Romans 12:1 says:  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

What does it mean to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service? One of the ways in which we can present our bodies is to be mindful what you ingest and feed your body.  For 16 years, I have tried everything under the sun to lose weight.  I would try every diet plan that was out there and still no change.  I was hoping that each day and morning that I would place myself on that scale I would be closer to loosing weight.  But in fact, I was treating my body and food to idolatry.  Each day I would fill myself with garbage.  And I am sure anyone would know that what you put in is what you are going to put out.

There comes a time when you desire change.  That enough is enough! With the hope of presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice unto the Lord we must take that very seriously.  I know I had to.  I wanted to honor God and choose the proper whole foods to eat.  There was a huge void in my body and all the while I was filling it with junk food instead of the healthy food and the word of God.  I genuinely believe the scripture when God said that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28).  We as God leading ladies desire to take care of ourselves, to forgive and most of all love ourselves.  Sometimes we must hide away in the presence of the Lord and seek for instruction of what he requires of us.  There are times and seasons when we must be refined and pruned to be used by God.  In Malachi 3:3 it says: “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness”.

I had to come to the harsh reality to take my health and wellness more seriously.  Usually every new year, I tried to make a commitment to lose weight.  But it did not happen as I was not committed.  Sometimes we may try for a week, or month, and then revert to our old habits.  We must make a concerted effort to commit our bodies unto the Lord and allow him to remove the guilt, shame, dross that we may be carrying.  As there is the spiritual and physical weight.    For the spiritual weight God honors us as we feed on his word and just bask in his presence and sit at his feet.  For the physical is to eat the right nutrition, exercise and take our daily supplements.

I realize that as I get older, that the knees and bones are somewhat aching and so I took it upon my self to wake up and say this will be the day where I will begin my journey towards wellness.  God cares about every detail of our lives.  He promises in his word in 1 Peter 5:7 – Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”.  There were days when I had to cry out to the Lord to help me to have the discipline and desire to stick to a game plan.  I realized that I could not do this on my own, I had to depend wholly and solely on God. 

The most important thing is to love ourselves.  No matter which stage in life, we must begin to love and know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).  God has chosen us before the foundation of the world (Eph.1:4).  Just take a minute and pause … God promises in John 15:16: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you”.  What an honor and a privilege that we are chosen by God!  I encourage you to take care of your health and wellness as you also nurture your spiritual walk with the Lord. Remember, that no matter what you may be going through in this journey called life, we are daughters of the most high God and he sees us beautiful (Ecc.3:11)