​Changing your perspective about health and fitness requires you to see the problem from God's point of view in every respect.  That includes how you go about resolving your issues with weight and eating disorders.  For example, what have you done in the past to get the weight off?  Have you had lap band surgery?  Did you take Fen-phen diet pills?  Have you taken diet supplements which promised to help you lose weight?  Did you join a weight loss program and buy their expensive meal replacements?  In terms of overcoming your eating disorders, have you followed the treatment plan that you have been given?
 
I will be honest.  I was desperate to lose the weight, so I tried a lot of crazy things. For instance, I went to a hypnotist to be hypnotized into making healthy decisions regarding food.  It did not work.  On the contrary, I gained even more weight.  I also visited a chiropractor to have my ears punctured.  That dulled my appetite for about two (2) weeks, then it returned with a vengeance, and those are just a couple of examples of the extremes I took to get the weight off.
 
It was often expensive and time consuming, but most importantly, it always proved to be a wasted effort.  The world's way of doing things always is.  Why is that?  The answer is that the world's system is designed to keep you ensnared in bondage not set you free from it.  The enemy's strategy is to keep you running around in circles from one diet gimmick to the next until you finally give up in defeat and die in the Wilderness of Obesity and Eating Disorders as the Israelites died during their wilderness wanderings because they did not trust God to help them possess the land He promised them.
 
God promises not only to guide you to the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life, but also to make you more than able to defeat the enemies you must face there.  However, the battle must be fought and won His way.  For example, when Israel took the City of Jericho, they did not use battle strategies normally employed during that time.  Instead, they marched around the city for seven (7) days as God commanded.  On the seventh (7th) day, the walls of the city tumbled down at the sound of the trumpet after the people made seven (7) circuits around the city walls (Joshua 6:1-27).  Then the people rushed in and defeated the inhabitants.
 
The point I am making is that God's way of losing weight and setting you free of eating disorders directly contradicts the world's advice.  While the world arms you with ineffective carnal weapons of its making, God will arm you with His Spirit in Whom there is no failure.  If you want to finally be victorious and win the health and fitness war, seek the Lord's will and then obey His commands to eat and drink for His glory.  And pray as the psalmist did in Psalm 25:4-5 that God will, “Make me know Your ways, O Lord.  Teach me Your paths.  Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.  For you I wait all the day.”
 
If you are want to know the ways of the Lord in regard to of your health and fitness, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!  You can also follow us daily on Facebook and Twitter for recipes, diet and exercise tips.  Lastly, don’t forget to read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Just visit our website at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

​I know from experience that it is hard to make yourself go to the gym on Monday after a nice rest from working out on Sunday.  It is even harder to make yourself eat right and exercise again when you have had a scheduled break from dieting, or even worse, you cheated for a few days.  Neither your body, your mind, nor your emotions wants to cooperate with your spirit's desire to be obedient to the Lord's commands to take care of the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is your body.  How do you get your body to cooperate when it is in mutiny mode?
 
First, remember what the Word of God teaches, and use it as your sword to take back the ship before it sinks in the sea of gluttony.  God's Word is clear that we become entangled with sin due to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).  For example, your eyes work against you by initially coveting the cheesecake your co-worker brought for lunch.  Once you start to salivate and your stomach growls, your flesh craves a cheeseburger with fries to go along with the cheesecake.  Finally, the enemy will use your mind against you by getting pride to seal the deal.  Satan usually does this by making you logically conclude that you deserve another day off or that you can always stop your cycle of cheating on your health and fitness plan the following day.
 
We should respond to every form of temptation with the truth of God's Word just as Jesus demonstrated in the wilderness when He was tempted during His forty (40) day fast.  When your eyes covet food that is not on your daily health and fitness plan, remember that the Bible says to cut off the body parts that lead you into temptation.  Specifically, Matthew 5:29 says, "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away."  When you are confronted with food and beverage temptations, tear your eyes away from the sinful sight and replace the images with the Word of God or food you enjoy that is on your diet plan.
 
When your flesh insists that you eat what is prohibited, remind yourself just as Jesus did when He was tempted in that exact same manner, that "Man doesn't live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).  When pride attempts to use reason to convince you that it is alright to disobey God's command to eat and drink for His glory, remind yourself that the Bible says, "The heart is deceitful above all things" (Jeremiah 17:9).  Finally, after using the Word as your sword, act on it in faith by obeying it, and constantly praying that the Lord will lead you to make health and fitness choices that bring Him glory and give you the abundant, healthy life that the Lord always intended for you to have.
 
