Is Weight Loss a Spiritual Act of Worship?

I am a personal trainer and fitness instructor by trade.  I know if you have been walking with God for long, you ponder your purpose in your career.  You may as I do, wonder how to do what you do unto the Lord.  I believe we are called to take care of our bodies.  We are to "tend to" the temple of the Holy Spirit.  If our body is the place where the God of the universe has chosen to place His Spirit by the death of His Son, I believe we are to take care of the temple just as the priest of the Old Testament were charged with the care and keeping of the ACTUAL building.

We do not need to worship our bodies, nor be spending countless hours measuring, weighing and counting calories.  Instead we need to have a change in perspective.  We need to change the way we look at food.  We have to make a LIFESTYLE change NOT go on another diet.  Diets work temporarily!  The reason they do not work long term is that when you loose the weight, we return to the way we ate before.  But that is the thing that got us into the shape we were in before.  So not only do we gain our pounds back, but they typically bring friends and we gain even more.

We also need to put exercise into our lives.  This is not for the purpose of weight loss but for overall wellness.  We need to be a BODY IN MOTION!!!  If we can get at least 15 minutes per day of cardio where we get our heart rates up, that is a great starting place.  Increase the 15 minutes to more over time. We need to exercise for our heart, for our joints, for our muscles and for overall wellness.  We need to do it so we can be stronger and able to accomplish more with the time we have been given, and so the Lord's instrument is working at its optimum level for His sake.  Work OUT Guideline for Cardio from my blog  This is not saying that if you have a disability or health issues that God cannot use you.  I am just saying we need to take care of what we have.  God can use anyone who is available and surrendered to Him.

We also need to spend time to nourish our spirit.  We need a quiet time where we meet with Jesus.  We need to read The Word, pray and sit quietly in fellowship with Him by His Spirit.  I believe that in our emptiness we long to be satisfied by Him, and when we are not spending the intentional time with Him, we get famished.  Out of our starvation for God, we begin to fill it with anything else we can find.  Some may fill it with food, another with alcohol and even another may exercise to excess or work too much.  There are many ways to try to fill up our emptiness.  But it never really satisfies us, and we are left with the consequences of the excess (like over weight, alcoholism, repetitive use injuries, or estranged relationships.)

So as you read this today and you say yep that struck a nerve, then maybe today you can take one step to make a change today.  I do not recommend doing all three at one time, but I do suggest you take one today.

Have a blessed day and serve the Lord today by taking care of His precious dwelling place which is YOU!