Comparing Health and Your Spiritual Walk
Did you know that the ‘walk’ for better health and fitness is somewhat similar to your spiritual walk? They both encompass choices and our free will.
Do you eat healthy? Do you exercise? Do you stay away from the bad foods?
What about your spiritual walk, how is your pride? Do you stay away from envy, lust, greed? Do you choose love, patience, kindness, etc?
I ask those questions, because when I read Romans 7 I see a similar parallel between our spiritual and physical walk. It was Paul who wrote how he wants to do good, but evil overtakes him. I know what I should do, but evil still wins out, he says.
Are those regretful thoughts similar to the person snacking on a bag of cookies, candy, or sugary treats wondering why he or she can’t stay on a good clean diet? They want to eat right, they want to exercise…but somehow, someway they get tempted away from making the right choices.
Choices are just that - an opportunity to express your own free will. It’s not always easy to make the right choice. Although I do believe it is easier to make the right choice when you have the Holy Spirit inside you as Paul talks about in Romans 8.
When you talk about making the right choices for your physical walk, and I am not talking about actually walking…I’m referring to your overall level of health and fitness. It’s more than simple will power and determination. You need to take into consideration those little hormones and neurotransmitters (brain messengers) that have a huge influence on your behavior.
I know the evil one is the great tempter in your spiritual walk and has had a long history of tempting us with lust, pride, money and power…the usual suspects. Whether he is the one responsible for our cravings I don’t know, I’m a doctor – not a theologian, but those little hormones and brain messengers definitely have an influence on your behavior when your blood sugar falls.
Think about it, do you get irritable and moody if you skip a meal or wait too long to eat? Do you find yourself wanting to strangle your spouse or co-worker…I’m kidding.
The simple fact is that your brain chemistry changes when you allow your blood sugar to drop because you skipped a meal or eat the wrong foods. It becomes harder to concentrate, focus and stay attentive. Your brain can’t function properly (process information) when its main fuel source, glucose/carbohydrates are declining. This is what leads to cravings and what makes it so hard to make the right choices with regards to your diet and exercise plans.
Don’t forget that when your blood sugar drops, it pretty much turns off your ‘fat burning’ mode, which makes it harder to drop those unwanted pounds and inches.
So as you keep on moving forward in both your spiritual and physical walk, I hope you realize that some of your choices will be challenging. But I hope you can take comfort in knowing there are some things you can do to hedge your bets, sort of speak, that will help you make better choices in both areas of your life.