If you are ready to regain control of your health and fitness ship and quell your body’s mutinous uprising, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!  You can also follow us daily on Facebook and Twitter for recipes, diet and exercise tips.  Lastly, don’t forget to read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Just visit our website at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

​When you start to see your health and fitness issues from God's perspective, like Adam and Eve your eyes are opened to the enemy's deception, and you realize that something precious has been stolen from you (Genesis 3:7).  Suddenly, God's light illuminates the truth of the matter as if you had been standing in a darkened room.  You can see that the enemy has not only stolen your body's flattering physique, but he has also stolen your self-confidence, your self-esteem, and your positive self-image.  In many cases, he has cost you friends, romantic attachments, and taken your loved ones prematurely due to an obesity related illness or eating disorder.  In the worst cases, he has also stolen your health, and you are dependent upon drugs to extend your life, therapy to learn how to walk or talk again, or other people to help you perform even minor daily activities.
 
Unlike Adam and Eve, this revelation is not necessarily a fatal one for us.  In their case, disobedience meant immediate spiritual death and physical death later.  It is actually the opposite for us.  In terms of health and fitness and every other sin, the revelation brings about spiritual life when we repent through Christ and an extended physical life as we turn from our sin and obediently eat and drink for His glory!  That is, it will if we do not wait until it is too late.  Best of all, we get another benefit that was denied Adam and Eve in the natural.  They could never return to the Garden of Eden, but God says to you the same thing He said to David after the enemy stole from him.
 
Both of David's wives and the family members of his men had been kidnapped during a raid while David was away from home, and Ziklag was set on fire and burned.  However, David wisely asked God whether or not he should pursue the enemy before he took up his weapons to fight.  God’s answer was yes!  I exhort you today in the Name of Jesus that victory is yours just as it was granted to David!  You will lose the weight and keep it off for the rest of your days!  You will finally be free of your eating disorder, but you must first be willing to put your war clothes on, show up on the battlefield, and fight for what is rightfully yours!  Through Christ, take up your spiritual weapons and, "Pursue!  For thou shalt surely overtake them and without fail recover all" (1 Samuel 30:8)!
If you are ready to pursue the enemy, overtake him, and recover your health and fitness through Christ, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!  You can also follow us daily on Facebook and Twitter for recipes, diet and exercise tips.  Lastly, don’t forget to read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Just visit our website at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

​I thank God for the privilege and blessing of moving mountains out of my way, but I also thank Him for carrying me over, taking me around, and even digging a tunnel through the ones He wanted me to conquer!  Losing weight was a mountain God ordained I had to conquer.  My desire to eat what I wanted whenever I wanted did not vanish overnight as I would have preferred.  As the weight came off, the temptation to eat junk food on a daily basis was not taken away in an instant, and I certainly did not lose 134 pounds in one night.
 
On the contrary, the Lord showed me the path which would take me over the mountain, through the valley, and into the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life.  No, it was not always an easy climb.  In fact, the path was rather steep in places, but the journey was a scenic one because I walked it with Jesus.  He pointed out one revelation after another as I held His hand and hiked with Him.
 Sometimes I was out of breath.  Other days I was too tired to move my feet.  At times, it seemed no progress was being made.  Nevertheless, I made it to the top, and the view was and still is quite spectacular and worth the trip.  I encourage you to come and see it for yourself.  I know taking in the full view of the mountain from its base can make you feel overwhelmed, but take heart.  You will get to the top the same way you get to the bathroom, to the mall, to work, and everywhere else you go, one step at a time.
 
I am not suggesting that you never ask God to move the mountains in your life, but I am encouraging you to have faith that if it is not His will to remove it, He has ordained that you will conquer it another way.  The mountain that is removed is taken away for your protection.  The mountain that remains is there for your growth, development, and prosperity.  Glory to God for knowing the difference between what would break me and what would make me!
 
If you refuse to become or remain broken and you are ready to conquer the mountains of obesity and eating disorders, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!  You can also follow us daily on Facebook and Twitter for recipes, diet and exercise tips.  Lastly, don’t forget to read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Just visit our website at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

​Have you ever looked back over your life and realized that many of the problems that once seemed insurmountable actually turned out to be no big deal?  Afterwards, did you wonder why you were so worried about it at the time?  I have. The enemy is a lot like a wild animal who puffs himself and/or your circumstances up like a balloon in order to make them appear larger and scarier than they truly are. Just like prey in the wild, we react to the inflated scene playing out in our lives, often with worry, doubt, fear, and hopelessness.  After the storm is over, you realize the wind howled, the thunder roared, and the huge rain drops sounded like hail while hitting the windows, but it was only just a rain storm with only minor damage, if any.
 
