Day One
Woman #1: I work out so I can play on the floor with my grandkids.
Woman #2: I like to take walks to clear my head. Gotta hit 10,000 steps.
Man #1: I really don’t wanna be rude or antisocial, but food is just everywhere.
Man #2: I’m busy, okay? It’s hard to get to the gym. When am I supposed to do that? Like, 4:00 AM? 10:00 PM? Uh, when?
John Fuller: Well, maybe you can relate. Is, uh, pursuing a healthy lifestyle a chore? Or is it something you enjoy, you plan for? Your overall wellbeing is what we’re talking about today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I’m John Fuller, and thanks for joining.
Jim Daly: Okay, John, here we go. It’s the new year-
John: Yeah, it is (laughs).
Jim: … we’re gonna kick this off. And, uh, it’s time to get back to the gym.
John: I, I sort of feel like-
Jim: (laughs)
John: … we let go a bit, and this is the reckoning time, isn’t it?
Jim: I think so. You know, I’m just coming off rotator cuff surgery, so I was really diligent. I was going to the gym pretty regularly, three times a week-
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … with Trent. An- and then this happened, and I haven’t been as-
John: Well, y-
Jim: … good about it.
John: … you have to eat extra during the holidays to help the arm recover, right?
Jim: (laughs) That’s it.
John: (laughs)
Jim: That’s the idea. And that’s why we’re here today-
John: (laughs)
Jim: … to talk about what we can do to honor the Lord by being mindful-
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … of our physical bodies, and how to take care of them. Don’t turn that off. I just felt like four people went, “Okay, I’m not listening to this.”
John: Ah, guilt trip. No, it’s not a guilt trip.
Jim: Yeah, we gotta, we gotta talk about this. And I think it’ll be very insightful. Um, we wanna talk about fitness spiritually, physically, and we’re gonna cover that with one of our great friends, Gary Thomas.
John: Yeah, Gary is a prolific author and speaker, and he’s been here in the studio with us a number of times and, uh, has written a number of books on parenting, and marriage, and the spiritual life. And today we’re covering the content in his great book Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul. And you can learn more about Gary and this excellent book when you call 800-A-FAMILY, that’s 800-232-6459, or stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.
Jim: Gary, welcome back to Focus on the Family.
Gary Thomas: Oh, thank you. It’s always great to be here.
Jim: Now, I’m not sure if John said that exactly right. It’s like Every Body–
John: Oh, okay. The-
Jim: … Matters. I don’t know-
John: … the emphasis matters.
Jim: Yeah, I, i- it is interesting, ’cause we always think of God’s core, uh, intentionality with this is about our spirit, our intellect-
Gary: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … and, you know, who wants to talk about the body, right?
Gary: I know.
Jim: Does He really care about our bodies?
Gary: Well, as Christians, we tend to live from the chin up.
Jim: (laughs)
John: (laughs)
Gary: That’s not my line. It’s a classical writer-
Jim: Okay, that’s an ouch.
Gary: And so, we gotta, we gotta think the right things, and then we focus on the heart. But we don’t focus on the body. But n- Scripture talks about offering our bodies as an essential part of worship. 12, Romans 12:1, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship.” So, a part of our spiritual worship is offering our bodies to God. And what I love about this, Jim, is that as soon as I do that, as soon as any of the listeners do that, our bodies become not just holy, but pleasing to God.
Jim: Yeah.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: They might not be pleasing to us, might not be pleasing to the world, nobody is gonna put me on the cover of a magazine. But when my body is offered to God, to serve Him, it’s immediately pleasing to Him. And His opinion matters more than anyone else’s.
Jim: Now, you know, uh, this can be a catch 22 or a double-edged sword, whatever metaphor you wanna use, because so often in the Christian community, we’re uncomfortable saying that God’s mindful of our bodies, that we’re mindful, or should be mindful of our body, because the culture puts so much emphasis on the external, uh, what we look like.
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: I mean, that is Hollywood’s whole schtick. So, how do we separate that worldly understanding of the body, airbrush, all that, versus a Christian or Godly approach to the body?
Gary: I think the best way to define it, Jim, is that we wanna look at our bodies as instruments, not as ornaments.
Jim: Wow, that’s good.
