Pastoral advice for physical self-control applying ToB ideas

     I really don’t think either focusing on eating healthy foods or working on building self-mastery by yourself is always edifying; self-centered moralism is inherently flawed. I do think, however, John Paul II’s concepts in his Theology of the Body can provide people deliverance. (I hope this post comes off as I’m intending it—I hope it helps someone.)

     I had a discussion last week about over-eating with a fellow seminarian. We realized that gluttony has become one of those “non-p.c.” New Testament sins to mention. But, as the apostle James realizes, if you can control your tongue, you can control your whole body (James 3).  This also can carry over into eating. The freedom that comes from being able to direct the ship of your body and not have it carry you where it wills is pure joy. We’re not driven by obsessive desire. With the self-control from the fruit of the Holy Spirit, we can more fully serve the God who lives in our temples and those He has put into our lives. Christians should be “winsome” so that others are attracted to the good news. May God give us the grace to live for Him with healthy bodies so that non-Christians will be intrigued by what we have! So how do we do this?

     I’ve never dieted, and I’ve never needed to. Over the years I’ve contemplated the reasons, and have come up with a few. First off, I’d have to credit my parents for raising me with healthy foods and eating habits. This is an amazing gift we can give our children. We will also be blessed as we help them. If you think about how Jesus taught His disciples by making them go out and disciple others, we can see that we too will become healthier in this area as we help our children gain healthy eating habits. If we train them to be satisfied with smaller portions and doing without sugary foods, juices, and drinks except for special occasions, we’ll be giving them a great gift. They may possibly avoid the image issues that come with being overweight and the anorexia/bulimia problems (though I know that sometimes these come from other home issues)—and have better health and energy with more desire for sports, exercise and outdoor activities—it’s an upward spiral. Likewise, I once had an old friend who had gotten free from alcoholism say to me, “I now need to find other ways to de-stress.” Learning good habits is important (see this post), and yet I’ve also known that many people get addicted to exercise and “healthy” eating. Their thought life is consumed by these things.

     Secondly, therefore, it’s important to seek God’s grace to live “for others,” as we are learning. In college I read Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship which encouraged me ever afterwards to strive to “pick up my cross” and “die to self” which carried over into my eating habits. I liked what my husband, then friend, would do—he made a habit of not eating the last bite of his candy bars! We wanted God to be able to fully use our bodies as He wished and that meant not being enslaved to anything.

     But thirdly, this self-mastery builds self—it’s ultimately self-help. God doesn’t give us salvation and sanctification, though, so that we can be heroic people to be modeled. (See this post). Though generally very effective, that’s the biggest problem I see in ministries like Alcoholics Anonymous, etc. In my seminary Ethics class our professor helped us to start being aware of a great use of the word “I.” Look at the many “Is” in this list of prayers for an Alanon group (here). There is so much focus on me that the contemplation becomes misguided (in contrast to meditation upon God’s love).  Yes, we absolutely should cry out to God for help. Beyond this, though, my Ethics professor suggested that we can learn to ask ourselves continually, “Who did I do that for?” This is a very ToB way of looking at things. We obviously don’t go to the extreme of never receiving good gifts from God for ourselves, but we can learn to contemplate others in God’s love and seek and act for their well-being. We saw this factor in John Paul II’s descriptions of original nakedness/transparency:

The man’s act of self-donation, in answer to that of the woman, is for him himself an enrichment; in fact, it is here that the specific essence, as it were, of his masculinity is manifested, which through the reality of the body and of its sex, reaches the innermost depth of “self-possession,” thanks to which he is able both to give himself and to receive the gift of the other. (197)

How do people really change internally? As we’re learning in ToB—by love.  Falling in love with God changes us. Then by the power of His love in us for others, we reciprocally give and receive health and healthy living from each other.

     So, the practical suggestions for deliverance based on ToB? Through God’s love, give the gift to your spouse, friends and children of being an encouragement towards healthy habits. Look forward in hope to the freedom for which Christ has set us free and don’t again be subject to a yoke of slavery…. “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity of the flesh, but through love serve one another” (ESV, Gal 5:1, 15). Ask the question of your actions, “Who am I doing this for?” And as we dwell in Love even our physical appetites will change, and we will say with the Shulamite maiden about her beloved (ESV, Song 2: 3-5):

 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house,
and his banner over me was love.
Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apples,
for I am sick with love.