How to Walk Worthy in 2019

I feel something inside me changing. I’m not sure what it is or what it will look like yet. But I want to share it – to help others find the same abundant life. This word study that I have been looking into – “peripateo axios” (Walk Worthy Eph. 4:1, Colossians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:12). Circumferential and fully encompassing of every area of life with a center axis point at which everything else rotates. So, to put that in English: each area of my life (physical, emotional, spiritual, social, mental, hormonal, etc.) finds its anchor point in the person and work of Christ and in the purpose of bringing him glory by being intimately connected to him in each and every moment. Decisions are made, actions carried out, fruit produced in the strength of and for the glory of God alone. Optimal health for his glory. Optimal growth for his glory. Optimal outreach for his glory.

It would be easy to hold off on the “start” of this journey until I can really lose weight – I’m halfway through pregnancy, so that’s not happening anytime soon. Or part of me could easily fall into self-striving in an attempt to find this ideal in every area of life. But that’s not what my heart is being summoned to at this point.

In the old Testament, believers in the promise and followers of the Torah were instructed to give a tenth (a tithe) of their first fruits toward the growth and development of the temple. Many today, still follow that principle in their finances, but what would it look like to take that a step further? We are told that our bodies are now temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). What would it look like to invest 10% of our time, energy, and focus each week to provide for the growth and development of where the Holy Spirit resides? We are the church – are we at optimal performance for the glory of God? Is my body, mind, and heart functioning at a point that I can fulfill the will of God? That’s the whole purpose of walking worthy – that we may be fully pleasing to Him in every way.

In my current state, can I be the wife or mother God has called me to be? In my management of stress, nutrition, fitness and rest am I living in such a way as to optimize time, energy, and focus for the things of God or am I more likely to be self-indulgent in my food, activities, and entertainment choices? Just some questions I’m pondering as we approach this new year.

I want 2019 to be different. I want to start now - taking steps toward finding that deeper communication with the Holy Spirit on a moment by moment basis so that whether I eat or drink or whatever I do, it can all be done for the glory of God.

Wanna join me? A journey like this will look different for each person, but I’d love to share mine and hear what God is teaching you as you venture down this road of walking worthy of the Lord. 

When the Scale Doesn't Move, Eat a Cookie

I looked down at the scale; my lips curled into a frown. I had my baby 5 weeks ago, and I was barely down 7 pounds. Sighing deeply, I moved to the bookshelf and retrieved the diet book. Guess it’s time to pull up my big girl pants - literally - and do this. I flipped through the pages and found the information I was looking for - low carb cleanse. It had worked before, so I purposed to stock my pantry and fridge with the required items and follow the plan. I couldn’t wait to see the pounds melt off.

Five days later, I skipped to the scale expecting to see big results. As the number appeared, my mouth dropped in horror. What was wrong with this thing? It hadn’t budged!

Dinner Arrives

A friend had volunteered to bring us dinner that night. As the food came in and my house filled with the smells of warm comfort, my stomach rumbled in desire. It had been a long day, and I was hungry - really hungry. I thanked my friend and unpacked hot chicken pot pie, bread sticks, salad, and just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies. Ohhh! Chocolate chip - my favorite! My mouth watered, but I stood there dumbfounded. Of all this glorious dinner, only the salad fit my low carb plan. I felt the tears fill my eyes as I stared at the wafting steam from the dishes. What was I going to do?

I retreated to my room where I cried angry. God, this diet has worked before. Why isn’t it working this time? I’m trying to be so faithful, but I’m so hungry!

I started to weigh my options. I could pitch the whole thing and just enjoy myself. But where was the self-control in that? I could stick with my diet and just eat a salad; but I knew that wouldn’t fill my stomach making me even more emotional, and it wouldn’t give me the calories I desperately needed in order to feed my baby.

My Body, His Temple

As I sat there, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 came to mind. “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.”

If my body is the temple of the almighty God, then he must know exactly what my body needs at each given moment. Maybe I should ask him what he thinks? So that’s what I did. Over the course of the next half hour or so, my loving Father led my heart to several passages of Scripture and began a paradigm shift that would change my life.

“‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything’" (1 Corinthians 6:13).

The enticing food sitting on my kitchen counter was not bad, wrong, or unlawful for me to consume. The question I had to consider was whether it would be helpful or controlling in that moment.

I began to ponder the options I had laid before myself. If I threw up my hands and indulged my every appetite, the very food that I was consuming would be taking mastery over me.

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2-3).

In that moment, my eyes were opened to the truth. If it was possible for food to become an idol in my life, could it be that - even in my desire to be healthy and do things right - my diet could also become a little “g” god in my life? Maybe my diet and my desire for health wasn’t exactly aligned with God’s design for my body.

“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” (1 Timothy 4:4-5).

If I chose not to eat any of the food provided because of my fear (fear of calories, the scale, messing up the diet, etc.), I was revealing the pride and ingratitude of my heart. And my well meaning diet was pushing me further away from the woman God wanted me to be.

My eyes began to clear as I realized my struggle wasn’t ultimately food. The issue at hand wasn’t even what the scale read at the end of the day. The question I had to ask myself was that of my heart’s posture. Who or what was I bowing to? My appetites? My diet? Some idea of what I should look like?

All those times in the past that I stressed myself out because of the rules of a diet or how fast the weight was (or was not) coming off, I was bowing to those things. The diet and the scale - both becoming my master. I was worshiping them before I was worshiping God.

Thank you God, for creating my body. I’m sorry I haven’t been treating it like your temple. I’m sorry I’ve had my own ideas of what I should look like, how I should eat or what I should weigh. I’m sorry I’ve never asked you. Could you give me wisdom? You promise it when I ask (James 1:5). Give me your vision for my physical body. Show me how to take care of this temple for your glory!

Food for the Stomach and Soul

As I returned to the table, new peace and joy flooded my heart. I did eat a hearty salad and a modest portion of the pot pie. And as I reached for a cookie, I felt God smile.

I returned to my room with that one cookie, sat on my bed, lifted it toward my face and inhaled deeply. Thank you, God for the cow that gave the milk that made the cream for the butter in this cookie. Thank you God for the chicken that laid the egg that was put in this cookie. Thank you God for the field that grew the wheat that produced the flour that is in this cookie. Thank you God for cocoa beans that got processed into chocolate chips that flavor this cookie.

Eating the Cookie

That chocolate chip cookie was probably pretty ordinary. Nothing spectacular went into that recipe. But that chocolate chip cookie - when I received it with a heart of gratitude - was the most delightful cookie I had ever eaten!

Sometimes glorifying God in my body is eating the cookie in gratitude. Other times, it is allowing the Holy Spirit to produce his self-control in my life and leaving the cookie on the tray.

Learning to bow to God alone is not a one-size-fits-all method. As I’ve learned to treat my body as God’s temple, I’ve seen that what is best for me may not be what is best for my friend. It’s really all about learning to walk in step with Him. Moment by moment.

May God be glorified in us as we live (and eat) for Him!

This post was originally published on True Woman Blog.