Gary: Our culture looks at the body as an ornament. Look at me, it’s beautiful, I wanna be whole. But for Christians, it’s offering our bodies to God as instruments. And you need to keep your instrument up if you’re gonna let God play the music through you.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: Uh, I was struck by a 19th century preacher named Robert Murray M’Cheyne, some of the older listeners will remember him, he was quite famous for the day. He’s from Scotland, and had a thousand-member church back when, you know, they would have 60-member churches. Very young. Uh, he was 23 when he had a thousand-member church, which was so unusual for that age. And he just worked himself literally to death.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: And he died before he hit the age of 30. And here’s what he said, “God gave me a message to deliver and a horse to ride. Alas, I have killed the horse, and now I cannot deliver the message.”
John: Hmm.
Jim: Hmm.
Gary: And when you think about wanting to be engaged as parents, as grandparents, when we gain wisdom, if we don’t take care of our bodies, we can’t be as engaged.
Jim: Huh.
Gary: And it’s… So, if we really see this body as an instrument for God, that doesn’t belong to us, the Scripture is very clear, your body is not your own. You were bought with a price, therefore honor God with your bodies. And if, if I could give a, a story one time where that really hit me, um, I, before Sacred Marriage came out, I w- helped a lotta famous people write their books. Incredible minds. One man with such integrity was Senator John Ashcroft.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: He also was governor of Missouri. Just an incredible Godly man. And we were working on his memoir, and he had this file that was just handwritten notes, a couple letters from his dad or whatnot, and he said, “Gary, what we’re talking about, y- you should take this, you’ll get a lot of information.” And I said, “No, please make copies.” He goes, “We can’t.” H- th- here was his integrity, he was in the senate office, and he wouldn’t make 20 copies because it was a personal project. I mean, that’s why he ended up becoming attorney general, I mean, he was a man of beyond integrity. And he said, “Just, just take it.” And the reason I was so terrified is I am terrible with paper. If you look at my office, it looks like an office supply store blew up.
John: (laughs)
Gary: Yeah, I can usually find it, but I’m uncovering… I used to feel terrible until I saw J. I. Packer’s desk-
John: (laughs)
Gary: … (laughing) when I went to seminary. And I said, “Okay, well, maybe-”
Jim: But the question is, can you find the M&M’s under all that paperwork.
Gary: Yeah (laughs)
John: (laughing)
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: I can always find the M&M’s.
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: It’s whether I can find the papers.
Jim: You seem to strike me that way.
John: Oh…
Gary: So, um, I said, “Please. Please, no.” And he goes, “Gary, you’re a responsible young man,” I was a younger man back then, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I, I can’t tell you how many files I have lost in my lifetime, and I’ve had to reprint ’em or just do without ’em. For the two weeks that I had that personal file in my possession, I knew where it was every second, because it didn’t belong to me. And at the time, he was rumored to be a presidential candidate, and I thought, “Man, what if somebody’s writing his biography, and they say, ‘What happened at this stage of his life?’ ‘We don’t know, some idiot writer lost the files.’”
John: (laughs)
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: But because it didn’t belong to me, I was able to hand it over, because I said, “This is yours.” Well, when I really began to understand my body doesn’t belong to me, which goes so against our culture, if we wanna eat it, if we wanna do with it, whatever we wanna do, I mean, isn’t that what our culture says? If, if I want to do this with my body, who is to say I can’t? Well, if Jesus is our King, Jesus came, I created your body for certain things. And, and that’s true sexually, within marriage and creating children, it’s true how we feed our bodies, it’s true what we look, what we do with our minds. And, and I think the lordship of Jesus should be the determining factor of how we treat our bodies, how active we are, and what we feed our bodies.
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: I don’t wanna blow by what you said a moment ago about Lisa. You made-
Gary: Uh-
Jim: … a reference to her. And I want to develop that because, you know, so often, when we get married, you’re the expert in marriage, but we do marry opposites.
Gary: Yes.
Jim: I never thought it, about it in the context of how we eat. But in your case it was true, right? You, you had your, what’d you say-
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: … your nine-year-old, uh, sugar habit?
Gary: Which I, I haven’t lost. I mean, y- you know, you go into those classic candy stores?
Jim: Never been there.
John: (laughing)
Gary: (laughs) Th- th- there’s just, like, 50 things I would like to buy if I could. But it’s just sugar, and the worst kind of sugar. But, a- and this is a good word for wise, because when we talk about the discrepancy between our eating, ’cause, look, when Lisa married me, I was the consummate junk food junkie. Cap’n Crunch, Big Macs, pizza, and ice cream. That’s-
Jim: You were her project.
