LORD to guide and help us. We’d tried to curb our eating before, eat healthier, etc. and had marginal success but it never really lasted long-term.
We never seemed to have enough will-power, but looking back I think it was something else… a lack of conviction that it was the “right” thing to do before God.
As we talked and prayed about work toward becoming physically healthy, the LORD was gracious to enable both of us to develop a godly conviction about the issue. The truth we realized is that our bodies really ARE temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19 ) and we had for many years been grieving Him by neglecting our physical health.
Graciously, the LORD led us both to a place of readiness, and we decided that our main goal was to be healthy. Not to lose weight. Not to look good. Not to impress people. Not to feel good about ourselves. Our main goal was to be healthy – because God would one day hold us accountable for the stewardship of our bodies, and because we wanted to give Him glory through the best use of our lives.
First, we got a membership at the local gym. Since we were on sabbatical, we had a luxury we’d never have before… the time to actually go to the gym multiple times a day – so we did. We went twice a day, 4 days a week (most of the time). The exercise was important, to be sure, but I’m convinced that changing our eating habits had the most dramatic effect. Here’s what we decided to do…
Some years prior, Mindi’s mom had given us a book entitled Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman[A]. It’s a common-sense book based on the up-to-date, combined scientific research of many studies. Dr. Fuhrman teaches the truth about what really is good nutrition and what is not. You’d be surprised at some of the things that the culture as a whole thinks are healthy, but actually have been proven to increase risk of disease and diminish health. I’ll likely write about some of those things in the future.
Once we reacquainted ourselves with Dr. Fuhrman’s book, we purchased his Immersion Excursion DVD set [A]. It’s a recorded set of lectures he gives at his annual Health Getaway[A] where people can go to learn about proper nutrition, be served the type of foods needed to get on track, and take the first steps toward optimal physical health. We had wanted to go to one of the retreats ourselves, but could’t afford it financially, so the DVD set was the next best thing. For us the DVDs proved to be better because we could pause, write things down, rewind to hear important statements again, and discuss his points mid-stream. We both benefited greatly by learning the facts about good nutrition according to modern, thorough research.
You can hear the short-version of Dr. Fuhrman’s philosophy and approach in the following video, then I’ll tell you the results of my health journey (so far).
To make a long story short, as I write this (May 2012), we are still following the basics of Dr. Fuhrman’s recommended diet, and each of us has lost over 40 pounds, and we both feel great! And it only took 4 months!
Though I have no reason to think that Dr. Fuhrman is a believer in Christ (though he could be), I believe he was God’s tool, used in our lives for our good.
Neither one of us can imagine going back to the way we were before. Life is just too good this way. And I feel in my heart that He’s helped us to honor Him in greater ways, and for that I’m thankful.
Our lives have changed in so many ways simply because we are healthier. My mind is sharp, my energy levels are up, and my appetite has mellowed out so that I don’t feel like I want to gorge myself every time we have yummy food (which is all the time… my wife’s a great cook).
Your body health story
Do you see yourself as a steward, under Christ’s authority, when it comes to your body? It’s hard to think that way in America, where everything we eat is filled with oil, or cheese, or sugar, or some man-made concoction you can hardly pronounce. Seriously considering the benefits of WHAT we are eating seldom happens. We just eat what is easiest, or what tastes best to us at the time. It’s easy to do… and it’s killing us.
Did you know that things like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are entirely preventable and many times entirely curable through dietary means?
Dr. Fuhrman has hundreds of case studies from his 20+ years of medical practice, of these and other chronic ailments being entirely cured, solely through dietary changes. Why take all kinds of drugs, each with its own list of harmful side-effects, when you can eat the delicious foods God created your body to need, with additional benefits instead of side-effects?
Why am I telling you all this? Because I’m concerned for you. If you are like the average American, you likely have the beginnings of cancer or heart disease right now and don’t even know it. Your spouse or kids may be in the same boat too, and it’s all because of what and how much you eat. I know… it sounds like I’m crazy, but I’m telling you from my own experience, eating the “right” things that make your body run smoothly is a lot more enjoyable than eating all the sugary, fatty, “tasty” things. Not only because of the benefits, but also because your sense of taste readjusts to where you truly begin to enjoy the healthier foods.
Most of all, I’m concerned for your responsibility before the LORD. You have a wonderful opportunity to make the most of the life He has given you. The longer you live, the longer you can serve Him and bring Him glory, the longer your family will benefit from your presence, the longer you’ll be able to grow in the knowledge of Him. Your diet has a direct correlation to all those things… and you are responsible.
God will call us to account for how we’ve cared for our bodies. I’m sure of it. I fear that most American Christians (and perhaps most “western” Christians) are not going to hear the Father’s “well done” when it comes to their health.
We’ve abused our bodies for the sake of good tasting things… and that sounds very close to idolatry to me.
