Obesity
OBESITY
What is gluttony? Reader, please define it.
Was gluttony ever a sin?If so, is it still a sin?
Or was gluttony just an Old Testament ceremonial sin?
Gluttony is eating more food than our body needs to sustain itself.
What is the purpose of gluttony?
Gluttony must have a purpose, or people wouldn't invest so much of their lives in gluttony.
If Old Testament gluttony was a ceremonial sin, but not a New Testament sin,
why didn't Christ-on-the-cross eradicate the medical consequences of gluttony,
like Type 2 Diabetes?
Obesity also affects the public appearance of the church to outsiders.
There are people who visit a church via the website, and decide NOT to go there
because of the lack of food discipline on the part of the people attending there.
This is a segmented article with several servings on the different aspects of food-gluttony,
made evident by obesity.
***Understand that I have struggled with weight all my life.***
The word 'fat' was part of my nickname growing up.
As a young person, I used to envy the waistlines of the men rescued from Hitler's death camps.
Seriously.
So, when I speak about obesity, I do not speak lightly, and not as a perfect example,
but as one who also strives.
(continue scrolling down, many sections below)
Witness
Some people will pick a church based on the self-discipline exhibited by its leaders.
People want leaders who can control their own desires,
then they will be in a safe, reliable place to receive guidance.
While we know that a good church is, in part, a refugee camp,
and we will see all sorts of needy people on any healthy church campus, including the obese,
those who lead should strive to lead by example and not only by command.
And we can't expect people (including our children) to respect us any more
than we are able to control ourselves,
in all facets of life; in food, or in temper, or spending, or diligence.
Amputation Prevention Alliance | ADA (diabetes.org)
This is a 35,000-seat stadium.
Imagine four stadiums like this, filled to the max, 140,000 people.
Now add 14,000 people to that count - 154,000 people.
154,000 Americans lost at least one limb to complications from Type 2 Diabetes in 2022.
Most of these limb-losses were entirely preventable, the result of obesity.
While the ADA says:
"Quite simply, whether or not you have a limb amputated can come down to the color of your skin, how much money you make, and where you live."
I would call that a misleading statement.
T2 diabetes depends mostly on body-weight,
which depends on our choice of calory intake.
We can choose our weight, within our biological blueprint of height and sex.
OBESITY
White people in the US have about a 35% obesity rate.
No article here, the map is the message.
Except, I wonder why States that seem to be less 'church-y' are less obese and physically healthier?
Perhaps they think that this life is all the existence they have,
so they try to stretch it out as long as possible?
That thought, in itself, is a sermon, eh?
OBESITY
A hidden reason for obesity...
I've read that 1-in-5 girls
and 1-in-13 boys were sexually abused as children.
Some past-victims of sexual abuse intentionally carry excess weight
in an attempt to make themselves less desirable,
and therefore less vulnerable to future sexual abuse.
And I suspect that some women, former victims, now wives,
try to manage their husbands' passions through obesity.
If the Church is to deal with gluttony within the Church,
it will have to tackle this contributing factor.
OBESITY
Another reason for obesity...
-is that some women have not been selected for romance,
so they add to their weight
to give themselves a reason
to explain why no man seems to want them...
For some women, this is easier than feeling unlovable for some other reason.
Insulin Jealousy
Over the decades, I have seen that insulin-use reveals jealousy in some diabetics.
Many diabetics calibrate their insulin shots, not according to a doctor's recommendations,
but according to what they plan to eat that day, according to their food-lusts.
And many of them have diabetes because of their prior food choices.
Boston University
Serving-size Jealousy
One source of calorie angst in the hearts of some women
are those who regularly watch the men in their lives eating much more than women should eat.
An active 25-year-old man burns more calories
than his sedentary 22-year-old younger sister.
(1,800 vs 3,000 calories)
That means he needs 2 burgers and extra fries
over his sister's 1 burger and normal helping of fries.
Such jealousy can trigger even more over-eating
in a woman already prone to over-consumption.
photo: tine after tine,
sophia loren, actress and avid pasta lover.
Some people say, "I can't lose weight."
If that were true, why do we buy food for starving children?
Has no one in your people-group ever died of starvation?
Anyone can starve to death.
Hence, anyone can lose weight.
Obesity is probably THE biggest physical health challenge in the American Church today.
and a reflection of deeper issues between church-goers and God Himself.
Let me be very transparent with you here:
When I hear of a church-goer who is in danger of losing a limb
due to obesity-related T2 diabetes,
I first pray that the person repents of gluttony,
then I pray that God grant them undeserved mercy and they receive healing.
feeding tubes
My wife has a former Bible study friend whose health is in decline.
She has problems with her throat that won't let her swallow.
She can only drink water, and receives nutrition through a feeding tube,
though she does live at home.
Those complaining about having to reduce their calorie intake to lose weight
should keep this woman in mind, and... pray for her.
Even though she gets the required calories,
she isn't able to handle or taste her food.
Our Legacy
Everyone leaves a heritage to their children.
Our legacy is partly the memories we have of our parents,
which includes their non-verbal instructions to us
about how to live.
What kind of heritage are we giving our children?
And I have been guilty of this too.