When we make the choice to become physically healthy and lose
weight we decide to make a change in our lives. We make a real effort to apply
ourselves to see the change. We exercise, eat healthier foods; possibly drink
more water and less soda. We all know that to look good, to be healthy, and to
be the size we desire takes work. We can't just wish our way there. We have to
really change our ways. And then once we get to our goals we learn to keep
those same habits up or we know we will lose our control again to maintain the
healthy image we want so much to keep.
Just like in being physically healthy it
is also the same concept with our spiritual health. We can't just go through
the day wishing our way to spiritual maturity and healthiness. We can't just
sit down with the Bible and expect to automatically change the way we are. It
takes practice. It takes exercising what we have learned to grow into the
Christian we want to be and know we could be.
You don't just wake up one day and go from
a size 14 to a size 6 over night. You also will not go from being spiritually
barely alive to ALIVE and ready to save the world! You have to work at it. You
have to walk with God day in and out. You have to learn to change when He
challenges areas of your life He wants changed. You can't just read a book to
change that specific area and think once you are done with it 'that is that.'
When you read a book, or hear a sermon that is challenging to you, you then
should go home and apply it to your life. Not just that day but every day from
here forth.
Working on your spiritual life happens for most people a lot like
that of their diet plans. They are in such GO GETTEM’ form that they start out
with a huge bang! The big diet plan type of idea where you think “I am going to
do this, starting tomorrow I am not going to eat ANY junk, I am going to work
out 5 days a week and I am going to switch all my eating to nothing but health
food.” Not that these plans aren't a good idea but we all know they are bound
to fail. Why? Because as soon as we mess up one day of our plan we somehow in
our minds are convinced that we are off track and we start to spiral backwards. The same goes with our spiritual faith. So many of us have great intentions to
read the Bible every day, to swear of our bad habits and give ourselves no room
for error causing us to soon fail because one day we’ll screw it up and from
there we go backwards right back down the hole we came. Often times gaining
back more weight on our shoulders than we had when we started. Crash Biblical dieting is bound to fail, you must take it slowly, it's not a sprint to spirituality and growth in our fatih.
Being healthy on all aspects is a journey.
You make choices. You make choices to eat or not eat the 2nd and 3rd
cupcake. You also make choices to make the same mistake you typically do over
again, or you can make the choice to have some self-control and not touch the
sin. Sure you can look around you and say, there are other people doing it.
There are other people who are unhealthier than you too! The point is that even
if there are other people doing it God is asking you to not too. The choices
are simple either you do or you don't.
When we choose to go with the healthier choice we choose many
times the harder option, but the most rewarding one. The unwise choice usually
gives us such pleasure and satisfaction right away, like eating the 2nd
or 3rd cup cake. It’ll taste great, no denying it! but the consequences
are as follows; in an hour your tummy will hurt; in two days you will want to
throw your scale out the window. If you
want to be spiritually healthy sometimes you just have to put that cupcake
down, say ‘no’ and walk away so you are no longer tempted with it. And, if the
platter comes back around, which we all know it will eventually do, we have to
practice the art of self-control again and again and again until it’s second
nature to us to just say ‘no,’ and move on without a second thought. The harder
option to take is usually the best because though you don’t see the results
right away with time you will see the change is happening.
Being healthy physically takes a lot of work, a lot of self
control and a lot of exercise. Being healthy spiritually is really no
different. We must practice our self-control, we must pray for wisdom and we
must exercise our hearts and minds to beat the challenges. We must take it
one day at a time setting little goals for ourselves so we don’t get
overwhelmed with the end goal. And just
as when we reach our health goals physically we have to keep our same practices
up. To avoid going backwards spiritually you must continue to push yourself to
become stronger, never letting down your guard, always pushing forward.
Spiritual Health is not a wishful thought or even something we can
get quickly over night; it’s a journey we take with Jesus through life, to
become all He desires for us to be for His ultimate Glory. Take the challenge!
It’s time to grow and it’s worth all the pains of change.
