Are You Gentle With Your Body? Applying the Fruits of the Spirit

When I ask the question, "Are you gentle with your body?", what is the first answer that comes to mind?  My guess is the majority of you would say no.
Many of us are hard on our bodies - the way we treat it and the way we even touch  it.  Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you push your body all day to the point of exhaustion and then exercise it way past its limits?  Or go to the point of exhaustion and then fall out and eat or drink things that are not beneficial to it, like sugar or processed foods?
• When your body hurts, do you ignore what it is trying to tell you to do, like rest?
• In the mirror, do you pinch and pull at the parts of your body you don't like, saying bad things about it?

If you answered any of these questions as yes, it's time to consider making a change.
I will confess that I have done all of these things in my lifetime.  I know what my limits are with chronic fatigue, but sometimes I have ignored what my body is telling me and exercised anyway, because I think I should.  The result is that I am in recovery mode the next day. 

I've had days when I have pain in my hips or thighs and exercised anyway, instead of resting.  Heck, there were days when I was in college when I would exercise in the heat of the Florida sun in a plastic suit, so I would sweat off the weight.

I've exhausted myself and at the end of the day, rewarded myself with some ice cream, because I "needed energy."

And as for hating parts of my body, I have grabbed and pulled at the extra fat of my thighs and rear, wishing I could cut it off.  If that sounds extreme, well, it was.  And I'm not proud of it.

The good news is that I have learned over the years to be more gentle with my body and you can learn to be more gentle with your body, too.

For inspiration I have turned to scripture, as I often do.  Many of you are familiar with the fruits of the spirit, Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
But have you ever applied it to the way you treat you body?

Lately, I have been thinking about this and the first fruit that came to mind in prayer was gentleness.
How can we be more gentle with our bodies?  Here are some suggestions:

1. Start with reading the scripture and really praying about it.  I bet the Holy Spirit will bring to your mind ways to be more gentle with your body.
2. Remember that you are remarkably and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14.)  Being gentle with His creation should be a priority.
3. Listen to your body.  When tired, rest and recharge.  Even for a little while.  Don't push past your limits.  It will only backfire on you.
4. Stop pulling and grabbing at the parts of your body you don't like and start praising it for all that it does for you.
5. Eat foods that are fuel and not those you know will not benefit you.  The rewards in terms of energy and helping all of the functions in your body to the max will be great.

Keep going with your own ideas.  Implement at least one in the next week.
In the coming weeks, I will be examining how we can use the fruits of the spirit to love and care for our bodies.  Stay tuned!

If you need a jump start with loving and caring for your body, shoot me an email at jane@janespringer.com and we'll set up a free call to talk about your body, health and weight challenges.  Let's see if working together would be a great fit.  I'd love to hear from you.

Talk to you next week.
Blessings,
Jane