Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
How do other Christians interpret this?
Sometimes I read it as an admonishment to myself to quit thinking so much about my diet and my weight. Yet, I know that I should take care of my health to be more able to serve God and my family. Perhaps it speaks to both things. Maybe if I could actually quit thinking about food so much, either as "healthy diet," or binge, and focus on things outside myself, my weight problem would take care of itself. I just don't know.
I am not a Christian. But really it's the other way around. It's about not obsessing over eating and drinking to excess or wearing nice clothes. This was written in a different time when people struggled to eat enough, not the luxury of too much! Besides, if you are a Christian, your body is God's and not yours so you'd best bloody take care of it! That's the big picture from the Bible. And a good one.
Its about trusting God and not worrying about the needs that God promises to provide. There is a difference between worry and genuine concern - worry immobilizes, but concern moves you to act.
Jesus is saying you are valuable and God will take care of you <3
FluffyFat, One of my favourite teachings of Scripture!!
I agree that it was originally said, and originally written down, as a really strong reminder and promise that God will always provide for us. However, I recognize what you're saying too, that maybe ~ in our modern context ~ there's a hint that we shouldn't obsess too much about diet and body too.
I know that for me, no matter what else I concentrate on, my weight issues will not take care of themselves, I have to work very hard to lose weight, and even harder to maintain the loss (something I've not succeeded at. Yet.) I think it's a question of balance: we need to take responsibility for making our bodies as healthy as we can be but not obsess.... Easy said, hard to do.
I agree. I LOVE GOD, and have never felt like I have ever surrendered my weight issues over to HIM. I have obsessed about my weight sine I was 13yrs old and am now 43.Its exhausting at times. What would it feel like to not worry about weight, I would love to be free of the worry
I think that all of the time!! Like maybe I am focusing too much on losing weight and should putting my focus on what God intended for me. I am a SAHM and it seems like I start turning to food in times of boredom and stress.
I agree. I LOVE GOD, and have never felt like I have ever surrendered my weight issues over to HIM. I have obsessed about my weight sine I was 13yrs old and am now 43.Its exhausting at times. What would it feel like to not worry about weight, I would love to be free of the worry
I relate to this SO much! We were having a wonderful church service last night and in the middle of me praying for someone else, my mind went to my crazy weight issue! I was so aggravated with myself that I have gotten to the point where my weight is all-consuming to the point that even my prayer times are hampered with these thoughts. I, too, would love to be free of this. And you know what? I believe the Lord Jesus Christ is definitely able to set us free from this when we turn this over to him as we would a sick relative, a financial need, or any other need that comes into our lives. It boils down to a trust issue for me because I'm a "fixer" kind of person, and so I think I will "fix" this weight issue, too. However, I think if I turned this over to God, he would help me here also. He has never failed in any other area of my life. Why would he forsake me in this?
III John 2 (KJV): "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health(emphasis mine), even as thy soul prospereth."
Its about trusting God and not worrying about the needs that God promises to provide.
^^^This. If you read the entire thing in context, before and after your quote, you'll see it's about trusting God. It doesn't mean to just wait for manna to fall from the sky, we will have to put the effort in, but trust God that He has you in the palm of His hand.
I relate to this SO much! We were having a wonderful church service last night and in the middle of me praying for someone else, my mind went to my crazy weight issue! I was so aggravated with myself that I have gotten to the point where my weight is all-consuming to the point that even my prayer times are hampered with these thoughts. I, too, would love to be free of this. And you know what? I believe the Lord Jesus Christ is definitely able to set us free from this when we turn this over to him as we would a sick relative, a financial need, or any other need that comes into our lives. It boils down to a trust issue for me because I'm a "fixer" kind of person, and so I think I will "fix" this weight issue, too. However, I think if I turned this over to God, he would help me here also. He has never failed in any other area of my life. Why would he forsake me in this?
III John 2 (KJV): "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health(emphasis mine), even as thy soul prospereth."
Exactly! One of the great things about Jesus Christ is that He cares about the silly little things we do. That includes weight loss! He wants us to turn things over to Him, so He can help share the load and get us there. Having the Savior there to help carry the emotional burden is a huge relief, and a huge gift.
Matthew 6:25 ?