You probably don't believe this right now, but the truth is it's the same thing in terms of health and fitness.  I know in your mind you think it can't be done.  From your perspective, losing weight is an impossible dream because you couldn't start, let alone stick with, a diet and exercise plan for the remainder of your life even if your life depended on it.  A lot of people have believed that inflated lie from the enemy and lost their lives when they had the power through Christ to be spared from a painful, unnecessary death!
 
From your perspective, your problem with your weight or eating disorder can't be conquered.  From God's perspective, it's already done!  Yes, it's a big problem, but it has a very workable solution when taken in small increments.  Contrary to the enemy's messages of defeat, God says you will be victorious!  All you have to do is believe the truth and act on it in faith.  Instead of magnifying your weight loss problem or the eating disorder, remember how big your God is!  He's the God of ALL creation, and there is NOTHING greater than HIM!  When you feel tempted to look at the size of the problem before you, remember all the times God has delivered you from the other huge problems of life.  Then follow Mary's example and declare, "My soul doth magnify the Lord" (Luke 1:46)!
 
If you’re ready to stop inflating your health and fitness problem and magnify the Lord instead, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!  You can also follow us daily on Facebook and Twitter for recipes, diet and exercise tips, and visit our website at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org.

Have you hit a plateau? Were you losing lots of weight and inches in the beginning, but now the scale is unmovable and the measuring tape is stuck on the same number every time you take your measurements? Are you getting frustrated by the lack of progress you’re making in regard to your eating disorder?  Do you feel like giving up?  You're not alone!  Regardless of your eating dysfunction, such as being overweight, or eating disorders, everyone must deal with a period of little to no progress along their health and fitness journey.  Since plateaus happen to everyone at some point, you should not take it as a sign of failure.  On the contrary, plateaus are actually indirect messages to you which occur for two (2) reasons.   You’re either on a physical plateau or a spiritual plateau.
 
1) Physical Plateaus
 
In regard to physical plateaus, your body is sending a message to you.  People tend to get stuck in their comfort zones because we do not really like change.  It is true in health and fitness and every other area of life.  For instance, you finally find an exercise routine you do not mind doing, and you refuse to alter it.  You jog, go to aerobics, or weight train daily, but your body stops responding after a while because it is telling you that it is time to dig deeper!  It is letting you know that you are ready to lower the grams of fat or carbohydrates you have allotted yourself, it is time to increase your treadmill pace to 3.5 because you have been at 3.0 for too long, or you need to add weight training to your regimen. 
 
2) Spiritual Plateaus
 
Conversely, spiritual plateaus occur because God is sending you a message!  When you eat for His glory, it is all about Him not you!  If the weight loss stops even though you are obeying Him and digging deeper does not get you off the plateau, then it is time to inquire of the Lord.  We tend to have spiritual as well as physical comfort zones, but God rewards obedience by entrusting you with more spiritual responsibility.  For example, I was on a plateau for one (1) whole year after losing 99 pounds.  God got my attention and told me to start writing a book about what He taught me in regard to losing weight.  When I obeyed, the weight fell off effortlessly again.  
 
The same thing happened when He told me to start teaching the EAW Health and Fitness classes.  If your answer to His spiritual call to elevation is yes, then He will allow you to attain more of the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life through Him!  If it’s not, you’ll remain stagnant at best, or get frustrated and revert to your old eating and drinking habits at worst.  The question is, are you satisfied with possessing part of the land, or are you willing to compromise and struggle with the enemies inhabiting the land for the rest of your days the same way the Israelites are to this very day?  God leaves the choice to you.  However, He makes it clear that He seeks mature Christian soldiers who are ready and willing to do battle in order to destroy all of the evil inhabitants of the land and possess the Lord’s gift of the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life.  There are more than enough immature, cowardly babes in Christ.  As you continue to prove to be "faithful over a few things" by obeying His commands to eat and drink for His glory, He will "put you in charge of many things" (Matthew 25:21), and empower you to conquer the weight loss and eating disorder giants trying to block your path to abundant, healthy living for life.
 
