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The Weekly Habit That Can Change More Than You Think · Honoring My Temple

0:08
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Honoring My Temple podcast.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: If you're looking to put God at the center of your life and live that out practically through your health, habits, and everyday choices, this podcast is for you.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm Kelly Wenner, founder of Soul Strength Fit and author of Honoring My Temple.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Here we explore biblical wisdom and how to apply it to real life, your mindset, food, exercise, and the habits that shape who you're becoming.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: Let's get started.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Honoring My Temple.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: Over the past few episodes, I've been inviting you to join me in a fall reset.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: This isn't a challenge.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: It's not a program, although I do know an incredible Christian fitness program, if you're looking for one, it's really just a shift in focus.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: It's about becoming more intentional with the habits we prioritize, the habits that move us toward our goals, toward the people we want to become, and ultimately toward becoming more like Christ.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Because if we're truly being intentional about our lives, about the way we spend our time, what we give our attention to, where we put our effort, and the habits we allow ourselves to form, isn't that the ultimate goal?
1:25
SPEAKER_00: To become more like Christ?
1:27
SPEAKER_00: To know him better, to increasingly grow in the fruit of the Spirit, to become people whose entire lives reflect him and are characterized by love, peace, and wisdom and self-control.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Dallas Willard described discipleship in a way that has always stuck with me.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: Learning to live my life the way Jesus would live it if he were me.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: You've probably heard the expression, WWJ, D.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: What would Jesus do?
2:00
SPEAKER_00: And that's a great question.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: But I think there's another really helpful way to ask it.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: What would Jesus do if he were me?
2:10
SPEAKER_00: If he were living my life with my family, my responsibilities, my work, my relationships, and in the culture I live in, how would he live it?
2:21
SPEAKER_00: How would he handle my marriage?
2:24
SPEAKER_00: How would he parent my kids?
2:26
SPEAKER_00: How would he respond to that person I struggle to love?
2:31
SPEAKER_00: How would he handle my stress at the end of a long day?
2:35
SPEAKER_00: How would he manage my time, my phone, my health, my eating habits?
2:43
SPEAKER_00: What would Jesus do if he were living my life?
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately I want my life to reflect him, not just in what I believe or what I say, but in my choices, my actions, and my habits.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: I want to build a life that makes space for the gospel, shares the gospel, and reflects the gospel.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: And I think Peter captures this beautiful or beautifully in 1 Peter 2.12.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: Our lives should look different, very different.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: And I don't just mean that we go to church or attend a small group.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: I mean our lives in their totality should increasingly reflect the character of Christ, not mastered by comfort or cravings, not ruled by impulse or mood, but increasingly characterized by inner strength.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: Steady, faithful, wise, and self-controlled.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: And because this is honoring my temple, I want to bring that specifically into the way we care for our physical bodies.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: The way we care for our bodies is one of the places our growing wisdom, self-control, and steadfastness can actually show up in our everyday lives, in the way we eat, exercise, rest, and care for the bodies God has given us.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Now, someone could say, well, Jesus didn't work out or go to the gym.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: And of course not.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: But that's really not the question I'm asking.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm not asking, what would I do if I were Jesus?
4:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm asking, what would Jesus do if he were me?
4:30
SPEAKER_00: And those are two very different questions.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus were living my life, I don't believe he would be controlled by food.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: I believe he would receive food with gratitude and choose foods that nourish this body rather than eating for comfort or in excess.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: I don't believe he would allow comfort to control his choices.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: He would prioritize time with the father.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: He would make time for my family and community.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: And he wouldn't continually allow those things to be crowded out by my phone or my Netflix account.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: And I believe he would care for this body and keep it healthy and strong, ready to serve my family, be there for future generations, and bring my best to the work and opportunities God has given me.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: What would Jesus do if he were me?
5:26
SPEAKER_00: I like to ask myself that question when I'm facing a hard situation, when I'm dealing with someone I struggle to love, when I have a difficult decision to make, and when I'm thinking about the habits that I'm allowing myself to form, and that includes my health.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: My body doesn't need to be extra skinny or look a certain way to demonstrate that I'm honoring God.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: But the way I care for it can reflect the character that God is developing in me.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: It can reflect self-control.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: It can reflect wisdom.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: It can reflect my growing ability to delay gratification, to say no to what I want right now because I've decided that something else matters more.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: We are ambassadors for Christ and we live out that calling in these earthly bodies.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: So I don't want to talk about wisdom, power, love, and self-control as though they're qualities that only matter in the obviously spiritual parts of my lives.
