Yesterday I discussed the application of Mark 12:30, which states the Great Commandment. The second portion to the Great Commandment is also paramount in healthy living; "Love your neighbor as yourself," (Mark 12:31). We cannot adequately say we are living healthy if we ignore the second portion of the Greatest Commandments.
To show we love ourselves, we treat our bodies with respect and honor by supplying adequate and appropriate nutrition, as well as doing regular activity in order to keep the body in good condition and functioning well. We feed our minds with Godly input, listening to uplifting and inspirational audio (music or speech) and reading sound and wholesome books. We consistently meet with God in daily bible study and prayer to fill our hearts with His Word and truth. We identify areas in our lives that are weak and need focus to grow in discipline and self-control. We identify the healthy places in our life, to continue to keep them strong and to repeatedly see ourselves as the precious and special people that God created us to be.
If these are things that we do in order to love ourselves, it seems selfish to me to withhold this same type of love from our brothers and sisters. When we see a friend or family member engaging in a destructive behavior, it is not loving to say nothing. It enables that person to continue to lead a life that is hurtful, to themselves and/or others. By speaking the truth in love, we act as Jesus did to call out the areas of inappropriate behavior (or sin) and invite that person to begin living a better and more healthy life without those behaviors. We show them what true love looks like when we tell them that something they are doing is hurtful and needs to stop. We reflect the love of God in a very distinct and direct way. When the woman caught in adultery was about to be stoned by judgmental men, Jesus stepped in on her behalf. He stopped the men from killing her, but he did not just let her "off the hook." Once the men left, he helped her to her feet, told her her sins were forgiven, and then said, "Go now and leave your life of sin," (John 8: 11). He did not tell her she was free to go and just continue on with such behavior! Neither did he judge her for her sin. But, he did call a spade a spade.
This is the example set time and time again by God in the Bible. He called people to righteous living so that they could experience a free life. Bondage to unhealthy habits is destructive! It's also idolatry! And, far too many people in this world are suffering from its chains. Obesity is not hitting epidemic proportions! You think bird flu is bad? Check this out. More than 60% of adults in America are obese or overweight, and now nearly 1 out of 3 children are suffering with obesity! Obesity is linked with cancer, early death, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, etc. All of these deadly diseases are preventable when it comes to obesity. To think that it is harmless for our friends to continue to eat whatever they crave, drink whatever they want, and sit on the couch all day makes us just as guilty in enabling the behavior as the person actually doing it. It is not God's Will for His creations to suffer from immobility, self-esteem issues, self-image problems, joint pains, constant sickness, lack of sleep, and other related daily problems that just make life unbearable. On the flip side, He also does not want his creations to be so burdened by their body that they are willing to beat it to death, eating next to nothing and wasting away to a skeletal structure. Both sides of the coin are damning and incredibly dangerous.
We are to honor God with our bodies, and the only way to do that is by forming our self-image through His eye's lens. God sees us as precious. God sees us as awesome. God sees us as more valuable than rubies. God sees us as strong and capable. God sees us as beautiful. God sees us as His children. The question is, do we see ourselves like that? We are to be so completely dependent on Him that these characteristics become our truth! And, when that becomes our truth, we can help other people make it their truth. This is true love. This is the best way to be a Christ follower. When we withhold such truth from those we "love" we are being selfish, because we are focused on our own discomfort or potential embarrassment, rather than how we can bless someone else. Ask God today how you can better live in love.
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