Portion Control of the Spirit

If you have every been concerned with your health and weight (which most if us women are at some point) you may have heard a lot of advice on how to lose weight, be healthier and feel great. As a mom, you may also be concerned about how to teach healthy habits to your children as well. One of the most effective methods that I have found in maintaining and losing weight is not fad dieting but simple portion control. Over the years, the fast food industry has focused on value, offering more food for your money-and most other food establishments have followed suit. Super size and all-you can-eat buffets have become the norm. It is difficult for the average American to even understand what a good portion size is anymore. As responsible stewards of the bodies that the Lord has given us it is important for us to learn more about this concept and bring our ourselves and our families back to appropriate portion sizes.


This phenomenon, referred to as "portion distortion" can apply not only to physical food, but food of the spirit as well. What are you putting on your spiritual plate, and it what portions? Are you filling yourself with oversize portions of worldly pursuits (that can be compared to high fat, high sugar, high calorie foods?) or are you filling yourself with the perfect portion of God (comparable to balanced diet of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, milk, protein, and small amount of "good fats").

In our media-rich, advertising centered, fast paced society, it is a difficult for us and particularly for our children to resist the temptation to distort our spiritual plates with those "high calorie, low nutrition" things of the world. Money, power, beauty, and material items are just some of the things that are falsely promoted as "the American Dream". While there is nothing wrong with any of these items in and of themselves, the oversize portions of our hearts and minds that they occupy can become a barrier in our relationship with the Father. Sometimes we end up putting those things before him, without even realizing it has happened.

Lamentations 3:24-26 tells us how we can resist those temptations, confirming that the Lord himself should be our "portion":

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

When we wait quietly on the Lord, spending time with him and his word, he is the nutritious portion that we need to lose the "weight of worldliness" and feel healthier and happier on a spiritual level.

Proverbs 23:1-3 instructs us all to practice physical and spiritual "portion control":

If you sit down to eat with a ruler, notice the food that is in front of you. Control yourself if you have a big appetite. Don't be greedy for his fine foods, because the food might be a trick.

As you begin this glorious new year that the Lord has given us, join me in practicing and teaching our children the value of spiritual "portion control" (and a little physical portion control never hurt anyone either!)

Turn on the Light

Do you remember when you were a child and everything in your room seemed to be a looming, purple, polka-dotted, three-eyed monster once the lights went out? There were goblins outside the window and witches in the closet, all just waiting to jump out and get you when you least expected it. If you were like me, you hid your head under the covers, with eyes wide, wishing that someone would just turn on that light! After all, the monsters were scared of the light and would surely leave if only someone would turn it on. As a mom, you may have seen the same fears in your own children and spent many a night looking under the bed for a giant that somehow got under there. He would miraculously disappear when the light of your flashlight chased him out.

As adults, most of us grow out of those irrational fears that we had when we were children, understanding that with dark comes shadows and that trees (not goblins) tap on our windows. The light illuminates our world and keeps the monsters at bay. In our maturity, we have "turned on the light" to understand that there is no danger. Though we may not believe in actual monsters anymore, we still face many emotional, circumstantial, and spiritual "monsters" in our lives.

The good news is that the Lord has given us His Son, His spirit, and His Word to act as our spiritual lights! As we mature in our Christian walk, these lights only shine brighter, eventually shining right through us to bless others! As we live in the spirit, meditate on His Word, and seek Him, there is nothing to fear. Consider the promise of Psalm 34:4

I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivers me from all my fears.

Additionally, Psalm 18:28 tells us that He can turn our darkness into light:

You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.

Jesus Himself said it best in John 12: 46 when he declared:

"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."

What monsters are you facing in your life today? Whatever they may be (troubled relationships, financial issues, anxiety, fear of the future, difficult circumstances, health issues, etc.) He can deliver you from them, if you will trust in Him.

Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Turn on your eternal light by allowing Him to guide you through the darkness. Those looming, purple, polka-dotted, three-eyed monsters of your life won't stand a chance!