From Ben Fronczek... You Are What You Eat

You Are What You Eat

OBJECT Lesson: 

Take a bunch of different kinds of junk food out of a bag and show to the congregation.  

Ask:   “Does this stuff taste good?”

-       “What do we call this kind of food?”  (Health Food? No Junk Food!)

-       “And what is Junk Food?” (Food that has no nutritional value, it usually taste good but is full of fat, salt or sugar, and it is not very healthy to eat)

If Junk food was the only kind of food you ate, how do you think that it would affect you?   There is actually a movie out called,  Super-Size Me.  It’s about a perfectly healthy guy who decides to eat only McDonald’s food for a whole month, to see if was a really that bad of a diet or not. Well after eating that diet for a month not only affected him physically but also mentally as well.

Even though junk food may taste real good, it’s some of the worst stuff we can possibly eat.  A lot of it is almost addictive in nature (eg. sugar and caffeine.) Eat or drink too much of it and you’ll get stomach aches, head aches, you’ll feel fatigued, you can develop skin problems, and even worst yet, digestive disorders, weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, immune system problems, even cancer.

If that’s all you eat your body may experience nutritional malnutrition. Did you know that your body needs to consume at least 90 essential nutrients to maintain a healthy and strong physical body? That diet consists of 60 minerals, 16 vitamins, 12 essential amino acids, and 3 essential fatty acids, every day.  When we deny our body any of these nutrients, the body becomes weaker and even begins to break down and develop problems.

- Scientist known since the 50′s that Chromium and Vanadium deficiencies cause adult-onset diabetes (which makes up 85% of the diabetic population).

- Selenium reduces the risk of cancer from 50 to 80%, depending on the type of cancer

- Copper deficiencies can lead aneurysms, Your arteries’ elastic fibers need copper for tensile strength.

- If you are not getting enough calcium it can cause back pain, bone spurs, cramps and twitches, Degenerative Arthritis, Headaches, High/Low Blood Pressure, Hypertension, Insomnia, Joint Pain, Kidney Stones, Osteoporosis, Panic Attacks, PMS.  

These are the effects that can occur by depriving yourself of just a few minerals.

 That which is true of the physical body is also true of the spiritual body.

We are not just flesh and blood, we have a spiritual part that needs to be fed a healthy diet as well.

Just like particular symptoms of malnutrition appear in the physical body when we deprive it, symptoms of spiritual malnutrition will appear if you stave it or feed only on spiritual junk food.  And just like in the physical body, when negative symptoms appear, we need to do something about it right away before we really get sick.

How may of you feel like you are weak or maybe even dying spiritually?

Maybe, religion and Church isn’t as interesting anymore. You are going through the motions of going to church every Sunday, but even then your mind is somewhere else; you just aren’t into it anymore.  You find you are saying things that you know aren’t right for a Christian to be saying, or doing things that aren’t right for a Christian to be doing… and you don’t know why.

These just may be symptoms of spiritual malnutrition.

After Peter reminds these early Christian who they really are and how much they have been blessed in 1 peter chapter 1, In I Peter 2:1,  he admonishes his readers to get rid of certain negative traits. I like the way the Amplified Bible translates these verses, it says, “So be done with every trace of wickedness (depravity, malignity) and all deceit and insincerity (pretense, hypocrisy) and grudges (envy, jealousy) and slander and evil speaking of every kind.”

Peter lists some things that show us that those early Christian needed a healthier spiritual diet..  

He told them to

1^st Get rid of Malice, ill will, or the desire to inflict pain on others.

2^nd Get rid of  “Deceit”, lying or being crafty in a negative way.

3^rd Get rid of Hypocrisy that’s pretending to be what one is not.

4^th Get rid of Envy or that strong desire to have or possess what belongs to others; always feeling like you are not getting what other have.

5^th Get rid of Slander which is using the tongue to gossip, deceive, or destroy the reputation of someone else.

As I see it when we start feeling down, negative, and acting without Christian love towards others, in one way or another this may be a symptom that our spiritual being  is getting weak or sick.

Peter told them they needed to get rid of those things!

Feeding on spiritual junk food will do this to us. What is spiritual junk food?  Like physical junk food, it’s those things that we ingest that have no nutritional value. Those things may be as pleasing as Ice cream, or fudge, but in all reality spiritual junk food are things with no spiritual value and lead to/ or cause symptoms of spiritual malnutrition.

Did you know that you can consume all the vitamin and minerals you need each day but if you eat too much refined sugar your body will not reap the benefit of those minerals.  Spiritual junk food can have the same effect. You may read your Bible and pray every morning after you get up, even listen to a good sermon on the radio, but  if you feast on negative gossip or course joking when you get to work it’s like feasting on sugar after eating organic produce and meat.

Want some examples of some other spiritual junk food you need to avoid:

-          Some of the things we watch on TV or in movies (I believe those thing we have watched on TV or in movies have desensitized us to too many things that were thought to be unacceptable, crude, inappropriate if not vulgar a generation ago… the blood, the gore, improper sex scenes, or improper relationship which are seen even by our children have become to common place.) TV, and movies have the potential of being very good and educational, if not edifying if we become more selective. We have to be careful of those shows that can poison our mind and spirit.

