I’ve decided to start dropping some posts with my thoughts on my continued health journey. These are not meant in any way to sway anyone to my way of eating. Truth be told, it’s more that I need a place to express myself other than with my best friend, who is the only person in my real-life circle who has any true interest. Since I’m not posting this to persuade you of anything, nor am I looking for atta-girls, I’ve shut off comments. You are welcome to think whatever you want and walk away.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
~ Romans 12:1-2, NIV
Regarding what I’m about to write, there are people who’ll say I am taking this set of verses out of context, twisting it to fit my own interpretation. Let me assure you I get all kinds of annoyed when Christians do that. And I do, in fact, understand the actual intent of this passage.
But give me a moment. I think it’s okay for me to find a different meaning in this, for me personally. It doesn’t replace the original message at all—that needs to stay. But it’s a way for me to keep motivated in my health journey, and I can’t see God being angry about that.
The way this passage has helped me is by reminding me that my body is God’s. He designed it, complete with nutritional needs. And those needs can be met by consuming animals and plants in their proper forms, which are also designed by God.
“…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” When I first started my health journey, I made the dietary changes I thought would help me become physically healthier—that was my only goal. I wasn’t looking at it in terms of changing to please God. Yeah, I saw it as a sacrifice, but not as a sacrifice to Him. (Truthfully, I was a little miffed at Him for not just making me healthier after all my prayers.) But as I learned more and more about nutrition, and the way the human body works, my eyes were opened to what an amazing machine God has created for me. And while I still wanted to be healthy for my own selfish reasons, I started also wanting to take care of this body as a way of worshiping God – honoring him by honoring this gift He gave me, trusting the design, “sacrificing” those things I knew were harming that gift.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world…” For me that meant, and still means, not eating what mainstream medicine dictates. Not eating the stuff I see most people around me eating. Not eating things that are manufactured and marketed by corporations. In other words, not eating what the world tells me to eat, and instead eating what my God-designed body requires.
“…be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” After following this new way of eating, my thoughts have completely changed. I don’t need those processed foods. I don’t desire them at all anymore. My thoughts, my needs, my desires are all for foods that are whole and real and nutritious and satisfying. Making that initial sacrifice – giving up things I found tasty but knew were damaging me – eventually led to me actually wanting to eat what I had started eating. If you had told me a few years ago that I would someday never crave cookies, or bread, or fried rice, or French fries (my biggest weakness!), I would have said you were nuts. Now those things are not even temptations.
“Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Am I claiming this has all made me some sort of God’s will detector? Nope. I still struggle daily with figuring out exactly what God has planned for me and how to follow Him properly. I’m hugely imperfect. But, as I said before, this passage has a much more spiritual meaning, and that needs to stay. It’s much more than following a proper diet and taking care of my body. It’s about giving my whole self over to God, and that takes more than cutting carbs. I just know that I wouldn’t have the energy or mental focus to work on this part without taking care of my body the way I have been.
Final note: I debated and debated about posting this. Every time I reread it, I worried it makes me sound preachy, or pious. That is so not my intent. I don’t see myself as being handed some special blessing by God. And this is not the only thing that keeps me going—there are a few others:
• I watched firsthand as type 2 diabetes stole my grandma’s ability to walk, her vision, her mind, and eventually her life.
• I have a BS in Biology, and my fascination with the biochemistry of human metabolism makes it impossible for me to look at processed food, sugar, and grains without seeing the downstream effects.
• I was lucky to catch this early and have my body respond very quickly to diet and lifestyle changes, something I know is not true for so many, especially those without doctors like my primary care who has been completely supportive of my efforts and has not tried in any way to dissuade me from this path.
So, yeah, a lot of motivation there for me from different directions.
I guess that’s it for today. I’ll continue posting here and there as I gather more thoughts.
PS - if you didn't see my first Health Journey post, click here.
