Preface -
I like cake! (I think I mentioned this in a previous post, but I’ll say it again.)
-End of Preface
I was having a conversation the other day about nutrition. No, it wasn’t someone telling me I shouldn’t be eating cake, followed by the sentence, “Well, I guess I have to cut out _____ if I want to lose weight.” Fill in the blank with whatever your sweet tooth desires.
There is some truth in that statement. In order to lose weight, our bodies need to be in a calorie deficit. The conversation then shifted to the following statement: “What if we encouraged others to add positive things first, and then eliminate other things?”
You see, taking things away comes with a negative connotation. If you tell someone they need to stop eating something that brings them joy in order to achieve an outcome, you might just get hit, like me with cake! What if, instead, we start telling people to add healthy things to their diets first, like adding an extra serving of vegetables or drinking more water throughout the day? These additions may bring an inadvertent positive outcome in overall nutrition. Adding an extra serving of asparagus (because I love asparagus) might fill you up at dinner, making you are less likely to have that large piece of cake in the evening. Adding an extra glass of water (maybe a sparkling water) could curb your craving for drinking a soda mid-afternoon. It may be that if you rearrange the fridge to bring the healthier foods to the front, you will be less likely to see that cake. It’s a place to start, and just may have some great results.
I think these same practices apply to our spiritual lives. Maybe you’re struggling to read the Bible as often as you’d like. A good place to begin might be putting your Bible in a place where you will see it every morning. Or reaching out to a friend and asking, “Could you text me mid-week to check on how I’m doing with my prayer life?” What are the small things we can add that will yield greater results in the end? The inadvertent outcome might be that the fruitless things filling our lives and schedules may get pushed to the back of the fridge, resulting that we will find ourselves a little healthier.
What are some of the little things you can add to your day that will help you become a little more physically and spiritually healthy? I’d love to hear from you if you are willing to share, or if you have cake!!! Send me an email at to let me know what you’ve come up with!
