Look Great, Feel Great: 12 Keys to Enjoying a Healthy Life Now - Softcover

Meyer, Joyce

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0446504912 ISBN 13: 9780446504911

Verlag: FAITHWORDS, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

The bodies God gives are instruments for experiencing a fulfilling life on earth, for doing good works, for spiritual development. To do the work individuals are meant to do, they need to keep in shape. They must maintain a sound mind, body, and soul. Yet in the modern world, it is all too easy to let one, two, or all three of these slip. LOOK GREAT, FEEL GREAT presents Joyce's twelve-key plan to address the epidemic of "self esteem drought" that appears to be a factor in perpetuating habits that create poor health.Additionally, Joyce will provide helpful resources, like the "Ounce of Prevention Checklist," for self-maintenance.

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Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, she has written more than seventy inspirational books, including The Confident Woman; Look Great, Feel Great, the entire Battlefield of the Mind family of books, and many others. She has also released thousands of audio teachings as well as a complete video library. Joyce's Enjoying Everyday Life^Ò radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences. Joyce and her husband, Dave, are the parents of four grown children and make their home in St. Louis, Missouri.

Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, she has written more than seventy inspirational books, including The Confident Woman; Look Great, Feel Great, the entire Battlefield of the Mind family of books, and many others. She has also released thousands of audio teachings as well as a complete video library. Joyce's Enjoying Everyday LifeÒ radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences. Joyce and her husband, Dave, are the parents of four grown children and make their home in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Look Great, Feel Great

12 Keys to Enjoying a Healthy Life Now

By Joyce Meyer

FaithWords

Copyright © 2008 Joyce Meyer
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-446-50491-1

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Do you have any idea how valuable you are? If you suffer from self-doubt orself-hatred, if you abuse your body with bad food or bad habits, even if yousimply put yourself at the very bottom of the list of people you do things for,under the kids and spouse and parents and boss and friends, then you donot understand your own value. If you did, you wouldn't treat yourselfthat way. You were put on this earth to spread God's love, and nothing could bemore valuable than that.

Maybe you never learned your own importance. That's what happened to me. As achild, I was abused and came to believe that I was the least valuable person onthe planet. It took me many years of studying God's word and experiencingfellowship with Him before I got even an inkling of my own worth.

Or maybe you did know your value when you were younger, but somewhere along theway you forgot it, buried it under a to-do list that clamored louder for yourattention than your own soul did. If so, then join the club. The degraded valuesystems in the modern world bombard us with the message that our spirit, soul,and body come last, after money and food and status and stuff. No matter howhard we resist, we all succumb now and then.

I can't tell you how important it is to reform your value system and go back toa much older value system. God's value system. It applies to all people,and it puts your entire being (body, mind, will, emotions, and spirit) right atthe top of God's list of important and valuable things. Your entire being playsan important role in God's plan; He's entrusted you to take care of it, andthat's a lot of responsibility indeed. Only by keeping your spirit, soul, andbody in tip-top condition can you truly do God's work.

Let me give you an example. One day I was experiencing a lot of guilt oversomething I did wrong. Although I asked God to forgive me and believed that, Hedid, I still felt guilty. My mind was on my past when it should have been on myfuture. I felt depressed and discouraged. I had a headache, and in general didnot feel like doing much of anything. The Holy Spirit began to deal with myattitude. He asked me if I thought my attitude was helping me do His work. Hethen said, "I want you to get over this because you are no good to Me in thiscondition." The Holy Spirit's straightforward way of dealing with me helped mesee that I was wasting my day on negative emotions. I was actually allowing mysoul (mind, will, and emotions) to adversely affect my spirit and my body. Myspirit felt oppressed and my body ached. We must realize that we are complexcreatures and every part of us affects the other parts. If we don't takegood care of our bodies, our spirit and soul will be less effective. If weworry excessively, it can adversely affect our health. If we have norelationship with God and are spiritually weak, nothing seems to workright in our lives. We are definitely tri-part beings and have many facets toour nature, and each needs proper care.

But how do you do spirit maintenance, soul maintenance, and body maintenance?You can't drop them off at the local mechanic for a tune-up. No, but one of thebest ways to care for your spirit and soul while on this planet is to care foryour body. Your body is the temple of your spirit and soul; it is the house theydwell in while on this earth. God's word says that your body is the temple ofGod! He dwells in those who believe in Him.

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the HolySpirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? Youare not your own.

I Corinthians 6:19

What if you went to a church and it was run-down? Peeling paint, broken doors,smudged windows that didn't let the light in. You'd wonder about the pastor,wouldn't you? The church is his instrument for celebrating the glory of God, yetif he doesn't respect the church enough to take the time to keep it in goodcondition, what does this say about his relationship with God?

