ELIMINATING THE JUNK AND NOURISHING THE SPIRIT

So, for the last couple weeks we've been on a "sugar free" kick.
Challenged by Staci's parents and her younger brother, the goal has been to see who can go the longest without sugar-laden desserts and beverages. The effort has been to promote a healthier lifestyle at home.
This hasn't been easy. My sweet tooth is legendary. I have never been known to turn down a chocolate chip cookie or a bowl of ice cream. Even my morning coffee is often filled with sweet liquid coffee creamer.
One lesson I figured out right off the bat was, instead of just simply eliminating food, by necessity we had to replace the bad stuff we were consuming with healthier options. For me this meant, especially, more fruits, veggies, protein and water in the areas where I had been consuming empty calories. I started how to learn to better fuel my body instead of just feeding cravings.
Immediately my focus became how to nourish our bodies with what we took in, instead of just habitual consumption.
Another positive side effect to this challenge has been increased self-control and discipline. I have learned to say "no" to myself better when what I want is not something I need.
This might sound strange for someone who runs as much as I do to say, but particularly when it comes to food, self-control and discipline are not things I ever possessed a great deal of. So, when self-control with something is a problem what do you do?
You don't keep it around. If I don't want to eat it, if I don't want to consume it, I don't keep it in the house anymore - pure and simple. This is one huge step we have taken. If we do not want to eat it, we do not buy it.
The whole thing is a work in progress still, but as of this writing, Staci and I are both still "on the wagon", so to speak. She has eliminated her Mountain Dew, I have cut out my sugary desserts, and I have cut way back on my consumption of coffee creamer (though, admittedly I have not completely cut it out - that's still a work in progress).
And, as I have gone through this challenge, the spiritual parallels are amazing. Hopefully, you've drawn some conclusions so so far, too, but here are some of my takeaways.
Sin is just like junk food. While it might taste good, it is not necessarily good for the body or the spirit. Like junk food puts on pounds, sin slows us down, in Hebrews 12, various translations say "hinders" or "easily entangles". In short, just like junk food slows the body down by adding to our waistline, sin drags our spirit down if we do not do what it takes to eliminate if from our lives.
The best way to deal with it, like junk food, is instead of letting it hang around your life and let it remain a temptation, do not keep it around. If there is something that tempts you to sin, when it is possible, get rid of it. Do not be afraid to clear the "junk" from your life. What that might be is different for each person, but we all have them.
But just like you can't eliminate food from your body without replacing it with better fuel, the same is doubly true with our spirits. Our spirits require nourishment, they require fuel. What does that mean for us as Christians? It means refreshing our spirits daily through His word. It means taking time each week to worship and fellowship with other believers. It means pursuing things that enrich our minds, rather than things that clutter them. It means laying our own desires down to serve others.
As I write this, I know this is a rather short, simplistic take on this topic. There is so much more that can be said on this. Scripture has a wealth of direction on what it means to cut out the bad and feed ourselves with the good. I encourage you to dig into Scripture, to savor it like a bowl of ice cream, and to let it fill you will all the good things that the love and grace of Jesus Christ has to offer.
But whatever the "junk food" is in your life today, identify it, learn to say no to it, eliminate it, and fill your life with the sweet nourishment found only in the joy of Jesus Christ.
I promise, you will be glad you did.

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