Romans 14:20-22
“Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”
In some areas of the culture slim is in, but maybe not for the right reason. If slim is your goal, for this reason, it is a good thing, so that your weight does not keep others from hearing the message of Christ living in you. Because I believe Christ lives in my body, it is His temple and for that reason, I will not let the cravings of my appetite be in control. Also, when we are carrying an extra 40 to 80 pounds it destroys our health, steals our energy, and keeps us from meeting the needs of others.
It is clear that what I’m saying has to do with our will, but have we not been told to set our minds, so we have the ability to do so, and we have been told to not allow the flesh to control us, so ask the Helper to break the control that the evil one has over you in this area.
Do you understand you can exchange food for speech and in that I have flesh that wants to be heard, and likes to be first in line and my flesh has a desire for food, most any dessert. I’m the number one recipient of Romans 14:20-22. I battle my mouth and what comes out of it and also what goes into it, for out of it comes the ability to encourage and condemn, to build-up and teardown. Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” In the book of James, we find this strong warning about what comes out of our mouth, “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” (James 3:7-10)
So much like physical food, we who follow Christ should guard what is taken into our heart and our mind, for the apostle Matthew gives us this insight, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. "These are the things which defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." (Matthew 15:18-20) Doctor Luke gives us this insight; “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)
As a follower of Christ, the good treasures of our hearts should be the Scriptures for when they are memorized we have a treasure chest full of gems for the Holy Spirit to use in our daily life. For only in the Scripture do we find forgiveness, mercy, love, hope, peace and the assurance of eternal life.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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