Gary: Yes.
John: (laughs)
Gary: And she grew up in a family that made 100% wholewheat bread, and they ate, um, like, things that grow, stuff like that is what they like to do.
John: (laughing)
Jim: (laughing)
Gary: And so, wise will say, “Well, what do you do? What did she do?” And I, I think where Lisa has done really well is, one, she can make healthy food taste really delicious. And then I, we got married, I had a, it was a bad habit. I have a daily Pepsi. I was pretty much addicted to it, and she goes, “Gary, that’s just sugar water.” And so then she got me on Tazo chai, like, from Starbucks. And after a couple years, you know, that still has too much sugar. And now, right here in this cup, I have Bhakti Chai, which is has maybe a third of the sugar of what I used to have-
Jim: Yeah, the nickname for that is dirty water.
Gary: Yeah (laughs).
Jim: (laughs) No.
Gary: But, but she’s really good at just recognizing how small changes can make a big difference-
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: … if it’s a daily part of your life.
John: Yeah.
Gary: And that’s what I think we can look at, m- most of us will give up huge major changes. If you haven’t been working out at all, thinking that you’re gonna work out five times a week will last for about a week.
John: (laughs)
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: But-
Jim: Maybe half a week.
Gary: But when we look at our daily habits-
John: Yeah.
Gary: … if we could say, if my body isn’t my own and I wanna offer it to God, then what are some small changes I can make on a regular basis?
John: Yeah. Yeah, it’s funny, because y- you and, you, Jim, and I, we’re all married to women who take health very seriously.
Gary: Yes.
John: Uh, one of the things that struck me in the book was, uh, your phrase caloric therapy.
Gary: (laughs)
John: Now (laughs), I think that’s part of the culture, right? W- we talk about comfort food, I’ve got a coworker who can polish off a pint of ice cream, y- you know-
Gary: Oh.
John: … just every day-
Gary: If it’s chocolate chocolate chip, God have mercy.
John: Well, there you go. Uh, you must…
Gary: (laughs)
John: Okay, I was talking about a colleague-
Gary: (laughing)
John: … I really wasn’t trying to out you, but-
Jim: Why you keep pointing at me?
Gary: You gotta put it in a bowl, that’s my advice.
Jim: It’s not me.
Gary: Put the carton back in the freez-
John: So, uh, how did God deal with you with regard to that particular habit-
Gary: Yeah.
John: … that so many of us have?
Gary: Well, I excused it. In fact, when my first book came out, and I was all excited, I was speaking at a benefit dinner for a pro-life center, which I now know-
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: … 30 years later, they’re not there to hear you. They’re not there to buy your book. They’re there to support the center. If you do your job right, they won’t have any money left over.
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: So, I- I’ve set up my book table with my, my one book, and I knew the talk hit, ’cause people were laughing, crying in the right places, big ovation.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: I didn’t sell a single book.
John: Oh.
Gary: I so wanted to be a writer, and I was terrified. If a talk does great, and I don’t sell a single book, uh, how was this gonna work? And so I get done, you know, I’m by myself, I’m thinking, “I know what’ll make me feel better. Dairy Queen will make me feel better.”
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: (laughs)
John: (laughs)
Gary: You know, the M&M Blizzard, the fries, a little bit of sugar and starch and salt-
Jim: I worked at a Dairy Queen as a teenager (laughing).
John: Did you really?
Jim: Yes (laughing).
John: Oh my goodness.
Gary: And, and so I, I w- I went back to my room, and then the next morning I was just praying through it. And I really felt convicted by the Holy Spirit, and I’m trying to defend it. “Well, God, at least I’m not looking at porn.”
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: That’s what a lotta guys do on the road, right? And-
Jim: There’s a comparison.
Gary: … y- you can’t argue with God, right? It was like, “Why did you do that?” And it was, I was dealing with disappointment, and fear, and anxiety, and uncertainty with… Sugar does make me feel better-
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: … immediately. But the long-term consequences, I, I felt God saying, “That’s not gonna go well for you-
John: So-
Gary: … if that’s how you respond. There are healthier ways to respond to that stuff than caloric therapy.
