First, let me start this post with an introduction of my transition into working with the Christian Community. For those who have been following me for a while, I’ve been sharing health and weight loss tips especially for the busy professional. I have loved that work and have no plans to “abandon” those in need within this professional community. That being said, some of you who know me a little closer know that I’ve had a spiritual transformation that shaped the final version of my published book, Ditch the Diet: How Your Frustration Can Lead to Freedom and Permanent Weight Loss. I was torn about mentioning God in my book, for fear of offending anyone and even had some criticism about it, but after much prayer and the counsel of friends and family, I decided to stay true to who I am and share my message. After all, a major part of that message helps us understand how special we are to God and how we each have a unique purpose for being here. And that’s where my passion for taking my message into the Christian community was born.
Before I accepted God’s love for me by surrendering my life to Christ and decided to follow and serve Him, I can vividly recall making fun of my Christian upbringing and how backwards it was that Christian people were among the sickest, most unhealthy people, always praying for God’s healing, praising Him for “the miracle of healing” and just brushing off the “unanswered prayers” as “God’s will.” Please don’t get me wrong, I absolutely believe in the healing power of God and have seen countless miracles that He has granted in the lives of His children who’ve prayed fervently, and God certainly doesn’t need us to help him. Nonetheless, the Bible is full of principles of wisdom given to us to live by, to make this life on earth enjoyable and some would say even manageable. Many Christians believe it would be silly and futile for a poor person to pray to get rich, when they’re doing nothing to improve their situation; yet, they do the same thing with their health and wellbeing.
It breaks my heart to see God’s children so obese they can barely walk, diagnosed with cancer and dealing with the awful treatments, diabetic amputees, those dependent on medication, the increasing number trying to figure out how to live with auto-immune diseases, the many who suffer from IBS and other conditions that wreak havoc on their day-to-day lives. While God beckons us to Him and is delighted to heal us, He truly wants us to live abundantly and that doesn’t mean having every toy we can afford and stuffing our faces like gluttons because we love to eat! Genesis 1:29-31
29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. 31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
He has given us everything we need on this earth to not just survive but to thrive in order to carry His message to all the empty souls that long for His unconditional love. God isn’t our genie, in existence just to answer every request we make of Him. He doesn’t exist to serve us; it’s the other way around. But how can we live abundant, joyful lives spreading the good news of His love with others when we’re not well enough to move through our lives every day? Think of how much better we could serve Him and others if we were able to work to full capacity!
Now I’m not saying that every person who is sick brought it upon herself, but there is a lack of education and understanding about how much we can do to maintain good health and improve bad health as opposed to falling victim to diseases that have been passed down to us through our genes. I know you must wonder why there’s a rise in certain diseases over the last century or the last few decades. Our bodies are miraculous to me, that so much is instinctual and “automated” to take care of it’s functioning properly even when we put so many obstacles in front of it, making the body work that much harder to keep us well.
While our goal as Christians isn’t to look better than everyone else and feel better than everyone else, it should be to love God and love others, as Christ epitomized for us. But how can we do this well if we’re not well enough ourselves? God has armed us with all the tools we need to “get the job done” and He’s there for extra support and for circumstances that are simply out of our control.
We only get one body, one life on this earth, and we can make the most of it by learning to care for ourselves in a way that allows us to better serve our Lord and those around us.
While we aren’t in complete control of our lives, we have been made stewards of our bodies, this earth, our time, our energy, all resources made available to us, for all we will be accountable one day. 1 Corinthisans 6:19-20 says
19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
If this message piques your interest and makes you think about whether you’ve been the best steward of God’s gift of life to you, then I’d love to share so much more with you and teach you how to put others first by starting with investing in your own health. Stick around by liking my Facebook page, getting a free copy of my book, and by joining my community on this private page where I’ll show you how the Bible directs us not to neglect our health and well being and how it all makes sense in God’s eternal plan both for our lives on this earth and beyond!
In service,
Coach Leah