Eating And Spiritual Wellness
Eating & Spiritual Wellness
If you want to be well—physically, emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually—you need to think about what you eat and how you eat and the outcomes of these in your life. For spiritual wellness, it is not primarily a matter of which foods you eat, but of your faithfulness to the Lord in your thoughts, actions, and affections—“…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17) The apostle also told us: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31) And, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)
Since all of that is true, as with the rest of life, what we think about food, what we do with food, and what we feel about food matters to God, and therefore must matter to us. To that end, I want to encourage those who know the Lord Jesus with some basic principles for promoting spiritual life in the area of food:
Fasting and Feasting: the biblical way of life is one of both self-denial and of rejoicing in God’s blessings. The pattern of Christian living given to us in both the Bible and church history is to observe periods of limitation on what we eat for the purpose of self-discipline, prayer, and reliance on the Word and Spirit AND to have special occasions of celebration that involve increased eating and drinking and rejoicing. The Christian ideal includes BOTH a modesty of life and abundance in life… all in the right time, place, and proportion.
Observing the 6-and-1 pattern of life each week is a wholesome and godly pattern. The Christian sabbath is Sunday, a joyful feast day, and the other 6 days are typically just normal days, occasionally set aside as celebration days or fasting days. The church calendar with its feasting and fasting days also provides us a well-worn pattern for keeping both deprivation and celebration in their right place and proportion.
Unfortunately we live in a society that has dessert daily! Sometimes after every meal or for a normal beverage! Not to mention our ever expanding portion sizes. This is to have the balance of fasting and feasting far askew. In fact, our cultural gluttony is so severe that normal weight people, who limit their food to what keeps them healthy, are often treated like restrictive prudes.
On the other hand, certain parts of society have begun abstaining from various foods under the false idea that foods themselves are “clean” or “unclean.” Not only are the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant no longer valid (Acts 10:9-17), the Christian is free from quasi-spiritual reasoning that proclaims certain foods off-limits. Though, some of the things eaten today are not really food, but weird industrial products. The limits a Christian sets ought to be for good ends: health, prayer, self-discipline, and to have more to share with others. A disciplined but joy-filled life is the Christian ideal.
Hospitality: eating and drinking are also ways to serve others and share (commune) with one another. Scientists think they’ve discovered something shocking: a person who eats his meals with others at regular times tends to be healthier than one who eats alone and at random or convenience-based times. Families that maintain family dinner together nightly have better mental, spiritual, and physical health. Food is meant to be communal. It ties us to each other: to the mom who made dinner, to those who grew the food, to family traditions, to the people around the table, and in a spiritual bond through thankful prayers for the provision.
Moderation: the godly life is a life of reasonableness. When you have dessert every day, it is no longer a blessing and a celebration, it is an indulgence. Lusts, inordinate desires, are meant to be tamed and directed to what is good. Being obese and unhealthy due to your own choices is a sin. Discipline yourself in what you eat, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the same way you discipline yourself around other matters: sex, power, words, money, time. The Spirit gives power, love, and a sound mind.
Thankfulness: Gratitude is the cure to an attitude of entitlement or carelessness. “Don’t you know, some kids are starving” is still true. It doesn’t matter if your grandma’s old saying seems trite, if the Lord takes away your ability to eat, you will understand what she meant. It is good to receive all blessings as from the Lord’s hand and to return to him an offering of praise. The foods we eat are made holy by the priestly act of the believer giving thanks to the Father by the Spirit in Christ’s name, and this sanctity and thankfulness is why the Christian custom of praying before meals is good and right.
Stewardship of Nature: The Lord gave man commands to fill and subdue the earth to his glory and to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. By growing and raising healthy food, by purchasing and preparing real food that is grown in honorable ways, and by learning joyful and healthful ways of cooking and eating, the Christian is fulfilling God’s original mandate to us.
Humility: None of us are God, we are simply his servants. The right approach to eating takes into consideration the ways the Lord has fenced us in in his wise providence: our finances, the needs of those around us, our time, our body’s own particular needs or weaknesses. These things take wisdom to discern and know how best to handle, but the attitude of humility and submission to God is essential to dealing with them correctly.
Hope: We keep eating because we have some time left here to serve the Lord, and we live with faith in his promise to be with us to the end. For some people, especially those who are feeling gloomy and whose thinking has become unwell, or those suffering from a medical problem that makes them nauseated, the struggle is to learn to eat even if you don’t feel like it. To eat for your health is a duty. To not eat when you need to is a sin. Remember the Lord has you here to serve him, and the slow suicide of giving up, of not eating when you need to, is saying “Jesus is not enough” when you know he is. He can give you the strength to serve him by eating, and may his Spirit fill you with thankfulness and hope!
Endurance: A Christian life is sometimes marked by periods of zeal alternating with periods of lethargy. But, the Lord’s design for us is to learn the patience of that slow, steady, faithful pilgrimage that gets all the way to heaven. Don’t focus on quick health results from dieting or exercise, instead focus on learning a manner of life that is good and healthy and in which you continue on patiently.
Humans Not Consumers: Food, or the means to make it, must be typically be purchased. But, we ought not be confused by that necessity into thinking of food primarily as consumers. If we do, we easily become manipulated by marketing. You likely need to purchase less, rather than more, in order to begin honoring God in your food choices. Don’t fall for “health-washing” or “Christian-washing.” This is where you take a regular consumer product and label it with all sorts of healthy-sounding words or spiritual-sounding phrases, when the substance of what you are buying is either not needed to have those good-sounding labels or sometimes is even incongruent with them. Eat as a human, receiving your daily bread from God, even if it comes from Hy-Vee.
I hope these thoughts are a help to you as you walk before the Lord regarding the way you eat. It is my privilege to encourage your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. May he bless your efforts. —Shane