John: That’s a, that’s a really good thing to listen to God’s voice, especially after we’ve done something that, uh, we might regret. Appreciate that. Well, our guest today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly is Gary Thomas, and we’re talking about his book Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul. And you can get that book at our website. We’ve got the link at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.
Jim: We’re hitting different themes out of the book, and, uh, Gary, I wanted to ask about volleyball therapy.
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: This is a mom named Karen that… you called her Karen in the book, who, kinda that idea between the spiritual soul and the physical body. But hit the volleyball therapy.
Gary: Yeah. Uh, Karen is a, a great friend. Uh, she’s actually my, my agent’s wife, and so I’ve known her through the years. And she’s telling this story about, um, they had two wonderful children. They decided to adopt a third. And this isn’t why they adopted, but she said she was looking forward to having a child without gaining all the baby weight.
John: (laughs)
Jim: Hmm.
Gary: And yet, the stress of bringing a child from Ethiopia into their family and incorporating a third kid, she said she ended up gaining more weight with the adoption than she actually had-
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: … with, with the two. And she found herself in this cycle where, uh, she would be with her three kids, and she would eat their snacks, and they’re just kinda sedentary. And it just sort of got worse and worse, and worse. And these are her words, not mine, she said, “My world felt very small. I felt trapped in my own house. I took care of everyone, but felt invisible.” And I think… Let’s just pause here. I think so many of the women listeners, we’re so grateful to you, and we love this about you, that you are taking care of everyone. You might be taking care of your parents, and your husband, and your kids. And so you hear this, and I just wanna say, what Karen found is there is a place where it’s okay to take care of yourself.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: And that’s what Karen found out. She said, “I knew I was loved, but as a young mother, you pour everything into your very needy young children. I wasn’t taking care of myself.” And, and Karen noticed that as she felt less and physically fit, she felt less and less connected to God. There was a 1:1 correlation between her spiritual devotions and how she was feeling physically. And she finally looked in the mirror one morning and said, “I didn’t think I looked very attractive. I didn’t feel noticed, didn’t feel very beautiful with Curtis. I was no longer his girlfriend, I was his frumpy wife and the mother of his kids. It’s not that he made me feel that way, I felt it all on my own.” And a lot of pastors or spiritual directors might talk to Karen and say, “Well, maybe you need to practice fasting, or double-down on your devotions.” There are a lot of spiritual solutions, and sometimes that might be helpful. But the change for Karen is she started playing volleyball again.
Jim: Hmm.
Gary: She had been a college volleyball player-
Jim: Wow.
Gary: … so she was accomplished. And it felt a little bit embarrassing, ’cause she wasn’t in the same shape, her skills were a little rustier. But after a few weeks, it started to come back. And then it gave her energy to, instead of sitting in th- front of the TV with her kids, she would go on walks with her kids. And then, they had a stroller where she could do a few jogs. And then she would go for full-out runs. And everything began to change. She felt happier, more energetic as a mom, and she said more disciplined in her spiritual devotions. It made her feel better sexually, that’s her words, and more connected with her husband. And it was that physical activity that became the doorway to spiritual health. And what I love about this is that it wasn’t just what it did for her, she went from feeling like she was going from worse to worse, to worse, to not only feeling better physically as a wife and as a mom, she became involved with an international adoption ministry.
John: Hmm.
Gary: So now God is using her to reach others. Uh, but the key is, I, I, I call it volleyball therapy, sometimes it is the case that we need to get more into God’s Word. We might need to practice some of the spiritual disciplines, but for Karen, it was getting physical again.
John: Hmm.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Gary: And that awakened her as a mom, as a wife, as, for herself, and then as a minister of God’s Gospel.
Jim: That’s a beautiful illustration of how it all comes together. What do you think… Uh, you know, we, I think we all realize it we can do some of that, like what Karen did, we will feel better, other areas of our life will become more positive. (laughing) But then the big question is, why don’t we do it?
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: I mean, that motivating factor, everybody, I think, can rationalize, “Yeah, if I get in the gym a little bit more, that makes me feel better, certainly look a little better, and that’s okay.” But getting that motivation is so hard.
Gary: A- and that’s really what Every Body Matters is all about, is the spiritual motivation. Most of us know what to do and what not to do to be healthier. It’s just motivation, I would say, is 80% of the battle. And when I recognize that my body isn’t my own, that I wanna be an instrument instead of an ornament, it gives me at least a leg up on the motivation part where I can do that.