6:29
SPEAKER_00: They're part of who I am becoming.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: And if they're truly becoming part of my character, they should increasingly show up everywhere.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: In my words, in my relationships, my decisions, my habits, and yes, in my relationship with food, exercise, rest, the way I care for this body.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: And as we talked about last time, becoming that kind of person takes practice.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't happen simply because we know what to do.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: It happens because with God's help, we repeatedly practice living what we know.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: That's why our habits matter.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: They create structure around the things we know are important, helping us actually live according to what we say we value.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: We've already talked about the daily habits I'm recommitting to as part of my fall reset.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: And today I want to talk about one of the weekly habits I'm putting back into place.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Because as I've mentioned, a lot of good habits slipped over the summer when I lost the normal daily and weekly structure of my schedule.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: And I know full well that as easy as it is to drift out of a good habit, we don't simply drift back into one.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: It takes intentionality, it takes focus, it takes planning, and it takes practice.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: And that's why I'm putting these habits on paper.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm printing them out, I'm putting them on my calendar, I'm marking them off on habit trackers because I know they're important for my growth.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: But I also know they probably won't happen consistently unless I plan for them, prioritize them, and put some structure around them and practice them.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: And remember, practice doesn't mean doing them perfectly.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: Practice means that when I mess up, I get right back to it.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: And one of the practices I am intentionally putting back into my weeks is fasting.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: Fasting is one of those practices that can sound intimidating if you haven't done it before.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: Going without food on purpose isn't particularly comfortable.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: And that's part of the point.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: Jesus talks about fasting in Matthew 6.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: He didn't say if you fast, he says when you fast.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: In other words, fasting seems to be something Jesus expected would be part of the lives of his followers.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: And at its simplest, biblical fasting means voluntarily going without food for a period of time for spiritual purposes.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: It's not just skipping a meal, it's not a weight loss strategy, and it's definitely not punishment for something you ate yesterday.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Christian fasting is about temporarily saying no to one of our most basic physical appetites so that we can intentionally turn our attention and our hunger toward God.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: And I think there's something about fasting that is particularly important for those of us living in a culture of abundance.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: Most of us don't spend very much time being hungry.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: In fact, we can go through an entire day satisfying almost every appetite the moment it appears.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: We're hungry, so we eat.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: So we look for something comfortable.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: We're restless, so we turn on the television.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: We want something, and most of the time we can have it.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: And none of those things is necessarily bad.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: Food is a gift from God.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: Rest is a gift.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: Entertainment can be a gift.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: So many of the things we enjoy every day are good things.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: But even good things can begin to consume so much of our attention and satisfy so many of our appetites that we don't recognize how little we're actually hungering for God.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the things I appreciate about fasting.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Fasting interrupts abundance.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: For a period of time, I intentionally choose not to satisfy an appetite the moment I feel it.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: My stomach growls, and instead of immediately answering it with food, I can allow that hunger to be a reminder.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: I need God even more than I need this.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: And fasting gives me an opportunity to practice that truth in a very tangible way.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: Every hunger pain can become a cue to pray.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: God, I hunger for you.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: God satisfy me with your presence.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: God, show me where something else has begun to have too much control over me.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: God, help me want you more than I want comfort.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: And fasting has a way of revealing things.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we don't realize how accustomed we've become to responding to every feeling or desire the moment we experience it.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: We're hungry, so we eat.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: We're uncomfortable, we seek comfort.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: We're angry, so we react.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: Fasting gives us an opportunity to experience a desire without automatically responding to it.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: You may discover how often you eat because you're bored or stressed or tired or frustrated.
11:57
SPEAKER_00: You may find yourself standing in front of the refrigerator before you even remember that you're fasting.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: And that's information.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: You're beginning to see some of the automatic desires and behaviors that normally operate without you even thinking about them.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: And this is one of the reasons that fasting connects so beautifully with what we've been talking about throughout this reset.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Self-discipline.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: Fasting is a practice.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't have to mean a multiple-day fast.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't even have to mean a 24-hour fast.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: Pray about it.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: Ask God what He might be putting on your heart.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: Maybe for you it's a half-day fast.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's an intermittent fast where you simply extend the amount of time you go without food.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you decide, make the decision ahead of time.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Set a time in your head.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to eat until blank time.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: And here's what'll happen.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: At some point during that fast, you're going to get hungry.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: Your body is going to say, I would really like to eat now.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: And you say, I know, but I've already decided.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: I think there's something incredibly valuable about learning that.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: I can make a decision based on what I believe is right and then follow through even when my feelings and desires are telling me to do something else.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: That's a skill that reaches far beyond food.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: Because maybe tomorrow isn't hunger.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're angry and desperately want to say the thing you know you shouldn't say.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're tempted by something you know you need to stay away from.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you don't feel like exercising.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you want to quit something you know that God has asked you to keep doing.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: Fasting gives us an opportunity to practice saying, My feelings are real, but they don't have to be in charge.
13:56
SPEAKER_00: And for the Christian, we're not doing that through sheer willpower.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: We're learning to lean into God's strength while still making the choice that is ours to make.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: God, this is hard.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: I want to eat.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Help me keep the commitment I've made to you.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: And then you don't eat.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: And that's practice.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: And while we fast to draw nearer to God and experience Him more deeply, I love that God has given us a practice that benefits our physical health as well.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: When we go for a period of time without food, our bodies respond.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: Insulin levels fall, we begin using stored energy, and as the fast continues, the body shifts toward burning more fat for fuel.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: Regular periods of fasting can also support things like blood sugar regulation, insulin sensitivity, and overall metabolic health.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: But I don't just fast for the health benefits.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: I fast because I want to hunger for God.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: I want to practice self-control.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: I want to be reminded that I don't have to satisfy every appetite the moment I experience it.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: And I want to create intentional space to pray and seek God.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: So what does that actually look like?
15:19
SPEAKER_00: For this fall reset, I'm making fasting a weekly practice, something that I intentionally plan for once a week.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: And again, it doesn't have to mean fasting for an entire day.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: The length of your fast is something you can prayerfully decide between you and God.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you begin by simply skipping breakfast and fasting until lunch.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: Maybe eventually you fast for 16 or 18 hours.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Maybe at another time you feel led to fast for a full day.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: And during that time, don't just remove the food.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: Replace it with something.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: Let your hunger become a cue to turn your attention toward God, to pray, to seek Him, and to become more aware of His presence.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: If you normally spend 30 minutes eating lunch, for example, spend some of that time praying or reading scripture.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: When your stomach growls, let it remind you to pray.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: When you find yourself thinking about food, redirect your thoughts toward God.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: Let the physical hunger point you toward a deeper hunger.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: For this fall reset, my goal is to simply make fasting a regular part of my weeks again.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: Not as punishment, not to prove how disciplined I am, and not simply for the physical benefits.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm fasting because sometimes going without something good reminds me that even the good things God gives me were never meant to replace God Himself.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: And every time I practice saying no to an appetite for the sake of something I value more, I'm also strengthening something I want to carry into every other area of my life.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: The ability to live according to what I've decided matters, rather than simply according to what I desire in the moment.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: And so just to give you an idea of what this looks like in my own life, as I'm getting back into my fall reset, more often than not, I'm choosing Sunday as my fasting day.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: It just seems to fit naturally for me.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: Sunday is my rest day from exercise.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: My morning is already carved out for church, and my mind and my heart are naturally more focused on God.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: My husband and I usually take a leisurely walk together before church, and I enjoy some black coffee that morning.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: We go to a later service, so I bring water with me because hydration is very important.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: And I've already decided ahead of time how long I'm going to fast.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: I'll be honest, getting home from church and making lunch for the family can be a little challenging, but it's fine.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: And I'm actually really grateful for those casual Saturday afternoons when we're all hanging out in the kitchen together with older kids and busy schedules, those moments aren't as common as they used to be.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: So usually it's my husband and the kids sitting around the kitchen counter, and I'm right there with them preparing food, unloading the dishwasher, just doing whatever needs to be done.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: We're all just hanging out and I love it.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: And there's something about that slower Sunday afternoon that feels peaceful.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: And during this time, I'm enjoying my family.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm grateful for the time together, and I'm giving that time to God.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: I feel peaceful.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: I feel connected to Him.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: And when it is time to break my fast, I choose healthy, nourishing foods, and I enjoy them with gratitude.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: Some Sundays my fast is a little longer.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Some Sundays it's a little shorter.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: But what I don't do is play it by ear.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: I decide ahead of time, prayerfully, how long I'm going to fast.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: I set a time in my head.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: And then throughout the fast, I continually ask God for the strength to honor the commitment I've made.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's one of the things fasting has taught me most profoundly.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: I can rely on God for strength when doing what I've decided to do becomes difficult.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: That's invaluable to me.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't just need his strength when I'm fasting.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: I need it in every area of my life.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: And that's really why I'm putting fasting back into my weeks.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: And so as part of your own fall reset this week, I want to encourage you to pray about fasting.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've never fasted before.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's something you used to do, but like me, you've gotten out of the habit.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Decide ahead of time what it'll look like for you.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: Put it on your calendar.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: Decide when you'll begin and when you'll end.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: And then use that time to seek God.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: When you're hungry, pray.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: When you think about food, turn your attention toward Him.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: And when it gets difficult, ask Him for the strength to keep going.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: Let the hunger remind you that you need God even more than you need the food you're going without.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: And then when it's time to eat again, receive that food with gratitude.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Thank God for it.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy it.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: Let even the breaking of your fast remind you of his goodness.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: Next time we'll continue with the other weekly practices that I'm putting back into place as part of my fall reset.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: But for this week, let's perhaps practice fasting.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: Let's intentionally create a little space for hunger and let that hunger turn up.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: I'll talk to you next time.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for spending this time with me.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: To learn more, visit SoulStrengthFit.com.