-          Also we have to be careful of things that we read. Some books and magazines can be as bad for our mind and spirit as some TV shows.

-          Some of the music or talk shows we listen to are horrible.

-          Even some people we hang around with and interact with can harm our spiritual condition; especially when they start complaining, or slandering another, or just talk negative. It discourage us. It like junk food for our Christian mind.

-          Some stuff on the Internet is dangerous as well.

There are more things than I can mention today that can hurt or even starve our spirit. If what we are exposed to is not building up our spirit then they are probably hurting it. And if that is happening, before you know it you will start to develop some symptoms of an unhealthy spirit like those early Christians which Peter wrote to.

The good news is that Peter provides a healthy solution. He goes on to encourage his readers to crave God’s Word just as a baby craves milk.      ^2” Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto [completed] salvation.”

Here he is encouraging us, even emphasizing the energy we should exert to get good spiritual food. Babies demand milk as if their very life depended on each feeding. They even cry and scream out for it when they are denied it too long. We need good nutritious food to live a healthy physical life. We also need to hunger and crave that which will feed our spirit and make it strong.

Peter calls God’s Word pure, meaning uncontaminated, unpolluted by fraud or deceit. Jesus said God’s Word is truth John 17:17. David says that God’s Word is flawless, like silver refined in a furnace seven times (Psalm 12:6);                In Psalm 1 David also said that God’s Word is something that we should meditate on day and night if we want to be blessed.

I believe, Peter is teaching us that reading and studying God’s Word promotes spiritual growth and good health just like good food can help us physically. But unfortunately like junk food we don’t reach for that first.

Jesus said, we do not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God - Mt 4:4

He also said, ”The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”- Jn 6:63 & 68

If you stop feeding on God’s Word, which is full of life and spiritual vitamins and minerals for our soul, we grow weak and become malnourished.

I can’t help but believe that Satan wants to see us weak and spiritually starved. He probably helps keep us that way by introducing us all kinds of tempting spiritual junk food.. new movies, new television shows, new gossip and more.

Earlier in this letter, Peter challenged those early Christians by telling them that they needed to refocus their minds. Read what it says in 1:13-17 “ Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

   -They needed to really prepare their minds for action

   -They need to get under control or be self controlled

   – And re-focus on the hope we have as Christians

And what is the best way to do that, to prepare our mind so that we can have more self control and live as a people full of hope? It starts here in the mind, and so we need to feed our mind and spirit the right diet.

You’ve all heard the saying, ‘You are what you eat!’  Or how about this one, ‘Garbage in garbage out!’ Decide in your mind today that you are not going to let Satan or anybody else rob you of the Christian joy that you should have or your spiritual health. Decide not deprive or starve your spirit.  Just like when you are on a diet, set limits on what you are going to feed your mind and spirit.

Prepare your mind for action. Do what you need to do to feed you spirit on good things.

- Start feeding on God’s Word daily! Read it and study it in such a way expecting to find spiritual nuggets to feast on. And when you find them, underline them, jot them down, maybe even put them up on your refrigerator so you can feed on them over and over.

- Listen to good music that lifts your spirit!

- Read things that will stimulate and encourage your inner spirit to praise God.

- Listed to spiritually edifying sermons and lesson on the radio or computer.

- Find and hang around individuals that are full of the Spirit, those that will build you up and edify you, maybe even challenge you to grow as a Christian.

- If you watch TV or go on the computer, watch things that educate or stimulate you and your spirit.

These are choices you have to make for yourself, just like you decide what to put into your mouth. Change is sometimes hard. At first it may be difficult to give up some old habit and begin new one’s, but in the end if you do the right things you will feel better.

Many times when people go on a healthy diet they go through their house and get rid of all the junk food so they will not be as tempted to indulge in things that are unhealthy for them.

Instead of junk food they fill their pantry with healthy alternatives.  Maybe you need to do the same thing to improve your spiritual health. Maybe you need to take action and get rid of some things that you come in contact with that tempts you spiritually. Maybe you have HBO and Cinemax or other channels on your TV that you may need to do away with or block, and then watch healthy alternatives like, the National Geographic channel, the Family channel, or something else less provocative.  Maybe you need to get rid of your TV all together.

Or maybe you need to throw away certain books and magazines and buy some more Bibles and good spiritual books and leave them all around your house if you like to read.

Or maybe for you it’s what you listen to on the radio, or sites you go to on the internet. Choose a healthy alternative and you will be happier.

Or maybe you need to give up spending time with certain people. You know, those who are foul, negative, complainers, those who make fun of or put down others, and then find new friends to hang out with who will stimulate you in a positive way.

Just like with your body some changes in your diet are hard to make.

But remember, you can do all things (especially those thing which are good for you) thru Christ who will give you strength.

We are capable of so much thru Christ.

Close by reading Psalm 1

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”