The beginning of a new year is always a time for folks to think of ways to improve their lives, and the most popular, and sometimes most difficult, desire is to shed pounds off our bodies! Especially after the holidays, most of have a few extra pounds we want to shed! Some folks go on successful healthy eating and exercise programs and are able to shed large amount of weight! I have some women in my extended family that have found a system that works for them, and they have lost a lot of weight over the last year and feel much better and more energetic!
Our bodies are an amazing, complex, and intricate creation by God, and if we take proper care of them, we will feel good, enjoy life to its fullest, and best live out God’s purpose for us. But we all fail to do this at different levels, and if we don’t eat and exercise properly, we are more susceptible to sickness and disease. Whether it’s COVID or any other disease, it’s always those who are physically weaker with compromised immunity and other system failures, that are more likely to get very sick and die.
If you are a Christian and have surrendered your life to Jesus, do you realize your body is no longer your own? In I Corinthians 6: 19-20, it says:
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple 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 honor God with your body. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)
So, as Christians, we are told to take care of our bodies because God himself now dwells inside of us through his Holy Spirit! He wants us to honor him by taking good care this marvelous gift of a body! And, for believers, the idea of “my body, my choice” is not true, because it’s HIS body to be use for HIS purposes. So, let’s take care of what God has given to us!
BUT, MOST PEOPLE KNOW WE ARE MUCH MORE THAN JUST A PHYSICAL BODY!
The Bible says our total existence can be described as a “living soul”! Jesus reminds how crucial the soul is in Matthew 16:
25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? -Matthew 16:25-26 (NIV)
So, what in the world is a soul, anyway?
Many people have tried to explain this, and no one probably has a perfect description of this. I like the explanation of Dallas Willard, the late Christian philosopher/deep spiritual thinker. He defined the soul as “the capacity to integrate all the parts into a single, whole life”. He describes the soul as like the “operating system” that coordinates and “runs” all the parts of who we are. He then imagines 4 concentric circles to explain our “parts”. The center, core circle is described as our human Spirit, and also as our Heart and Will. The next circle is our Mind, which includes our thoughts & feelings. Our next outer circle is our physical Body, with the final circle being our Soul, which puts all our parts together in perfect harmony to be who God created us to be!
The problem, of course, is that because of sin in our lives, our “parts” are messed up and out of sync with what God created us to be! For example, our culture is obsessed with buff men and curvy women who look great on the outside, but can be totally messed up, immature, mean, and foolishly lost on the inside. Just think of many of our Hollywood stars, athletes, and even politicians and TV pundits! Our souls are “lost” and dis-integrated from God. Jesus came to save our lost souls, and re-integrate them and restore us to the complete, amazing people we were created to be!
HOW DOES THIS PROCESS HAPPEN? HOW DOES JESUS HELP US TO “SHED” THE WEIGHT OF ALL THE SINFUL JUNK THAT “SCREWS US UP” ON THE INSIDE AND MAKES US MISERABLE?
1) This is NOT a self-help, do it yourself plan you can find in bookstores or on the Internet! According to God, our chief designer, only HE can truly change us from the inside out! You cannot overcome sin and fully change your heart on your own effort!
2) The good news is, Jesus died to take away the power of sin in our lives, and if we will put our trust in him, he has promised to permanently put his own Holy Spirit in you and change your from the inside out! The same power that raised Jesus’ body from death can now dwell in you and empower you to begin to think, feel, and act the way designed you to be!
Think of those concentric circles of our soul again. God will send his Spirit to dwell in your core, which is your human spirit, heart, and will. He will transform your spirit and change your heart and will. From there he will move out to transform you mind, your thoughts and feelings. And when you begin to think and feel differently, your body will respond in a totally new way by the words and actions that come from your inner core! Then, your soul, your whole being, will be transformed into someone completely new, and the world will take notice! Paul describes it this way in II Corinthians 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come! The old has gone, the new is here!”
So, what does this look like when God changes us from the inside out? What are those miserable, destructive desires, thoughts, and feelings that God will change in us, and wants us to “shed”? And, what will he give us in place of them to transform us? After all, this is not just a “weight reduction plan” where we shed the bad stuff; he also promises to fill us with his good stuff that allows us to live as we were intended!
Paul describes the whole process amazingly well in Galatians 5. Note this not only describes the rot of our own souls, but perfectly describes the destructive thoughts and behavior we see in society today and in each generation under the curse of sinfulness! Paul calls this amazing transformation “Walking by the Spirit”!
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. -Galatians 5:13-26 (NIV)
I wish you “Happy Shedding” in 2022!
Seek to take care of your body, and shed some unnecessary pounds if that’s needed, and exercise regularly!
But more importantly, ask Jesus to forgive your sin, and then send his Holy Spirit to permanently dwell in your heart, empower your spirit, and begin to change you into a new creation, from the inside out!
May you be a different and more wonderful person by the end of the year!