Jim: Yeah, a little more commitment.
Gary: But, but here’s the spiritual challenge. But this is where I think it builds us as people all the way around. The problem with physical fitness is that a lack of physical fitness has immediate rewards and delayed consequences. If I eat my M&M Blizzard (laughs) and, and medium fries, there’s an immediate reward. I get that rush. And the consequences are delayed. My pants don’t fit tighter the next day. But if I keep doing that, eventually they will, and I’ll feel a little more sluggish, and a little slower.
Jim: Huh.
Gary: Physical discipline, (laughing) here’s the challenge, it’s immediate consequences and delayed rewards. Because if I don’t have that, or, and I go for a run instead of having the Blizzard, I don’t notice the difference immediately. I don’t drop half a pound or a pound. It takes time for the benefit of that to take place. And so you really have to get into this place where, am I gonna be driven by the immediate reward, or am I gonna have a delayed reward and face the immediate consequences of not, of doing something I don’t wanna do? And, and that’s hard. But, look, uh, this is the same thing for finances, instead of making the immediate purchase that’s fun, you’re saving away for financial health in the future, and getting out of debt. It’s often the same thing for sharing our faith. You, you share your faith with someone, it’s not immediate consequences, sometimes you’re meeting with them several times before they give their-
Jim: Or others are-
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: … after you.
Gary: And certainly with kids, (laughing) I mean, look-
Jim: Yeah.
Gary: … uh, w- when people say they have babies to have somebody that loves them, I’m like, “Have you ever met a baby?” (laughing)
Jim: (laughs)
John: (laughs)
Gary: Because they’re gonna be… A- and you gotta get through adolescence before they even know how to say thank you. So-
John: (laughs)
Gary: … um, there are a lot of things in life where I think that principle holds true, that we accept difficulty immediately, knowing that the consequences are delayed, and reject the immediate reward because the consequences are negative, but way off in the future.
John: Mm-hmm. You know, Gary, I think, uh, I appreciate that. And I think, uh, for some people, uh, and m- I might be kinda like you, w- I can do some things by myself, but in the culture, it seems that we need kind of a tribe around us. It’s a social thing. Staying fit. Uh, I was recently in a college town, and there were r-, you know, groups of college kids running out there. And then we’d go to church-
Gary: (laughs)
Jim: (laughs)
John: … (laughs) where food is part of fellowship, right?
Gary: I know where you’re going.
Jim: Potluck. Potluck.
John: And it, I mean, it even happens here at Focus. We, w- we’re a Christian ministry, and we have food to celebrate.
Gary: Yes.
John: And I grew up-
Jim: (laughs)
John: … uh, with food as a celebration. I passed it on to my kids, “Let’s celebrate with food.” So, how does a church community create a healthier, wannabe-healthier environment? Instead of saying, “It’s a pot luck, and the fried chicken always goes first.”
Jim: Well, who’s gonna show up at the carrot-stick celebration?
John: (laughs) Yes.
Gary: (laughs)
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: Well, my, my wife has helped me on this somewhat. She’s pointed out, the Bible mentions feasting more than it mentions fasting.
John: Hmm.
Gary: She’s a foodie. I’m married a foodie. I don’t enjoy food, food is utilitarian for me. I don’t like being hungry. Uh, but she thinks the preparing of it and the tasting of it is, is good. But you’re right with the church community. A Baptist pastor friend of mine says the m- typical Baptist conferences, 50 souls saved, 2000 people overfed.
John: (laughs) Wow.
Gary: And it’s fascina- the New England Journal of Medicine published a study they called socially contagious obesity.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: And what they determined is that whether you’re gaining or losing weight is directly impacted by, uh, a circle of the certain closest social constructs around you. Now, I experienced this back in my marathon days. I was speaking at a, uh, pro athletes outreach conference to NFL players. And what hit me, these guys are giants. Wh- when you see ’em on television, it’s giants next to giants, you don’t see how big they are. When you’re walking around ’em, I mean, their, their arms are bigger than my legs. And I was in my marathon days, and I was still trying to lose a little bit because, if you’re trying to run a fast marathon, you really… every pound matters. And Lisa said to me, “Gary, please don’t tell these guys you’re trying to lose weight. They’ll lose all respect for you.”
