As Christians, we are in a constant struggle with temptation from the moment we are saved until the moment we die. Previous articles in this series discussed building good moral character and habits and making godly choices. Good moral character means godly character. Developing godly character diminishes our struggling difficulties and gives us built in protection from temptations. As practicing members of Alcoholics Anonymous we know that our program becomes easier with consistent repetition of recovery principles. When we have developed good moral habits, it becomes easier to do the right selfless thing in a world that mostly promotes selfishness. Right living produces less painful consequences than our old beliefs and actions that only promoted self-centeredness. Another important factor that reduces consequences is gaining truth and knowledge about our disease of alcoholism. Once we are aware of our condition and its consequences, we make changes.
Practicing the Christian life works in the same fashion. The Christians growth process of sanctification also requires sincere diligent practice in order to develop the spiritual fruit as stable habits. Spiritual habits not only bring peace and serenity but also aid us with rejecting fleshly temptations. Since we have the Holy Spirit in us, we are able to develop habits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit and there are many aspects to it. Through the process of Alcoholics Anonymous we have developed the habit of not drinking alcohol one day at a time. Some of us have also applied this principle to not smoking because we all know the health problems it brings. But there is another habit that is deadly, but we seem to be blinded to its harmful nature. It is in our being overweight and obese.
Obesity is usually the result of overeating, but in a small percentage of people excess weight gain is a symptom of another disease, such as Hypothyroidism and Cushing’s syndrome. For most of us obesity is a result of overeating. For the Christian, It can be a serious detriment to the character that God wants to build in us, and it is a major problem in our society today. Excess fat on us contributes to heart disease, diabetes, and hardening of the arteries. We are a fat-filled nation. This is why diet and exercise infomercials fill the airwaves. Books on dieting and exercises abound by the thousands. Excess fat is not just a problem for us but for the whole industrialized world, and America leads the way. Nearly 40% of all-American adults are not simply overweight, but obese. That’s more than 93 million people. Obesity is defined as being 35 pounds or more overweight and if you add in those who are overweight but not yet obese, two out of every three people are affected. Even with these statistics we seem to be getting worse and not better.
It’s likely that if you are overweight you have made attempts to lose weight. You have also discovered the difficulty of losing fat and keeping it off. Doctors we visit only tell us we eat too much and don’t exercise enough. They convince us that it is our fault, but the majority of physicians have no real nutritional training to share with us. In fact, many medical professionals themselves are overweight. Due to constant failings of yoyo diets, diet pills, and not enough time to exercise, many of us just go ahead and ignore the ever-increasing blubber and chalk it up to simply being pleasingly plump. Many of us simply believe that it really doesn’t matter that much. Life is too short and it’s just not worth it. That attitude exists in recovery circles for both smoking and eating. It brings the thought – we quit the main addiction of alcohol, isn’t that enough.
Being overweight is a very troublesome problem for all of us and it happens for two reasons, lack of self-control and lack of knowledge. Fat is the external indication of an internal problem – a spiritual deficiency. It is wrong because it is an indicator of undisciplined self-indulgence along with our failure to make a priority of understanding our own metabolic processes and how we respond to food. The path to the refrigerator and pantry and God’s path of discipline lie in opposite directions. Food is a necessity but the type of food we choose matters greatly. Obesity is a sign of being out of harmony with God’s will for us, which is to have self-control over the desires of the flesh. If we are overweight or obese, it will hamper and disrupt our spiritual walk. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?… therefore, honor God with your body”.
As growing Christians, it is important to recognize that our physical bodies are part of the whole package of salvation. They should be held sacred, held in esteem, and treated with respect. When we were practicing alcoholics, we were abusing out bodies. In recovery we are looking for healing not only in our mind, will, and emotions but also in our bodies. When we allow ourselves to get overweight, and particularly if we become obese, we are abusing our bodies. For the born-again believer our body is a sacred place where God dwells through the Holy Spirit. He sees our bodies as holy ground.