If you are ready to finally get off your plateau, obey the voice of the Lord and PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!  You can also follow us daily on Facebook and Twitter for recipes, diet and exercise tips, and visit our website at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org.

​Those who are honest with themselves and others will admit that they're overweight and suffering from eating disorders for any number of reasons.  Very often the primary reason for gluttonous behavior or otherwise failing to take care of your body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit by eating and drinking for the glory of God occurs when people use unhealthy foods and beverages, or abstain from eating altogether, as a substitute for coping with the negative circumstances of their lives.  For example, some people gain weight after a divorce in an effort to dull the pain they feel.  Others eat and/or drink to endure the stress of their jobs.  Likewise, some people use food to bury the pain of trauma they've experienced.  In other cases, some completely abstain from eating and drinking altogether in order to regain a measure of control in their lives.
 
If any of those scenarios describe you, I encourage you to finally have the strength through Christ to confront the physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental issues that drive your desire to eat.  Recognize that you must do so in order to win the health and fitness war!  You can't succeed fighting the battle on multiple fronts.  Right now, you're fighting your body's physical cravings and fleshly desires to return to the sins of gluttony and failing to eat for the glory of God in addition to the spiritual attacks from the enemy to lure you backwards into bondage.  Satan has no problem dragging out your emotional and mental baggage to cause you to stumble and revert to your old ways.  Remove these weapons from his arsenal, and the warfare gets a bit easier!
 
Turn to the One True Living God, the Comforter, to be everything you tried to make food be in your life.  He is the Great I AM who is actually able to be whatever you need Him to be!  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2).      
 
If you’re ready and willing to be honest with yourself about the root of your health and fitness issues, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!

​How much weight have you lost since you started your weight loss journey?  How many inches have you subtracted from your waist, arms, and thighs?  What size do you wear now? Have you made any measurable progress in regard to your eating disorder?  Most importantly, how do you feel about what you've accomplished so far?  When the scale reveals that you've only lost a few ounces, do you get upset?  Instead of rejoicing over the 5 pounds you've lost, do you feel like you're wasting your time?  Do you complain because you haven't dropped a dress size even though your current clothes fit loosely?  Are you tempted to skip a therapy session and simply give in to your eating disorder triggers?
 
The negative outlook of your circumstances is the enemy's strategy to affect the way you see things in order to keep you in bondage to gluttony and failing to eat and drink for the glory of God or to entangle you with that bondage again! However, the Bible teaches us not to despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin (Zechariah 4:10 NLT).  You have to start from 0, then work your way up to 25, 90, or 200 pounds of lost weight.  Since you can't skip any numbers along the way, be grateful for every step closer to reaching your goal weight!  Likewise, the eating disorder had a starting point.  Consequently, you must make positive changes to your behavior and continue to practice those changes on a daily basis just as you used to habitually incorporate the negative eating behaviors into your daily lifestyle
 
In other words, recognize that you're winning, and the enemy is playing mind games with you in order to get the upper hand again!  If God, Himself, rejoices over the fact that you're moving in the right direction, why aren't you?  Instead of feeling like you're failing to make substantial progress, grumbling because you're not as far along as someone else, or complaining because you don't see results as quickly as you'd like to, have a Holy Ghost party in thanksgiving for what you have already been given and eagerly anticipate that the best version of you is yet to come!
 
An artist always has a picture in his mind before he sketches, paints, or sculpts. God, the Ultimate Artist, did the same thing with Adam before forming him from the clay (Genesis 1:26, 2:7).  He already knew the end result before He began to mold Adam's body.  It's the same with us when we submit to God's will to honor Him with our bodies by eating and drinking for His glory.  He already knows what the end result will be!  Though it may not look or feel like you're making any progress from your perspective, don't give up!  You're a work in progress! Instead, declare out loud, “Lord, I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made! Your works are wonderful! I know that full well" (Psalm 139:14).  Then diligently continue the repairs to the temple of the Holy Spirit with great joy and expectation as you get one healthy meal, workout, and trigger free day closer to seeing with your own eyes that you are God’s masterpiece (Psalm 139:14).      
 
If you believe that you’re God’s masterpiece, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!

​Be honest with yourself.  Are you on the brink of falling off the proverbial wagon?  Is your mind stuck on apple pie a la mode like a CD on repeat?  The desire is building and has been for days.  You've been fighting the triggers hard, but you've almost convinced yourself that giving in to your cravings and going back to your harmful eating disorder isn't such a bad idea.  It's just this one time, then you'll go back to your health and fitness plan and that will be the end of it.
 