[affiliate resources mentioned in this post - more from Dr. Fuhrman available on the RESOURCE page, Body Health tab]
Eat to Live (paperback)
Eat to Live Audio Book
Immersion Excursion DVD set
Q: Have you given careful thought to the way you eat as it relates to your responsibility before God?
Q: What’s keeping you from making the changes you need to make?
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
Connect with Carey on Google+
As I said in the last post… your stewardship before God begins with yourself. You can’t lead others to be healthy, unless you are healthy. You won’t be able to lead others, until you lead yourself – and I’m sure you know, that’s not as easy as it sounds. We are complex creatures.
God made us beautifully complex from the moment of creation. Unspoiled by sin, I’m sure Adam and Eve were a wonder to behold. I wish I could have known them (someday I will). But when sin entered the picture it twisted their (and our) beautiful complexity into a mess that is itself complicated beyond recognition. Emotional instability, mental illness, birth defects, personality issues, and many more such things are examples of what sin’s presence in the world has done to us. Because of that fact, every one of us has been tainted by sin’s far-reaching effects in multiple ways, from the inside out.
THAT is a big part of why it’s extremely difficult for us to take responsibility for ourselves.
We are broken in ways beyond our comprehension, but nevertheless are called by our Savior to be responsible stewards anyway.
That’s the starting point for this website & everything I have to say. You are probably here because you want to build a Christ-centered home: to have a healthy, Christ-honoring marriage, to see your children love the LORD with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, to extend His kingdom through your family. But before we can go there, we have to understand this: we don’t have a chance of creating Christ-centered homes unless we learn how to be Christ-centered, healthy individuals first.
If you are going to be a good steward of yourself, then you need to understand yourself as best you can. You, and everyone in your home, are created by God in a “triune” sort of way. You are made up of body, soul, and spirit. I know there’s been an ongoing debate through the years about whether man is made up of two parts (body and soul) or three parts, as I’ve suggested. I’m not going to get into all that, for two reasons.
1) There are plenty of other, wonderful resources where you can find information on that debate.
2) I’m personally settled on the issue after years of study. I truly believe the scripture clearly teaches that God has made us with body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
What do I mean by those?
The body is obvious, it’s the biological shell that houses us as we walk planet earth. It requires nutritious food, adequate rest, and sufficient exercise in order to do its job.
The soul is an intangible part of us that is comprised of mind (our ability to think), will (our ability to choose), and emotions (our ability to feel).
The spirit is also intangible and is the part of us that discerns, understands, and applies truly spiritual things. The spirit of the Christian communes directly with God, and grows into Christ-likeness over time through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14, 1 Corinthians 6:11).
It sounds neat and tidy the way I’ve just explained it, but it’s not. The three parts of man are woven together in intricate ways that will forever remain a mystery to us. But for our purposes it is helpful to recognize these three parts of who we are. Each of them is an area of our own lives over which God has made us stewards. In other words, we are to rightly manage and care for every part of who God has made us to be – body, soul, and spirit.
Personally, I have traveled far too long on the road of life without a balanced and right awareness of my responsibility in each of those areas. At any given time, I have excelled in maintaining one, or in good seasons possibly two of them, and ignored the other(s).
As God has shown me the importance of being healthy in all three areas, He’s brought a deep conviction to my heart, and has convinced me that I need to pass those convictions on to others who are willing to learn, listen, and apply them to their own lives. My prayer is that you might be one of them.
I said all that to say this…
It won’t take you long to notice that in every area of this website, the theme of good stewardship in all 3 of those areas will be emphasized repeatedly. To use a modern phrase, I’m addressing the health of the Christian home and family in a “holistic” way, which should be nothing new, since it’s how God has always seen us and dealt with us. In approaching your life and home in this way, I’m encouraging you to take Paul’s words seriously when he says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
In the pages of this website, I’ll cover areas that seem natural for a website focusing on the Christian home and family – marriage, parenting, communication, etc. But I will also write on things that may not seem to fit that topic as naturally – nutrition, exercise, education, etc.
The reason?
God intends our lives to be integrated, not segmented or compartmentalized, and the stewardship of our lives needs to be carried out in light of that truth.
So, as we wrap up this post, prayerfully and seriously consider:
You are body – physical, with physical needs.
You are soul – emotional, mental, willful, all which have their particular needs.
You are spirit – able to relate to God in deep, meaningful relationship. Your spirit has its distinct needs as well.
And here’s the kicker – you are RESPONSIBLE before God to steward each of those areas well.
Q: What difference does it make to you that you are body, soul, and spirit?
Q: How can you better steward yourself (and consequently, your family) in all 3 of those areas?
radical follower of Christ, husband, dad, writer, blogger, podcaster, marriage & family coach, counselor, speaker, retiring Pastor, and all around good guy (because of Christ).
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