The same question applies to your own body. It's your God-given instrument forexperiencing life on Earth and for doing good works. It is the home of yourspirit where God dwells. To do the work you were meant to do, you need to keepit in shape. If you let your body get too shabby or sick, it will be a constantdistraction. You will not be able to experience the Presence of God and His joyand peace any more than you could in a church building that was uncomfortable,falling apart, or aesthetically demoralizing. Each time we break downemotionally, mentally, or physically, it has a wearing effect on us. If we do ittoo often, we may eventually come to a place where we can no longer be restored.

I still have to remind myself of this. Once I hurt my voice by speaking in aseminar with an extremely sore throat. That morning when I woke up, I couldbarely make a sound. I knew I shouldn't speak, but I thought about thedisappointment of the audience if I didn't. So I forced myself to speak,thinking I could just get through the day and rest my voice the next day. I wasnot showing respect for my body and pushed my own needs to the bottom of thepile. I did not use wisdom or common sense.

It seems we often plan to take care of ourselves some other day! I managed tospeak that day, but the next day I could not make a sound. I couldn't the nextday either, or the day after that. I had to adjust my schedule. The conditioncontinued, and I began to worry. I could tell that something was wrong with mythroat. I finally went to the doctor, who told me that I had damaged my vocalcords and that I should never again do public speaking with an extremely sorethroat. He gave me medicine to reduce the swelling and inflammation. He saideach time we push ourselves beyond reasonable limits, we do some damage, and ifwe do it too often we get to a point where we can't recover. He said it mightreach a point where I could not teach at all if I did not respect my voice andtake care of it.

Think about that. By ignoring my body's wisdom and trying to please others atthat moment, I nearly jeopardized my entire public ministry! If I hadpermanently damaged my voice, I would have wound up helping far fewer people andderailing my life's calling. Now I'm more careful about protecting the tools Ineed to do God's work—my voice, my mind, my heart, emotions and my body.In fact, when you think about it, all your ability to be active and do good inthe world requires a healthy mind, body, and soul, and those things rely on ahealthy lifestyle and environment. Keeping this big picture in mind can help youstay on your life's path and not make shortsighted decisions.

That's what this book is about. I wrote it because I am dismayed at the numberof people I see—at my book signings, in my ministry, and in the generalpublic—who are not taking care of themselves. Many of them clearly feelterrible. Anyone can see this in the way they look and the way they carrythemselves. You simply cannot look really great if you don't feel great. How youfeel will show up somewhere; in your body language, the dull look in your eyes,or even the tone of your skin. It is in our nature to take care of ourselves, sowhy don't we? I thought about the ways that this can go wrong, and Icame up with these reasons:

1. We don't know how to take care of our physical bodies.Decades of bad diets, misinformation, and easy access to fast-food andprepackaged food have left people amazingly confused about what a wholesome dietis and how they should eat. You may be surprised at how easy and sensible it isto eat right! I'll give you the information you need to understand how differentfoods affect you, along with some extremely simple guidelines to follow.

2. We have a skewed body image planted in our minds by media andadvertising. On one side we are inundated with unattainable ideals ofbeauty, while on the other, obesity is so prevalent that it's almost consideredthe norm. We need to reset our internal picture of what a healthy person shouldlook like.

3. We have lost touch with exercise. For virtually all of humanexistence, exercise was an integral part of our daily existence. Now we'veinvented enough conveniences that we often live completely divorced fromexercise. However, it turns out a good deal of our well-being is dependent onexercise. Once I explain everything that exercise does for you, you may beinspired to make it a daily part of your own life. I'll show you some simpleways to keep in shape that won't turn your schedule topsy-turvy.

4. We have let ourselves slip into unworkable lives. With theincredible pressures of juggling career and parenthood, paying steep mortgagesand increased fuel prices and burning the proverbial candle at both ends andeverywhere in between, it is oh-so-easy to put the workout off. Instead, we'llgrab a cheeseburger on the run, cheat our sleep time in order to catch up onpaperwork and let the tail wag the dog until we've cut everything out of ourlives that once gave us pleasure or kept us sane. This is bad enough, becauselife is a gift and is meant to be joyful. It should be pleasurable and sane. Butonce you learn the impact of all this stress on your physical health, you willunderstand what a crime against yourself this is—and, I hope, take actionto reclaim a workable life.

5. Some have become pathologically selfless. Selflessness can beaddictive. It feels so good to do for others and it makes us feel important.Yes, it is a good thing to help others and should be a major part of our life,but in my line of work, I often see people who routinely ignore their basicneeds. The only thing that gives them meaning is doing things for others. Thisis admirable, but it can easily cross the line into mistaking suffering forvirtue. Martyrs usually end up bitter. And once the body breaks down and life isno longer joyful, it becomes increasingly hard to serve anyone. Volunteers in asoup kitchen don't let their pots fall apart while they ladle out one more bowlof soup. They take the time to care for the equipment they need to do theircalling. And you should do the same with your most important piece ofequipment—your body.

