Does the Bible Promote Weight Loss?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body".
I cannot count how many times this verse was used to manipulate me and my eating.
I cannot count how many times this verse was used to promote thinness.
I cannot count how many times this verse was used to infer that God prefers smaller bodies.
I cannot count how many times this verse was used to make me feel shame for my size.
I cannot count how many times this verse was used to ….
You get the picture. Diet culture in Christian America latched onto 1 Cor 6:19-20 as a rallying cry to battle our physical bodies.
But what was Paul actually communicating in that 6th chapter?
Do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? v.2
Do you not know that we will judge angels? v.3
Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? v.9
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? v.15
Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? v.16
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? v.19
I’m seeing a pattern of thought focused on living in relationship with others. Paul is concerned for the witness of the early Christians in Corinth. How would the world see them as different, set apart from the world and united with Christ?
And another thing, looking back to the Old Testament, what was the purpose of the Temple? It was the dwelling place of God on earth. It was where His people came to worship and meet with Him. It was where people were made right with God. That is what we are to be!
What if we think of ourselves as someone who others could come to to meet God, to worship together, to be made right with God. Wouldn’t that be a better focus?
Dieting has us looking inward, selfish, and self-centered. We are to look outward - to the needs of the world around us desperate for Truth.
We are to be touch points of Heaven on Earth. People who God can work through to impact the lives of those needing His touch.
Jesus put on a human body to demonstrate how it is to be done.
Now it’s our turn. And we don’t need to be any particular size to do that.
LiveWell!
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