Eat Your Fruits and Veggies, Kids!

Alright. So, I live on a lake right now and it's pretty much this place where a ton of people come to hang out an swim and the like. Around the lake, you see just all sorts of people. Sometimes, you see one of those chicks in a bikini that should just... NOT be in a bikini. I don't mean to sound judgemental or anything, but seriously. Ew. I can understand if you have a medical condition or something that causes you to gain weight or something, but besides that. Your body is a temple for Christ, so you should really watch what goes into it. Okay, I have absolutely NO room to talk. I'm sitting here on my lazy butt, staring at the computer screen, eating a fun dip (they're SO amazing, btw.) If you're going to eat like an elephant, at least work it off somehow. (Sorry, if I'm being mean. You can stop reading if any of this offends you.)

I was trying to find some Bible verses that talk about gluttony. Turns out, there's a heck of a lot. My personal favorite verse involving the body is 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 which says, "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; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." I suppose that one can be interpreted a few ways, but I like to think of it as taking care of our physical bodies. I'm not suggesting a diet or anything, but try to be somewhat healthy. (Keep in mind that supermodel skinny and sumo-wrestler fat are both bad for you.)

"Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags." - Proverbs 23:20-21.
"Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things." - Philippians 3:19.
"and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony." - Proverbs 23:2.
Those are just a few of the verses that I found. That last one's pretty harsh. A knife in my throat? Geez, guess I don't need that fourth piece of grandma's apple pie.

Uhm... What about the opposite side of things here. Let's say you're trying a little 'too' hard to keep those five pounds off. To be honest, I couldn't really find any verses on anorexia/bulemia/and the like. However, the world pressures us to be as thin as sticks and Romans 12:2 does say, "Do not conform any longer 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." and 1 Samuel 16:7 says, "But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'" The only thing that I can think of to say is that you are perfect exactly the way God made you.

Quick story time here, folks! A few years ago, I was at Bible camp. I was anorexic (my counselor forced me to eat while I was there) and I had major self-confidence issues. Our speaker that year helped me realize that God loves me the way I am and I don't need to change anything about myself. I was pretty shy at the time, but on the final night at the bonfire, I got up and shared my story with the entire camp and how I had made a complete turn around that week and was never going to let the world dictate my habits ever again. I remember ending my story with a line from Veggie Tales, "God made you special and he loves you very much." I sat down, everyone clapped, some kid yelled "you're SO pretty," and then we moved on to the next person's story. It didn't last long and I wouldn't really call it my "5 minutes of fame," but being able to let go of that past in front of everyone was probably one of the proudest moments of my life. Just thought I'd share that with ya'all.

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple." - 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.