I am not suggesting that we be selfish because that renders us very unhappy andis not how God teaches us to live. We are to live sacrificially and be involvedin doing good works, but we must not ignore our own basic needs in the process.Everything in life must be balanced or something breaks down and quite often itis us.

6. We have lost our support. When we don't have a good socialnetwork or a godly foundation to keep our spirits high, it becomes easy to slipinto boredom, loneliness, and depression. If we aren't able to somehow fill thatvoid, the devil will. You may have heard the saying "Nature abhors a vacuum."Well, let me tell you, the devil loves one! He'll put lots of bad food withineasy reach and let you mistake spiritual or emotional hunger for physicalhunger. Maintaining a good support network is a terrific way to prevent theformation of bad habits. We need to have the right people around us who willspeak up if they see us getting out of balance. We need to spend regular time infellowship with God and learning His principles. His Holy Spirit who worksthrough His Word convicts us of wrongdoing and gives us the chance to makepositive changes before we break down or become ill.

7. We have forgotten our own value. This is where I started, andit's the point I come back to. If you don't understand your own importance inthe Big Plan, taking care of yourself seems pointless. Reminding you of yourplace in God's plan is my first and most important task. God has a great futureplanned for you and you need to be ready for it! You need to look great and feelgreat, ready to do whatever God asks of you.

My Story

I Corinthians 6:19–20 explains that your body is the temple of the HolySpirit, Who is in you since you received Him from God. You are not your ownproperty; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use yourbody for the glory of God. God's plan for you involves maintaining a sound mind,body, and soul, as well as a healthy spirit. Yet as I've said, in the modernworld it is all too easy to let one, two, or all of these slip. A number offactors work against us. Before you know it, the temple is in shambles and youdon't even know how to start the restoration. You may be more tempted to callthe whole thing a tear-down.

But that restoration process is a lot simpler than you think. It just involvestaking things one step at a time and learning a few secrets along the way. Iknow, because there was a time in my own life when I would have loved to takethe wrecking ball to my own temple. I learned some bad lessons early in life andcame to dislike my body, so of course I had little motivation to take care ofit, which just made my problems worse. Sad to say, I learned the hard way of howimportant it is that we take good care of ourselves. The process of restoring mybody to health required a genuine commitment, but now that I've achieved healthand fitness, I know what a difference it makes. I pay attention to the upkeep ofmy mind, emotions, body, and spirit, and I'm eager to be the architect forothers and help them design a plan for their own restoration project.

My poor relationship with my body began with sexual, emotional, and mental abusethroughout my childhood. My home life was extraordinarily dysfunctional. I livedunder constant stress, although I certainly didn't know that term back then. Ibegan to feel the effects of it in my body by the time I was a teenager. Thefirst trouble I remember was constipation and stomach pains. I went to thedoctor, who told me that I had a spastic colon. Only years later did I learnthat disorder is usually caused by excessive tension, nervousness, and stress.Remember, any time the body cannot relax, that state of "dis-ease" promotesdisease.

During those years of abuse and fear, I developed a shame-based nature. I feltbad about myself all the time. Feelings like that can develop into a verydangerous feedback loop, which is exactly what happened to me. Since I didn'tlike myself, and didn't feel attractive, I had no confidence, and I acted likeit. I was twenty pounds overweight because I was eating bad food and notexercising, and I didn't feel that I was special enough to make any kind ofeffort on my own behalf. I looked bad and felt bad. I was the last girl to getasked out on a date because I didn't feel pretty and wasn't doing anything tohelp myself. This, of course, just made the feedback loop worse.

Guilt was my constant companion through my teen years. I thought there must besomething wrong with me—what else would cause my father to abuse me andtreat me like dirt? I grew up as a very insecure adult with low self-esteem. Ifelt worthless.

Abused children often develop these feelings, but can react to them in differentways. I added more stress to my life by trying to prove I had value throughaccomplishments. I worked very hard, desperate for approval and fearful that ifI did not provide for myself no one else ever would. I also became a rescuer ofthose in trouble. I had an overdeveloped sense of responsibility and made myselfaccountable for things I should have let other people handle.

My emotional life was a mess due to the years of mistreatment. I was easilyangered, frustrated most of the time, and my mood could swing erratically. Deepdown, I felt God was mad at me. Even though I attempted to have a relationshipwith Him, it was dysfunctional. I did not know how to receive love—His oranyone else's.

Receiving God's unconditional love is the beginning of all emotional healing.Until we can receive that, we cannot love ourselves properly, nor can we loveothers. I believe the world is love-starved and busy trying to get it throughsources that will never satisfy, while God wants to give it freely. Money cannotsatisfy. Neither can position, power or fame. All are poor substitutes for love.All leave an inner discontent that causes all kinds of problems, includingobesity People are trying to satisfy a hunger that food cannot relieve.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Look Great, Feel Great by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2008 Joyce Meyer. Excerpted by permission of FaithWords.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: FAITHWORDS
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0446504912
• ISBN 13: 9780446504911
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 192
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar