My cousin shared a Facebook post and it stirred something within me. I can’t recall the whole article, but these are my key takeaways from the post:
No one can tell the writer of the post what to eat because it’s her right to eat whatever she wants.
Telling the writer of the post that she should watch her weight is body shaming.
The writer of the post says she is what she is, and no one should tell her what to do.
I respect the writer’s opinion however; I don’t agree with it. I certainly don’t want my cousin accepting that mindset. I sent my cousin a message right away. This was what I sent her:
“Don’t embrace this mentality. Eating lots of food with no concern about your health is a sign of immaturity.
Aim for a Godly lifestyle. An attitude that always aims for the best. Remember the goal is to be like Jesus.
Food is not life, Jesus is. If you read the Bible, you’ll see a lot of verses about taking care of your body because it is God’s temple.
Jesus wants you to be fit and healthy. Base your beliefs on the Bible and not culture. Culture changes but God’s Word remains the same.”
My cousin replied and this is what she said:
“Thank you for the message. I need motivation.”
I encouraged my cousin further, and promised her I’ll post a devotional story about health and fitness and how being healthy is backed up by the Bible. And so here we are.
In this devotional story, I will list Bible verses that support the idea that God wants Christians to be fit and healthy.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
New International Version (NIV)
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies.
Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we should take good care of it in the best way possible even when it’s hard. This could mean avoiding harmful substances, eating and drinking moderately.
1 Corinthians 10:31
New International Version (NIV)
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
We offer everything to God, and it includes the food we eat and stuff we drink. God does not want you taking anything that will be harmful to your body.
Proverbs 31:17
English Standard Version (ESV)
17
She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
God wants us to be strong not only spiritually, but socially, mentally, emotionally and physically.
3 John 2
New King James Version (NKJV)
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
John the apostle wished everyone to develop in every aspect of their lives and he mentioned health and the spirit separately. This means there’s a lot of weight placed on health and spirituality.
The main reason why I encourage everyone to live a fit and healthy lifestyle is that we cannot stay young and strong all the time. If we don’t consider our health now it will be more difficult to start a healthy lifestyle as we get older.
Only the devil wants us to ignore our health because he wants us to be useless when we get old. God can still use us even when we reach our golden years, however, if we’re sick and weak, it will be more difficult to accomplish God’s plan for us.
This devotional story is not about body shaming. This is about embracing a mindset that longs to be healthy and strong for God. It’s not about wanting to look like a model, it’s about the mentality that it’s not okay to be lazy. It’s having the desire to develop in every aspect of life. If everyone does whatever they want with no consideration of the consequences, there would be chaos.
I hope this devotional story encouraged you to seek a healthy and fit lifestyle. God sees our hard work and will reward us in His perfect time.
Thank you for reading this devotional story and I pray that it inspired you in your walk with Christ. Please read other devotional stories on the website.
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