We need to appreciate that God not only made us, but actually inhabits us. We are not just flesh and blood—there is a spiritual dynamic that is also a part of our body. Caring for it is an important part of the spiritual growth path to become more Christlike. The Bible is very clear on this: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31, NIV). If we don’t, it impacts us spiritually. Obesity dulls our spiritual senses as well as promotes other defects of character. It cheapens our life and reduces God-consciousness in the core of our being. There is a relationship between what we do with our body and our relationship with God.
Since the fall in the garden, humanity has eaten foods from many sources including plants, animals, oceans, and streams. God foresaw the fall, so He designed us with the metabolic ability of our body to eat food from all of these food groups. His design allows us to eat and metabolize both plants and animals. In the garden it was all plants and with the fall our foods included animal as well as plants. The only available foods defined biblically would be natural unprocessed whole foods. The animal products in the Old Testament were limited to animals that were “clean” to eat — those with cloven hoofs which chewed the cud such as cattle, goats, sheep, deer, and so forth. (Leviticus chapter 11 and Deuteronomy chapter 14) Animal products were mostly eaten in times of feast including meats, eggs, and milk. It was not a daily routine. The biblical narrative does not identify obesity as such but does define gluttony, primarily in the context of eating meat.
Its only with the modern diet have we experienced this large increase in obesity and its inherent metabolic induced diseases. Mostly since the 1960s. The problem being overweight is not entirely all our fault. The food industry, always looking for profit, has made their contributions to this fast-growing problem. There is an ever-growing body of evidence that the real issue does not have so much to do with our failure to exercise or overeat as it does with the food that we eat today. It is so much different than what it was years ago. If we were eating the same food and in the same way that they were eating in the fifties, we would not be having these large trends of increasing obesity. Most of us do not really want excess weight and would lose it if we really knew how. Most of us have tried, over and over. The highly refined and processed food sold today is made with flour and full of sugar, salt, and oils. It is as addictive as alcohol. It is so addictive it swindles our willpower and overrides our choices with its pleasure giving dopamine. We want more and more and eat more and more and that initiates insulin resistance. This will lead to Diabetes and its problems.
It has been estimated that over 80 percent of the US population has insulin-resistance. Insulin resistance is the main factor as to why we gain weight. This statistic is what is driving a growing medical belief that the young generation in this country is going to be the first generation in decades where they will not live longer than their parents. That’s amazing considering all of the advances in medicine and science since the early 1900s. What these advances have done is allow us to live longer, yes that’s true, but longevity is not equated to good health. Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions. Doctors say it is not uncommon to encounter patients taking more than 20 drugs to treat acid reflux, heart disease, diabetes type 2, depression or insomnia or other disorders. These alarming numbers are now beginning to realize themselves in a younger and younger population.
It is important for the recovering alcoholic who may be overweight or obese to understand that losing weight will help their overall recovery in both the physical and emotional areas. As a Christian the use of discipline and self-control will bring your spirituality into clearer focus when you realize that it is God’s Will for you to take good care of your body. A major problem is the lack of knowledge about the food we eat, the truth about today’s food sources, and about our choices. Truth in our belief system will move us closer to applying the discipline and self-control we need to manage our eating issues. Many truths we need have to do with food and like all truth, its hidden from us. For you to gain the truth will require you to begin a personal quest to discover facts and uncover the lies that hinder your growth and that will not help you lose weight.
