My Personal Goals

Spirituality and physical food

As I have been working on the Bible study this week, I had an epiphany. I have been praying that God would give me a different perspective concerning food. I have been struggling with my own food insecurity/addiction and my weight is really affecting my health.

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

This verse is loaded with truths and goodness. There is a lot to chew on. You wouldn't think that at first glance. However, once you start breaking it up and doing a word study, you can go pretty deep with it.

Have you heard it said that there is something spiritual for everything you see physically? I have heard it said many times. Anyway, in order to understand this verse deeper, I was studying some on what it meant to be physically hungry and thirsty. Then I was comparing it to spiritual matters like the actual Scripture was doing.

There are several questions we can ask ourselves about hunger. How hungry am I? What am I hungry for? How much do I want to eat? How bad do I want some food? Do I want to be full? What is the motive for my hunger? What kind of appetite do I have? Do I always want more? How much food do I need? Where am I looking to satisfy my appetite? These are all some very good questions.

What if these questions are spiritually and physically interchangeable? When it comes to physical food, there are many foods to choose from. There are fruits, vegetables, meats, desserts, soups, salads, breads, casseroles, sandwiches, and so many more things that come to mind. Some of these things are more healthy to eat than others.

Personally, I always find myself drawn to the less healthy choices. I think I can learn something from this. Sometimes there are greater and lesser sins. There are many shades of gray. Life isn’t always black or white, unfortunately. However, when making physical choices, I would like to think most of us try to choose the lesser evil when faced with this kind of choice.

What if we look at food the same way? For example: We know a cucumber is a great healthy choice. An Apple is healthy too, but for a diabetic like myself, the cucumber may be the healthier choice.

Let's think about this for a moment. Physically, we may have to choose between confronting someone with a truth or just letting the issue go. What is healthier? I guess it would depend on what the truth was. It would depend on how many other people will be affected by it if you confront or don't. Sometimes it is better to let sleeping dogs lie so to speak. Other times a confrontation needs to occur to raise awareness and try to prevent others from being affected.

We all know pizza is loaded with fat and carbs. If it is made right, it is delicious. Of course, we are going to crave more of what is pleasing to the taste buds. Yet, many of us know there are many healthier choices out there. What do we choose to eat?

Healthy food can taste good too if we put forth the effort. For me, a lot of “junk” food not only tastes better, but it is more convenient too. I just poor contents of a can into a bowl, stick in in the microwave, and heat it up. Food is healthier for us if we make it from scratch and avoid all the processing we have now. Just look around the grocery store and look what kind of food is at eye level. It is hard to eat healthy. There is so much delicious junk to choose from.

Our society is filled with junk for just about any kind of appetite you can think of. Immorality is plentiful. Gluttony is everywhere you look just about, and we wonder why we are fat. Anything you could lust for is found especially by the check out counters. Have you gone into a store and just looked without buying anything? That merchandise is set up to satisfy your flesh and entice you to purchase everything possible. There are literally studies and science behind it. Pay attention to what is in the space most convenient for you to purchase from. Pay attention to the end caps and what is in the middle and edges of the store. Do you find yourself drawn to any of it? Trust me, it is placed that way for a reason.

Anyway, the point I am getting at is this, we need to open our spiritual eyes and see the physical from a spiritual perspective. I know it is changing my worldview. Even in choices about the food we make, we need to learn how to choose the lesser evil if we want to be healthy. Yes, I think some foods are evil and I am not just talking devil’s food or deviled eggs. Have you read the label on some of those things? Have you seen how much sodium is in a serving? Truthfully, a lot of us eat more than one serving too. I know I do.

I have to change the way I eat. My life and quality of it may very well depend upon me changing my eating habits. I have a lot to learn, but I thank God he reveals these truths to me.