S3. E14. Mercy over Macros
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The truth is that you can be exercising, but still being disobedient. You can be meal prepping and counting your macros, and being intentional with your intake but not honoring the Lord.
Welcome to Your Daily Bread podcast. I'm your host, Abbie Stasior, a registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor. My prayer is that these bite-sized episodes will help you heal your relationship with food, improve body image, and ultimately help you grow closer to God. Now, I can't personally heal you, but I'm gonna be directing you to the one that can, and that is Jesus. Also disclaimer, I'm not a pastor, but a sister in Christ that's offering you some food for thought that you can take into your quiet time with the Lord as your daily bread. Let's dig in.
If you have ever thought that being healthy meant being hard on yourself or that picking up your cross means that you need to now punish yourself, this episode is going to be extremely healing for you because the truth is God is not impressed [00:01:00] by extreme restriction, over-exercising, or punishing discipline.
And in fact, Jesus has paid the full price. The full brunt of the punishment has been laid on him. By his wounds we are healed. He was pierced for our transgressions, that is what Isaiah 53:4-6 remind us of. And so God is not impressed by us punishing ourselves, and we're gonna get into that today.
So Father God, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for highlighting this scripture and just bringing it to life and showing us, through the scripture, your heart, and I pray that people are able to receive this truth into their hearts today. So Lord, I pray that by your Holy Spirit, this episode is able to renew people's minds and that every single listener has ears to hear.
And it's not what I want to say, but it's what you want to say through me. Lord, let your light shine. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So we're gonna be getting into [00:02:00] Hosea 6:6 that says, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."
In diet culture, we typically hold this sacrifice mindset that keeps us earning, keeps us proving, keeps us striving, and a kingdom mindset is more about obedience through relationship.
The truth is that you can be restricting your food and being intentional with your intake and be out of alignment with God. You can be exercising, but still being disobedient. You can be meal prepping and counting your macros, but not honoring the Lord, someone- That's wanting to steward their body well and/or someone with a diet culture mindset could be thinking, "Well, these are all very healthy things.
I'm exercising, I'm meal prepping, I'm doing all the things." But you can still be not honoring the Lord we always wanna make sure that how we're stewarding our bodies is flowing out [00:03:00] of a relationship with God, and that we are acknowledging God when we are doing things for our health.
But also, you have already confirmed with the Holy Spirit that this is what the Lord wants you to be doing. We want to replace punishment with partnership, and that's exactly the exchange that we see on the cross, that we deserved the punishment, but Jesus says, "No, no, no, I'm gonna replace you with me.
I'm going to take on the punishment." And now we have a partnership. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we now have the Holy Spirit. We're not separated from God. We are invited into oneness with Him, union with Him, a partnership with Him. Jesus desires a relationship, and out of that then flows our obedience.
From promptings of the Holy Spirit, that's how we steward our bodies. He orders our steps. He makes our crooked path straight. So, of course, there [00:04:00] is a cost to obedience. There's a cost to discipleship. We are not, as Christians, free from all suffering. But I find that a lot of us, in terms of our health, it's like self-imposed suffering, or we're relying on our own understanding.
It's not, "Okay, the Lord told me to do this, the Lord told me to lay this down, And I know that this is a cost, I know that this hurts to lay this down, this is a sacrifice, but I'm going to do it out of love for the Lord or because God told me to." But we think, "Oh, this seems healthy. This seems like something God would like me to do.
This is what I see other Christians doing, so let me count my macros. So let me work out seven days a week with no rest. Let me cut out all these foods. Let me eat 1,200 calories." Like, we rely on our own understanding of what we think healthy is and what will be pleasing to God without actually acknowledging God, and that's what this scripture in Hosea highlights, is that He desires acknowledgement of God Rather than just your burnt offerings and you doing all [00:05:00] these healthy habits, He wants to be acknowledged in the moment.
He wants to be praised and thanked and worshiped. He wants to be at the center of it. He wants to work out with you. He wants to sit at the table with you. He wants to be acknowledged during and also before. So you always have to ask yourself, "Did I just plan to do this, or did I pray on it?" If how you're eating, how you're stewarding your body is leading to more obsession, a need to control, a need to know, stress, anxiety, guilt, shame, frustration, none of those are fruits of the Spirit.
But if how you're stewarding your body is leading to more peace, more love, more joy, kindness, gentleness, and self-control that doesn't come from striving, that doesn't feel forced but is just a natural byproduct of walking with the Lord, then okay, this is leading to good fruit. There, there's something good here.
I lastly wanna highlight the first line that says, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice." And I immediately thought of Romans 12:1-2, where it says, "In view of [00:06:00] God's mercy, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice." So you can't even offer your body as a living sacrifice to the Lord if it's not in view of God's mercy and what He has done for you.
And it's important to note that mercy is not laziness. Giving yourself grace is not complacency. Giving yourself compassion, showing yourself mercy, really receiving compassion and mercy from the Lord is Christlikeness. It is not complacency or laziness.
You have to ask yourself, "Is it in view of God's mercy? Am I aware of God's sacrifice for me, that I am so grateful of what Jesus did for me on the cross that now I want to offer my body as a living sacrifice to Him?" And is what you're doing to steward your body flowing from a partnership with Him, or is it just you doing random things for your health, being harsh towards the body because you think this is an example of you picking up your cross and dying to your flesh?
Us making random burnt [00:07:00] offerings, punishing our body, being hard on ourselves isn't necessarily going to lead us to God's will obedience flows out of a relationship with the Lord,
. Some good questions to ask would be, "Holy Spirit, what is obedience looking like for me in this season? Are you pleased with how I'm stewarding my body?" And go through, okay, how are you currently eating?
How are you currently exercising? What are your rhythms of work and rest, your water intake? All of these different areas when it comes to your health, lord, are you pleased with this? Was this something I planned, or was it something that I should have prayed on? And how can I partner with you more in this area so I'm not just punishing my body, but I'm acting out of obedience?
So I pray that this resonated with you, and if you need help stewarding your body for the glory of God and wanna heal your relationship with food, renew your mind around all this so it's not just you sacrificing things, but you are actually acting out of obedience to the Lord, then head to the show notes, and you can book a free [00:08:00] 20-minute call with me.
On that call, we'll talk about how you're currently eating, what you're struggling with when it comes to food and body image. I'll give you some initial tips and some scriptures to speak into your situation, and you will walk away with more clarity on how to find food freedom in Christ. And I'll see y'all next week
Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Your Daily Bread Podcast. Now, if anything about this episode resonated with you, I wanna encourage you to send it to three sisters in Christ who may also wanna steward their bodies better.
I read every comment, every review of the show, and I love hearing your testimonies and how the Holy Spirit is meeting you through these episodes. And if you haven't left a review yet, I wanna encourage you to do so 'cause it truly does help the show grow and it. Ultimately benefits the kingdom. And if you need any personalized support with your nutrition and your relationship with food or your body image, head to the show notes and you'll see all the different ways to work with me.
See you next week.