John: (laughs)
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: And I, I felt just tiny. And then, well, I was trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon at the time, so I went to Duluth, Minnesota, to run the Grandma’s Marathon.
John: Uh-huh, yeah.
Gary: Grandma’s is the name of a restaurant, it’s not grandmas that run the marathon. It was… And, um, they pay the winners. So, they get some of the fast Ethiopians, and Kenyans, and whatnot. I was staying at the hotel with these guys, and one, couple of them got in the elevator with me.
John: (laughs)
Gary: And these guys are heads with lungs. I mean, uh, there’s n- no body fat at all. And I looked down, I said, “Gary, you gotta start eating a salad.” I mean, I felt gigantic next to these guys.
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: The same body, this was within six weeks, the same body, I felt so tiny with the football players, and overweight with the elite marathoners. And that’s what socially contagious obesity is all about. If you’re in a church and family and friends where you’re all gaining two or three pounds a year, you’re just gradually gonna grow heavier, and heavier, and heavier. But if you have a family member or a church that says, “We wanna take this seriously,” and you start getting a little fitter and losing a little weight… Now, for some of us, gaining weight is more important than losing weight. But that social construct is very important, which is why I do think it’s good for churches to address this, not just individuals. Because, uh, we’re in a culture where we’re all getting heavier. Statistics now show between 70 and 75% of us are obese or overweight. And, and some of that, it’s not our fault, it’s just, it’s what we face. The whole force of our culture is going against that. And, uh, I think the third big- biggest thing I say as a pastor to our church members is that people are literally being preyed upon. I’m not anticapitalist. I think it’s the best form of government, I think it’s lifted so many nations out of poverty. But the dirty side to it is that food manufacturers get profit by getting us to eat more and more of their product, whether or not it’s healthy for us.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: And they hire food engineers who study how to get us to eat more and more of what we need. The four things that they’re really going for, they want the perfect combination of taste. Obviously, we’re not gonna eat it if it doesn’t taste good. The ease of eating, apparent- w- we’re lazy. (laughing) We want something just to, to melt in our mouth.
Jim: Microwave.
John: (laughing)
Gary: We don’t want it to be hard to chew it. And you think about the game… Jim, I know you’re a big hunter and whatnot, a lot of that, it’s not easy to eat. I mean, y- you gotta kinda work if… I mean, a well-cooked steak isn’t so difficult. But y- you talk about some of the game that you hunt and whatnot-
Jim: Backstraps, sure.
Gary: Right, you- you’ve gotta do it. The third thing is the meltdown of the food. And the fourth thing is the early hit. A- and they’ve studied, how do we create this neurological hit, that they put this in my mouth, and I want more and more of it? And the famous potato chip commercial, “I bet you can’t eat just one,” is an engineering success. That is true. They make it so that if you have one potato chip, you want two. If you want two, you want, uh, you want two bags u- until you’re done. In fact, I was (laughs), I, I was telling Jim just before the show here that, uh, you know, a Krispy Kreme donut, the hot and ready ones, just the basic glaze ones-
Jim: I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
John: (laughs)
Gary: Well, there’s this store, it sells donuts.
John: (laughs)
Jim: (laughs)
Gary: 190 calories. And if I eat two of ’em… I can’t remember the last time I ate one, but if I eat two of ’em, I’m hungrier after I eat two than before. There is engineering science behind that, the way our body works. And so, I don’t wanna come off as, uh, angry, or shaming, or guilting, because it doesn’t work. I really approach this, as a pastor, as it’s gonna be really hard-
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: … for all of us to address it, because everything around us and in our culture is making it really hard to maintain a healthy body.
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: Well, I mean, this is some information (laughing), I’m sitting here absorbing it-
John: Yeah, there’s a lot here.
Jim: … and thinking about, okay, all the way back to the Lord just saying, you know, your body is the vessel, right? And that’s what he’s gonna use in part, along with our mind, our speech, our actions, to communicate the Gospel. So, it does put it in a different perspective. What a great read, Every Body Matters. And, uh, let’s come back next time and cover, uncover some more of the themes that you’ve highlighted. And I, I’m starting to get a little hungry, Gary-
John: (laughing)
Gary: (laughing)
Jim: … but I don’t know what to do with that now. I don’t know if I can go eat or, uh, what. But, uh, it’s been great to have you. Thanks for being with us.
