One of the most popular New Years Resolutions is trying to improve your health. In fact, this year, 37% of people reported that eating healthier is one of their resolutions. Another 37% said exercising more was theirs. Whether your intention this year is to eat healthier, exercise more, or lose weight, the intention is generally the same: making sure you’re taking care of your body.
Being Healthy Honors God
Taking care of your body is actually a part of good stewardship. In the fall, I did a series of blog posts on money and this issue of stewardship was a big part of that. The idea of stewardship is simple. As we talked about in last week’s blog post, everything we have is a gift from God. Therefore, we should treat everything we have (our money, our bodies, our time, etc.) as if it actually belongs to God … because it does.
We should honor our bodies because God has given them to us. That means we should try our best to eat well, exercise, keep updated on doctor’s visits, whatever we need to do to keep our bodies up and running. It pleases God when we take care of the body that he gave us.
What That Doesn’t Mean
Now, that doesn’t mean that God expects us all to look like supermodels and body builders. God created us all and he gave us different body types, passions, and abilities. We’re not supposed to look the same. We’re not all supposed to be the same size. God made us to be different shapes and sizes.
Some of us can diet and exercise until we’re blue in the face and still not get the results we really want. That’s okay. Be happy with the way God made you. Some of us are naturally super skinny and would actually like to have some curves or some muscles. Be happy with the way God made you.
Honestly, I think we all have different things we wish we could change about our bodies whether it’s our weight, our strength, our skin, our hair, the list goes on and on. However, God designed you just the way he wanted you to be. Do you trust that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14)? Can you believe that the way that you are is the way God meant to make you?
The Way You Are Makes God Smile
God has a different view of beauty and worth. The way that he has made you is the way that he thinks you are most beautiful and perfect. Again, yes, you have to take care of the body God gave you, but as long as you are making a reasonable effort to do that, God is pleased with you.
That means, quite simply, that while we should take care of our bodies, we don’t need to go to the extreme. Not everyone needs to train like an Olympic athlete. Not everyone needs to be on a strict diet. God wants us to enjoy our lives too. If the exercise routine you have makes you cringe, try something else. If you’re terribly unhappy on the diet you’re on, pick a different one. God has designed us all differently so find the things that work for you.
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that at the end of the day it’s a good thing to eat and drink and do what we can to enjoy life (Ecclesiastes 8:15). The Bible doesn’t advocate going through life being miserable. It guarantees that we will suffer and that there will be miserable things in life, but it doesn’t command us to make ourselves miserable. (I mean, I guess fasting can be pretty miserable, but it’s not a commandment and it’s only a temporary thing that helps us grow.)
God wants you to enjoy your life. He doesn’t want you to feel so overwhelmed or hemmed in by a diet and exercise routine that you can’t live. He loves you and wants the best for you after all. Do you believe that? Can you live into that truth? What would it look like for you to live out that truth?