What happened the last two, ten, or twenty-five times you let the sin of pride convince you to give in to your cravings or eating disorder?  Did it all work out the way it was planned in your head?  No?  Then what really happened?  In the case of the glutton, for example, after the first bite, guilt sets in, followed by a sense of failure.  Again!  Then pride puts in overtime by logically concluding that you may as well get your other cravings out of the way, too, since you've blown your diet anyway.  Because you have a pattern of drowning your sorrows in a sea of unhealthy foods and beverages, you find yourself at a lunch buffet you haven't been to in days, weeks, or even months.  Those suffering from eating disorders enter a similar cycle when they give in to their triggers.
 
How many times must you wander in the same circle, covering the same ground, getting the same results?  Giving in to your cravings or triggers on ONE occasion CAN and WILL HURT YOU!  It hurt every time you did it in the past, and it's going to hurt you this time, too.  So don't do it!  Choose a different path this time!  Give your cravings and triggers to the Lord and submit to His Will to honor Him with your body by eating and drinking for His glory (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 10:31). Then you'll find yourself walking out of the Wilderness of Obesity and Eating Disorders and discovering the path that leads to the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life!  I encourage you not to make a decision you will regret.       
 
Make this the time that you deny your sinful cravings and triggers to harm your body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit by abusing food or starving yourself.  Instead, choose TODAY to obey God’s command to be holy even in regard to your health and fitness by learning to eat and drink for His glory! PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!

​Growth is a never-ending process. It doesn't end when we reach adulthood. If you don't grow up, you will at least continue to grow old. However, God's plan for us is that we grow not just physically but mentally, emotionally, and most importantly, spiritually. We grow physically through natural birth from infancy to adulthood to old age, but the Bible is clear that we must be born again in order to attain true spiritual, emotional, and mental maturity.
 
In regard to mental growth, we are given the mind of Christ. Specifically, Philippians 2:5 states, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."  Moreover, 2 Timothy 1:7 goes on to say, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind."  Finally, 1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT further explains that, "When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child, but when I grew up, I put away childish things."
 
Regarding emotional growth, the Bible clearly states that we are to be, "Steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing our labor is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58).  Furthermore, the Book of Ephesians teaches that we are to, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God through Christ has forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT).
 
In terms of spiritual growth, the Bible teaches that it is a process that begins in the natural and is ongoing until we become like Christ.  Specifically, 2 Corinthians 3:18 states that, "We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV).
 
This same process of growth applies to your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and fitness journey.  Right now, you and the rest of the world see the overweight body you've grown into and/or the eating disorder that has matured into a habitual behavior over time, but God sees the transformed you that will emerge in the fullness of time from glory to glory.  From His perspective, it's already done!  It will become manifested to you and the world as you walk in obedience.  However, if you feel along the way that you're not perfect, that you're lacking, that there's room for improvement, you're right!  But be encouraged!  
 
First of all, we all feel that way.  Mankind desires and strives for perfection because we were originally created as perfect beings.  Although the perfection was lost due to our sin, the knowledge and subsequent desire to be perfect in every way remains within us.  Consequently, we have a strong urge to reach for perfection in some manner, whether it is in regard to looks, relationships, professional vocation, longevity, or health and fitness.  Secondly, you want to be perfect because God is perfect.  We often describe His perfection as holiness.  Contrary to popular opinion, desiring to be perfect is not sinful.  On the contrary, God repeatedly commands in His Word that we are to, “Be holy because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:21; 20:7, 1 Peter 1:16).  Holiness is perfection.
 
In the Book of Leviticus, this commandment to be holy was given to the Israelites when God instructed them to abstain from eating unclean things as part of the way they worshipped and honored Him.  Consequently, it should come as no surprise to you that you desire to attain godly, spiritual perfection in regard to your eating and drinking habits because God Himself placed the desire within you.  The question is, will you obey the command of the Lord and start living a holy life in regard to your health and fitness?       
 
If it’s your desire to obey God’s command to be holy even in regard to your health and fitness, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center located at 501 West 9th Street in Little Rock, Arkansas!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  If you live outside of the Little Rock area, ORDER your copy at Barnes and Noble.com and start serving the One True Living God in every aspect of your life, including your eating habits TODAY!