Gary: Thank you.
John: Mm-hmm. And what a terrific conversation and book. Get a copy of this book when you make a generous donation of any amount to Focus on the Family. Uh, if you can make that a monthly pledge, we’d appreciate that, or a one-time gift of any amount. Uh, regardless of, uh, the size of the gift, call today, donate generously, we’ll send you the book, Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul. Uh, details are at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast, or give us a call, 800, the letter A, and the word FAMILY. And on behalf of the team, thanks for joining us today for Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I’m John Fuller, inviting you back next time as we continue the conversation with Gary Thomas, and once again help you and your family thrive in Christ.
Day Two
Gary Thomas: So we all have these things where we have to do, “Okay, I’ve gotta get past what I don’t enjoy doing ’cause I know it’s good for me,” but staying active is so key to remaining a good instrument for God’s work.
John Fuller: Gary Thomas believes Christians need to prioritize not just our spiritual health, but our physical health as well. Thanks for joining us today for Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I’m John Fuller.
Jim Daly: John, we’re coming out of that holiday season, you know, we’re into the new year and we’re all thinking a couple of things. One is, okay, now I gotta pay off that credit card bill.
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: Maybe, from overspending. And then there’s the overeating part, and I’m certainly in that category where I probably had too much Turkey…
John: It’s so hard.
Jim: … Too much potatoes.
John: Yeah. There’s just such good stuff.
Jim: Yeah. I gotta get to the gym now and start working on that. And it’s not a guilt trip, but it is an important aspect of life to kind of keep all those things under control. And we talked last time with Gary Thomas. His great book, Every Body Matters, kind of the spiritual implication of that, and it’s an area that I haven’t really given that much thought to. I enjoy working out, especially with Trent. He really works out. But getting to the gym every three, four times a week…
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: … And doing some weightlifting is more my pattern. I’m not a big aerobics guy. I never have been. But you know, that’s something for the new year I gotta take a look at and maybe start doing more of that in addition to the weightlifting.
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: But, um, the conversation last time was great. God cares about you, the whole person.
John: Mm-hmm.
Jim: And we covered that last time. If you didn’t hear it, go listen to it. Get the app for the, uh, phone and you can access all the programs. Or you can go to the website and download it that way.
John: Yeah. Yeah. We talked about caloric therapy and volleyball therapy and M&Ms and Blizzards. We talked about a lot of stuff.
Jim: And how skinny our wives are. (Laughing)
John: Gary is a prolific author and writer and speaker. He’s been here a number of times. He’s on the pastoral teaching team at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch. Uh, as you said, Jim, we’re covering, uh, the content of his book, Every Body Matters and, uh, we’ve got details about that book on our website, and that’s focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.
Jim: Gary, welcome back.
Gary: Thank you.
Jim: (Laughs).
Gary: Great to be here again.
Jim: Always good to have you. You know, one thing I… I really wanna say it publicly, that just the, uh, the way you approach your content and communicate, uh, I could see it’s really important to you. You think a lot about these themes. You’re not haphazard. I tend to be a little more spontaneous…
Gary: (Laughs).
Jim: … But you’re that kind of person. You remind me of Jean, actually, my wife, ’cause you drill down and you think deeply about something and I just want to give you that observation and appreciation ’cause I know you work hard at your communication on some of these themes…
Gary: Thank you.
Jim: … And we laugh about this one, you know, our body and should we be taking care of it? And as you get older, most of us say, “That’s okay.” It gets me closer to God actually. I get one foot in heaven this week.
Gary: (Laughing) I’ve heard that.
Jim: The more big Macs I eat, the closer to God I become. But you’re saying, “No, no, that’s not… (Laughs) That’s not the idea.” Right?
Gary: Right.
Jim: Just give us that kind of overview, a little bit of what we talked about yesterday in terms of God’s perspective on the body, soul, and mind.
Gary: There’s a passage from 2 Timothy 2, uh, 20 through 21, where Paul writes to Timothy, “If anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” And for me, that is the goal of taking care of our bodies. We talked about yesterday being instruments instead of ornaments. That I want to be an instrument for special purpose, I want to be useful to the master, and prepared to do any good work. Now, I- I know it’s always growing, but how many people will hear this broadcast?
Jim: Uh, probably a couple million.
