In today's world, many people are interested in food and fitness, but sometimes it's hard to find a healthy balance. In America, diets are often unhealthy and lifestyles are overly sedentary. However, the Bible offers valuable insights into diet and exercise, teaching us to maintain a balanced lifestyle that honors God. It encourages physical discipline and maintaining the body, which is considered a temple of the Holy Spirit. Combining faith and fitness can add a worshipful purpose to your workout routine.
The Importance of Balance
As with many things in life, there are extremes in the area of exercise. Some people focus entirely on spirituality, to the neglect of their physical bodies. Others focus so much attention on the form and shape of their physical bodies that they neglect spiritual growth and maturity. Neither of these indicates a biblical balance. We are both physical and spiritual beings. So, clearly, there is nothing wrong with a Christian exercising. In fact, the Bible is clear that we are to take good care of our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). At the same time, the Bible warns against vanity (1 Samuel 16:7; Proverbs 31:30; 1 Peter 3:3-4). Our goal in exercise should not be to improve the quality of our bodies so that other people will notice and admire us. Rather, the goal of exercising should be to improve our physical health so we will possess more physical energy that we can devote to spiritual goals.
Biblical Perspectives on Exercise
First Timothy 4:8 informs us, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Notice that the verse does not negate the need for exercise. The apostle Paul also mentions physical training in illustrating spiritual truth in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. He equates the Christian life to a race we run to “get the prize.” But the prize we seek is an eternal crown that will not tarnish or fade. In 2 Timothy 2:5, Paul says, “Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.” Paul uses an athletic analogy again in 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” While the focus of these Scriptures is not physical exercise, the fact that Paul uses athletic terminology to teach us spiritual truths indicates that Paul viewed physical exercise, and even competition, in a positive light.
Paul enjoys using athletic imagery to connect with his Greek and Roman audiences, who could relate to this kind of training. We also can relate, and we know that the “rules” Jesus has given us are these: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Let us be trained by the standards of love.
The Body as a Temple
One big motivator for taking care of our bodies is they are the temple of God. Do you not know that your bodies are temples 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 bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19)
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God’s Spirit dwells in us and so it matters what we do with our bodies. Glorifying God in your body means recognizing that being alive in your body is an immense gift. Let us take each breath with deep gratitude, and revere God through all of our actions.
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 that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. This verse reiterates the concept of our bodies as God's temple. It emphasizes the importance of treating our bodies with respect.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. This verse calls us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This verse encourages us to honor God through our physical health and fitness.
Biblical Guidance on Diet and Nutrition
Yes, there are several Bible verses that provide guidance on diet and nutrition. Genesis 1:29 talks about God's original diet plan for humans, which was plant-based. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. This verse provides insight into God's original diet for mankind.
Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. This verse reveals God's provision for our diet.
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For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. This verse affirms the goodness of everything God created, including food. It teaches us that everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.
He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate-bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. This verse reflects on God's provision of food for all creatures. It praises God for the bountiful earth He has created, which produces food for our sustenance.
Moderation and Self-Control
The Bible has a lot to say about self control! Believers are commanded to practice self control in alignment with the Holy Spirit. I love that we can be self-controlled with our bodies as a way of showing God’s spirit is alive and well in us. But, also worth noting we can be kind, gentle, and patient with our bodies as a way of showing that too. The value of self control cannot be underestimated.
It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to search out matters that are too deep. This verse teaches the wisdom of moderation in diet and exercise.
Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time-for strength and not for drunkenness. This verse underscores the importance of a balanced diet in maintaining a healthy and productive life.
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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. This verse warns against overeating, highlighting its negative consequences. This wisdom encourages us to practice moderation in our eating habits.
If you find honey, eat just enough- too much of it, and you will vomit. I love Proverbs! Common sense and no nonsense. Don’t eat yourself sick, silly!
Diet and Spirituality
Diet and exercise are not only important for our physical health, but also for our spiritual health. They affect our mood, our energy, our focus, and our relationship with God and others. From a spiritual perspective, diet and exercise are not just about physical health but also about respecting the body as God's temple and practicing self-discipline.
Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. This verse teaches us not to judge or despise others based on what they eat or don't eat.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. This verse presents the fruits of the Spirit as a guide for our behavior, including our eating and exercise habits.
You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. This verse explores the relationship between food and the body, and its spiritual implications. It reminds us that while food is for the body, both the body and food are temporal. This verse underscores the importance of spiritual nourishment over physical food.
Examples from the Bible
Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Daniel 1:12 introduces us to the "Daniel Diet," where Daniel chose to eat vegetables and drink water instead of the king's rich food. This decision not only kept Daniel healthy, but it also demonstrated his commitment to God.
Daniel and his Israelite friends were able to abstain from rich foods and instead ate a leaner diet. At the end of 10 days they were healthier than those who partook of the royal table. What is noteworthy (and I believe is why God blessed them) is how they used their food choices to separate and distinguish themselves from the foreign culture and align themselves with Yahweh.
David danced out of pure joy before the Lord, not before men. He didn’t care what he looked like, and neither should we.
Finding Strength and Renewal
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. This verse is a powerful reminder that we can find strength through Christ in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. This verse promises renewed strength for those who hope in the Lord.
Weight Loss and Management
While the Bible doesn't directly address weight loss, it does emphasize principles like self-control, moderation, and respect for the body, which are relevant to weight management. Proverbs 23:2 and 1 Corinthians 9:27 are examples of such verses.
Practical Application
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. This verse reminds us that our eating and drinking habits, as well as our daily activities, should honor God. Our choices when it comes to our body can be done to glorify God or glorify ourselves. Excess in either direction (becoming overly consumed with fitness or overly slothful and indulgent) don’t put God in His proper place as Lord of our lives.
Think before you eat: What am I feeling? When you go out to dinner with an influential person, mind your manners: Don’t gobble your food, don’t talk with your mouth full.
Avoiding Anxiety and Worry
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. While we could worry endlessly about our food choices, our life is more than how we look and what we do in our bodies. It’s not worth worrying over.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
The Freedom in Christ
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Food choices should never feel controlling or shaming. There is freedom in what we eat, when we eat, and how we workout. If our diet is controlling us, rather than the Spirit, that’s not a good thing.
‘Everything is permissible for me’ - but not everything is beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.
Key Takeaways and Principles
- Balance: Avoid extremes by focusing on both physical and spiritual well-being.
- Moderation: Practice self-control in eating habits and avoid overindulgence.
- Gratitude: Appreciate God's provision of food and recognize the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.
- Intentionality: Make conscious choices to honor God through diet and exercise.
- Freedom: Embrace the freedom in Christ and avoid legalistic or shaming approaches to food.
- Holistic Health: Consider the impact of diet and exercise on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.
- Worshipful Movement: Engage in physical activities as an act of worship and joyful movement.
- Endurance: Develop perseverance in love and stay in step with the Spirit through consistent training.
- Discernment: Discern between beneficial and detrimental practices, aligning fitness intentions with building up the Kingdom in love.
- Patience: Be patient, kind, and self-controlled with your body, recognizing it is entrusted to you to care for diligently and gracefully.