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Readers - Questions & Answers

• Spiritual Fitness
• Fitness and Pagan Dress
• Christian Women and Seductive Dress
• Who Says You Have to Look Like a Model
• Weight, Shape and Happiness
• Judging by Appearances
• Medical Help
• Who Profits from You Being Thin
• Love and Respect
• Self Assessment

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Spiritual Fitness

(1 Tim 4: 6-9)
If you teach the brothers and sisters this, you are doing the ministry work of Christ, using the words of faith and following good doctrine. You should study how to live in godliness. Body training is of some value, training in godliness is better, because it is good for now and for eternity. We work and strive with our hopes set on God,who is the saviour of all of us but especially those who believe.

(1 Tim:4 Verse 3)
Don't have anything to do with these godless and silly myths (forbidding marriage and abstaining from certain foods. So ignore those who have fallen away from the truth and are teaching you it is wrong to marry and wrong to eat meat ( or whatever the gurus have chosen to abstain from this year). Being a vegetarian does not make one a superior Christian. Running or walking 5 miles a day does not make you holier. It is of benefit, but it doesn't make you more spiritually fit. If you are spending more time in the spa or gym, than in prayer and bible study, you are not doing yourself a favor.

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The pagan Greeks were very into being "toned" up and physically fit. They even exercised nude and entered into competitive sports naked. They were proud of their bodies. Reminds me of the recent pagan American saying if you've got it, "flaunt it"; many nonthinking Christians have been lured into swimming, jogging and biking in a half-naked state because of this heathen philosophy.

I read an article which actually said that it is "cooler" (as in temperature) to wear tight spandex clothing, while jogging or rollerblading or whatever. No one told this to the nomadic people of earth's deserts. Thousands of years, of living in extremely hot climates, has taught them it is cooler to wear loose fitting, cotton clothing; preferably in layers.

Some say they can run faster, play harder in tight, all most non-existent clothing; perhaps, but to the average person slogging along a jogging trail, road or sidewalk it really doesn't matter. Only a professional athlete, in the olympics, might require such apparel.

Exercise is great, its good for you. However the "world" is always watching Christians and if they can't tell the believers from the unbelievers, something is wrong. We are not to conform to this sort of dress.

Christian Women and Seductive Dress

Paul (1Tim:5:2) tells the men of the church to treat the women of the congregation as sisters and mothers. He says to only think pure thoughts (as opposed to lustful imaginings). Are we helping our fathers, sons and brothers of the church when we let our daughters and ourselves dress in a manner that is intended to cause cause men to think of sex.

It is our responsibility, as women of God, to make sure our clothing is not such that it causes a brother to stumble. I know what the worldly woman will say: we have a "right" to wear what we want, thats a man's problem, not mine, I'm not responsible for someone else's thoughts, I want to look "fashionable"; and on and on. That isn't what the scriptures tell us. We are (to a certain extent) responsible, because we know what "turns a man on". To flaunt this and deliberately try and cause adulterous thoughts is not godly .

This does not mean Christian women can't be "Drop-dead" gorgeous. It isn't a requirement to be repulsive looking or twenty years out of style. One doesn't have to wear long hair tied back in an unfashionable way to please Christ. Actually God wants us to look pretty and he really wants you to look seductive to your husband, he just doesn't want women to cause the same feelings in other men.

So, why all this talk about exercise, spandex and teeny bikinis? Because it is part of a bigger problem. All this concentration on the body is not what we should be doing. However, we should ask ourselves who benefits from our obsession with trying to look like a "super model": Could it be a fashion industry? or a billion dollar cosmetic industry? or diet gurus and health food companies?

Have our men been conditioned to seek a woman who looks like she has been in a concentration camp and is wearing designer clothes from a person who doesn't even like women? Perhaps we should wonder who it is that finds a female, who is shaped and dressed like a young boy, sexually attractive. As one writer said, "...the models look like adolescent boys with a bosom stuck on sometimes for sex appeal".

Women worry so much about their shapes and weight, they kill themselves if they don't measure up to some impossible standard; whether intentionally or unintentionally. A 15 year old girl wrote to others in a computer chat room one night. She said she didn't want to live anymore, because she was fat. It was heartbreaking. What kind of society gives a young girl the impression she is of no value, unless she is weighs what some chart somewhere says she should? Some women are under a yoke of slavery to a diet or a method of staying thin. Their lives may be in a shambles, but as long as they stay thin they think things will be ok.

