THE WORD OF GOD SAYS
I CAN’T EAT THIS, IT’S EVIL (or is it?)
The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth. They will tell you not to get married. They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.
1 Timothy 4:1-5 The Mesagge (MSG)
So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. At the same time, don’t be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren’t as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone’s feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.
1 Corinthians 10:31-33 MSG
STOP MAKING A SCENE OVER WHAT OTHERS EAT OR DON’T EAT
If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don’t eat, you’re no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don’t you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!
Romans 14:15-16 MSG
STUFFING YOUR BODY WITH FOOD
You know the old saying, “First you eat to live, and then you live to eat”? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that’s no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body!
1 Corinthians 6:13 The Message (MSG)
TEMPTATION COMES FROM YOUR OWN DESIRES
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God” [for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws]; for God cannot be tempted by [what is] evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion). Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death.
James 1:13-15 AMP
TRUE RELIGION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR MOUTH
God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you’ll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
Romans 14:17-18 MSG
DON’T JUST FEED YOUR FACE, SHARE THE LIFE OF JESUS
So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. You’re certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God’s work among you, are you? I said it before and I’ll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.
Romans 14:19-21 MSG
THE KIND OF FASTING GOD WANTS IS FOR YOU TO SHARE A MEAL WITH THE HUNGRY
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The GOD of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, GOD will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
Isaiah 58:6-9 MSG
DON’T JUST LIVE TO EAT—LET THE WORD OF GOD HELP YOU TO BE SATISFIED
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.
Isaiah 55:1-2 NLT
KEEP A HEALTHY BALANCED DIET BECAUSE IT EFFECTS YOUR FUTURE
Oh listen, dear child—become wise; point your life in the right direction. Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk; don’t eat too much food and get fat. Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags.
Proverbs 23:19-21 MSG
YOUR BODY IS THE PLACE WHERE GOD LIVES—TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
…these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love…Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.
1 Corinthians 6:16-20 MSG
DON’T MAKE YOUR BELLY YOUR GOD
There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
Philippians 3:17-19 MSG
GIVE DIGNITY TO YOUR BODY
Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 MSG
YOUR BODY AND SPIRIT REQUIRES THE SAME WORKOUT
Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.
3 John 1:2 NLT
Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.
1 Timothy 4:6-10 MSG
MAKE HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES TODAY—PLACE WHAT’S UNHEALTHY AS AN OFFERING BEFORE GOD
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Romans 12:1-2 MSG
AVOID THE MODERN-AMERICAN-DIET AND SWITCH TO THE DANIEL-DIET
But Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of the palace staff to be in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: “Try us out for ten days on a simple diet of vegetables and water. Then compare us with the young men who eat from the royal menu. Make your decision on the basis of what you see.” The steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables and water for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked better and more robust than all the others who had been eating from the royal menu. So the steward continued to exempt them from the royal menu of food and drink and served them only vegetables.
1 Daniel 1:11-16 MSG
TAKE AUTHORITY OVER YOUR CRAVINGS
But [like a boxer] I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached [the gospel] to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified [as unfit for service].
1 Corinthians 9:27 AMP
