I love how the apostle Paul writes. I especially love all the figures of speech he uses. Although he was a Jew by birth, he was most definitely a Greek when it came to the love of sports. Just read 1 Cor. 9:24-27. "I run," he writes. "I box." "I beat my body." These are all sporting analogies. He's putting himself on the line. He's going for broke. His body is black and blue. I can almost hear him saying:
- I get up early every morning.
- I go at it hard.
- When I'm tempted to eat too much, I say no thanks.
- When I'm tempted to do less than my very best, I refuse.
Then he adds: "I make my body my slave." This is more than the KJV's "I bring it into subjection." He's saying:
- I enslave it!
- I bring it into bondage!
- I bring it under complete control!
- I subject it to rigid discipline!
- I make it serve me!
- I subdue it!
- I subjugate it!
Why I am telling you this?
According to the CDC, obesity is the number one health threat facing Americans. In addition, a study at Purdue showed that church members tended to be more overweight than the general population. And guess what? My own denomination has the "distinction" of being the most overweight religious group in the study. Many of us are destroying the temple of God by our poor eating habits and insufficient physical activity. This even includes leaders in the pulpit.
But you say, "I don't have any self-control." I get it. Neither do I. But thankfully God doesn't leave us there. According to Gal. 5:22, when we're filled with the Spirit of self-control, we can become self-controlled. Sometimes I hate writing about food/weight issues because the subject is so loaded. Yet it is such an important issue, and not only for athletes. You will NEVER hear me say you're not a good Christian because you're overweight. Only you know what's going on with your body. For the most part I have a healthy relationship with food. But it's been a struggle. I still love Doritos and soda, just not all day, every day, anymore. I want exercise to enhance my life, not be my life. I eat to live instead of live to eat. Also, I wanted to add that in my opinion greatness often comes with some measure of dysfunction/unhealthiness, be it physical, emotional, psychological, or other. I will be the first to admit that I have obsessively overtrained and have also been known to go as hard and as fast as I can. Neither of these traits is healthy. We all have unhealthy tendencies from time to time. The question is, do you have an awareness of yours? Is what you see obsessive, unhealthy, detrimental, out-of-control, or compulsive -- be it overeating on the one hand, or too severely restricting your calories on the other? Either extreme is a slippery slope. I am in no way saying that it's right to judge people on the basis of their weight, especially when you realize that there are often hereditary and medical conditions that come into play. Self awareness is key. When we get disconnected from reality, we make poor decisions.
When all is said and done, my body is the temple and I want to treat it right. There's nothing magical about that. Eat quality foods. Exercise. Get enough sleep at night. Treat your body with respect. Paul would say, "Be tough on yourself!" Life is not a part-time sport. It's a full-time challenge. If we enter the race, we will be the better off for engaging. If we sit on the sidelines, we can only wither away.