One thing that most experts will agree on is that excess weight is unhealthy and contributes to insulin resistance which is the forerunner to Diabetes Type 2. There are two general beliefs as to the cause of Insulin Resistance. One group blames it on too many refined carbohydrates in the diet and the other believes its saturated fat in the diet that is responsible. They do agree that excess fat is a major problem. Both recommend dietary solutions that eliminates processed foods. There are five main approaches for weight loss that help people lose weight. These approaches are:
A. Low Carbohydrate High Fat animal product diets. (no processed foods, limited carbs)
B. Whole Food Plant based diets. (no processed foods, no animal products)
C. Fasting (intermittent and extended).
D. All-natural foods both plant and animal with caloric restriction. (no processed foods)
E. Mainstream medical that treats the symptom (not the cause) with drugs or surgery.
The truth is that everything about being obese and having diabetes is directly related to the food we eat. Unlike biblical times, 80 percent of most everything people put into their mouth today is laced with sugar. Its processed sugar and high fructose corn syrup which is as addictive as alcohol and like alcohol swindles our willpower ability. The fast pace the world offers us just adds more fuel to the fire and with the frustrations it brings, it just seems to be the softer easier way to order pizza. Of course, in biblical times, people walked everywhere. Today we hesitate to walk around the block. It’s not just exercise, it’s both diet and our failure to gain some wisdom. There are solutions that are available. The first step is to gain knowledge. My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6, NIV) That should be followed up by action to crucify the fat. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24, NIV)
There is now emerging information that diet is linked to mental illness. Is there a connection to alcoholism? Thats likely. We are designed by God. It’s his program of truth that we need programmed into our mind to operate the way He know is best for us. It’s also His design as to proper food for that design. Mankind has brought a lot of error into all of it. Today we are bombarded with dietary advice. Food manufactures don’t tell us the truth. The food pyramid is upside down and that’s only good for “Big Food and Big Pharma” probability. Its seems that the world’s way is doing nothing but keeping us sicker. The food we are told is best has not improved the overall health of the American public at all. Oue increasing health problems come from overconsumption of carbohydrates from today’s production of processed foods. That includes both physical and mental deficiencies and are also linked to mental deficiencies. As bible believing Christians, we can see that our behavior is best when we act on God’s way of thinking rather than the worlds way. It is important in a corrupt world with its lies to renew our mind with the truth of God.
But it is more than that. The metabolic processes within us also can be corrupted by the world’s way of eating the food that man has created versus what God created. God’s Word gives us some pretty good clues that identify the food types that the human operates best on. It is His design after all. Beginning with the Cain and Able different sacrifices made to God. Cain brought some of the produce from the land (carbohydrates), while Abel brought the firstborn of his sheep (meat). God favored Abel’s sacrifice because it was an offering that came from the best Abel had to give. Then there are the dietary laws established by God to help identify the people as being set aside for holiness in a corrupt world. Jewish dietary laws are believed to be conceptualizations of divine will that were expressed to Moses at Mount Sinai and transcribed in the Old Testament. It’s interesting to note that animal meats were favored over carbohydrates. The better meats were cud-chewing animals. Cud is a term used to describe the food that cows, sheep, goats, and deer bring back up from their stomachs. Animals that chew the cud are ruminants. Cud is food that an animal chews and swallows again for additional processing of the food in a stomach or rumen. Cows and sheep are the most well-known examples of this type of animal. Meat was the accepted sacrifice in the Old Testament.
All of this and understanding the corruption that man has brought to the modern standard diet and worsening metabolism dysfunction in the world leads to the conclusion that God gave us the truth about the best diet is for his design. The main point of this article is to encourage you, if you are overweight and obese, to begin a quest to research and explore the reason how being overweight or obese hinders your growth, not just physically but also mentally and spiritually. With that wisdom, it is hoped that you will then execute a plan that will help you become responsible for taking care of your body and improve your connection to God. That plan and action to achieve it should include 1) researching and understanding the problem, 2) adapting a short-term strategy (dietary) to remove the excess weight, 3) practicing body exercise, 4) practicing a long-term eating lifestyle that promotes your ability to keep the weight off, and 5) maintaining a spiritual and mental attitude and take the action needed to get healthy, lean, and fit and stay that way.
To help you begin the quest go to the supplemental link for information that will help you understand the depth of the food problem you face, solutions to reduce weight, and dietary solutions that will achieve long-term goals.