By Rhonda Slingerland<\/p>\n
When Bernie and I returned to our \u201cempty nest\u201d from leaving both our daughters at college in the United States we determined that it was a perfect time for us to make a lifestyle change. We both read The Daniel Plan and were impacted by the spiritual and scriptural emphasis and motivation behind what Rick Warren had written.<\/p>\n
I would like to share a few of those insights with you in this brief devotional, as someone who is still on this journey.<\/p>\n
First, what is my motivation? It can\u2019t be guilt, fear, peer pressure, a change in my appearance or a change in my dress size. It won\u2019t last. I have learned that the only lasting motivation for a true change in lifestyle is love. My love for God, our love for each other and God\u2019s unconditional love for us. \u201cLove never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.\u201d (1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT).<\/p>\n
Second, lasting change begins with committing my body to God as a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1-2.<\/p>\n
Physical health influences my mental, spiritual, emotional, relational and financial health. It is actually an integral part of my testimony! My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and influences every part of my being.<\/p>\n
According to 1 Corinthians 6:12-20: a)<\/strong> My body belongs to God and is holy; b)<\/strong> Jesus paid for my body on the cross; c)<\/strong> God\u2019s Spirit lives in my body; d)<\/strong> God expects me to take care of my body; and e)<\/strong> God will resurrect my body after I die.<\/p>\n Third, I must trust in God\u2019s power not in my own strength to make a change. Discipline or self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23. The secret of self-control is allowing myself to be Spirit-controlled. Isn\u2019t this our holiness doctrine?<\/p>\n God offers us all His power today to make healthy choices and to not be enslaved to bad habits, rather to make new habits.<\/p>\n \u201cFor God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him\u201d (Philippians 2:13 NLT).<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God\u2019s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect\u201d (Romans 12:2 NLT).<\/p>\n \u201cFor I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength\u201d (Philipians 4:13 NLT).<\/p>\n Let\u2019s love, support and pray for each other in living a life \u2013 body, mind, spirit and soul — that is pleasing to God, in His strength and power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Rhonda Slingerland When Bernie and I returned to our \u201cempty nest\u201d from leaving both our daughters at college in the United States we determined that it was a perfect time for us to make a lifestyle change. We both read The Daniel Plan and were impacted by the spiritual and scriptural emphasis and motivation <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":49000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[262,3078],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compassion","category-compassion-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}