I'm here to tell you happiness is not about your weight. God does not care whether you are fat, thin or in-between. He just wants your love, faithfulness and worship. Think about it. The one man, with the most power and charisma in the universe, and he loves you just like you are. Our Lord Jesus loves women. According to Perry Stone (a well known Bible and prophecy teacher on Christian television) God never refused the prayer requests of the holy women of the Bible. I think he has a soft spot for us! I've heard many a testimony saying it was the prayers of a mother or grandmother that saved a man, who had been on the wrong path.

I would like for you to stop and think if you are judging other women by their appearance. I am not speaking of slovenliness or carelessness in dress. I am talking about things like: "Wouldn't she be pretty if she would just lose a little weight" or "Dear, maybe you should get one of those push-up bras" or "No wonder her husband fools around, just look how she has let herself go." These remarks are cruel and devastating and should never be thought much less get past our vocal cords.

Many women put off Christian service until they can; lose a little weight, buy nicer clothes, do something with their hair or some other mysterious reason. God can use you in His service right now, just the way you are. Pay no attention to those who tell you things that make you feel bad about yourself, go right on listening to the holy spirit. He will lead you and help you.

It is disheartening when fellow Christians, who have the right genes or money hint that true Christians must knead, bend and otherwise painfully make their bodies acceptable as living sacrifices. Scientists already know that it is NOT the amount of food we eat that causes the weight gains (except for unusual cases). For twenty years, or more, scientists and doctors have known the problems come from genetic make-up, hormone problems, certain illnesses and also certain medications. However the prejudice against those who are overweight or obese is so strong; most doctors cannot bear to help these people as they would for any other health problem.

Society also frowns on the M.D. who concentrates on treating weight problems. A recent newspaper article is almost slanderous in its approach to an article about this subject. The headline reads, "Physicians fatten wallets with diet pills". Now we would laugh if a headline were to read, "Physicians fatten wallets with by-pass surgery." Its ridiculous, as the first thing a doctor says to a person with heart trouble, high-cholesterol or high blood pressure is, "Better lose some of that weight." Of course the doctor means, lose the weight but it has to be in a painful, unnatural and usually unsuccessful manner. Any doctor who says, "We gotta get that weight down. Here's a prescription for some diet pills, while we work on changing some of your habits that might cause some of these problems." is suspect.

The question is (again); Who profits from this obsession with weight? Why does a person, especially a woman have to be thin to be acceptable to certain groups? Could it all boil down to money and sin once more?

If a mature woman, who has obviously borne children and has the hips to prove it, is not sexually acceptable; who is? Could it be the young virgin? Or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof? What religions of the past used young women as temple prostitutes? Which ancient cultures tossed away the old wives to the crocodiles or fishes? Much as the men of today toss away the old wife for a "trophy wife". You've guessed it. The old goddess religions and Baal worshipers.

Our scriptures teach respect and love for all women, whether old, young, married or single. Paul is very clear about treating women of the church with respect and Jesus was kind and protective of women, whether they were of the wrong ethnic group or a little lax in their morals. As women we must do the same. For our own selves and for our sisters in Christ. We must also insist on our sons and husbands learning the right attitudes toward their wives,daughters, sisters and all other women; like most teaching, it begins at home.

The apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy, in which he wrote; "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you." 2 Tim1:5 (NRSV) Think about that. Grandma Lois and Tim's mom Eunice taught Timothy and were responsible for teaching him sincere faith in Christ.

Are you too fat to follow Jesus?
Yes ( ) No ( )

Are you too skinny to walk in Jesus's footsteps?
Yes( ) No ( )

Are you "toned up" enough to be acceptable to witness?
Yes ( ) No ( )

Do you exercise enough to be allowed in the company of saints?
Yes ( ) No ( )

Will you go to hell if you're obese?
Yes ( ) No ( )

If you binge, will He let you in?
Yes ( ) No ( )

If you're blind, can you still see to witness?
Yes ( ) No ( )

Are you too tall to bend down to share the gospel to little ones?
Yes ( ) No ( )

Are you too short to stand tall for Jesus?
Yes ( ) No ( )

Are you pretty enough to be a effective servant ?
Yes ( ) No ( )

What really counts? What is holding you back?

1 Cor. 15: 9-10 "For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me was not in vain." You are what you are. Is his grace toward you, in vain?