Gary: Okay. So, let’s say 50% of ’em hear this and say, “You know what, there are some small changes I could make.” We talked about being realistic and not saying that you’re gonna completely change yourself, but making some small changes with what we eat and how active we are and I hope we get into that a little bit more. And let’s just say… And I don’t think this is an over-promise, that that adds a year to their life. Not necessarily chronologically, but mobility and engagement and being able to be involved and share with others and love on your family. We could add, through this podcast, a million years of Kingdom service.
Jim: Mmm.
John: Mmm.
Gary: Jesus said to His disciples, “Pray to the Lord of the harvest.” We need more workers. There aren’t enough of us. So, those of us that are workers in the Kingdom, if we can add a year of service, this active, more engaged, you could be adding a thousand… A million years of service to God’s Kingdom. And Jim, that’s my motivation because…
Jim: Wow.
Gary: … There is nothing more important than the Kingdom of God. It’s what Jesus said we’re to seek first in Matthew 6:33. And so again, this isn’t about creating ornaments for people to admire us. I’m so far past that. (Laughing). But it is about wanting to be that instrument. However many years God gives me, I want to be engaged and energetic to love and serve and give.
Jim: Now that, that is a good motivation. Um, this one is a little touchy, but of course we’re pulling the content from your book…
Gary: Yes.
Jim: … So this is what you’ve written.
Gary: So now you can blame me for it. (Laughing)
Jim: But this idea, you know, we tend to weight certain sins.
Gary: Yes.
Jim: You think of adultery and murder, pretty severe sins, and you know, God hates sin and we get that. But the Bible also talks about, you know, gluttony and some other things that kind of cut a little closer to the heart. I think there’s a distinction, but maybe I’m wrong.
Gary: No.
Jim: When you look at it, how do you see it?
Gary: There is a distinction. And I’ve heard people run to roughshod over that. Well, the Bible condemns gluttony as much as it does sexual sins for instance or whatnot. But it doesn’t. Now, when you’re writing a book on taking care of your body, you want there to be more Bible verses. I’m gonna be honest, this was a… I’ve read… You guys know I love the Christian classics. Ancient books that people have written through the generations different Christian traditions and they all mention gluttony and sloth. It’s one of the seven deadly sins. Gluttony is not in the 10 Commandments and so wanting to present Scripture, I went back and realized the Bible actually doesn’t say that much about gluttony.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Gary: There are just a few verses and a lot of them are indirect. One is Proverbs 23, where it says, “Listen, my son…” This is 19 through 21. “… And be wise. Keep your heart on the right path. Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” The main import of this passage is not that it’s a sin as much as it leads to poverty. If you give yourself over to an addiction with food or with wine, you’re likely to end up poor. It’s not saying so much, it’s a sin in itself. So, I don’t think we should take the Bible’s near-silence on gluttony as a carte blanche, it really isn’t an issue at all. I- I take it down to an issue of wisdom, because what the Christian classics say about it, I found to be true. When I’m not taking care of myself by that overeating or eating the wrong foods and not exercising my body, not having any movement, I know I feel more sluggish spiritually. So, whether than saying, “Is it a sin to do this or not?” I’m just saying, “Is it wise?”
Jim: Right.
Gary: “Am I making myself a useful instrument for God? Or am I making it more difficult for God to use me by overeating and being too inactive?”
Jim: Gary, that’s such a good picture, uh, as a model of what to, uh, aim toward, you know, to be in spiritual fitness, intellectual fitness, and physical fitness. I mean, that, that is Paul and Jeremiah and it’s a great illustration for us. You call laziness… This kind of brings it forward to today ’cause we’re so distracted. I mean, I can sit and watch football all day Saturday and a little bit on Sunday…
Gary: (Laughs).
Jim: … But, uh, you know, it’s just something I like. I watch the plays. I’m into it. I used to play it, so it…
Gary: Mm-hmm.
Jim: You know, I’m looking at all the technical components.
Gary: Yes.
Jim: It’s interesting to me. And I- I kind of put that in that laziness category, but it’s really distraction as well. Um, today, we live in that kind of concern where we can be entertained by a box and we sit there far too long. I mean, after dinner Jean’s been great about, you know, “Let’s not sit and watch TV after dinner, let’s do something.” So she’s good with walking. She gets me to walk occasionally. But speak to that idea of the laziness of…
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: … The common culture.
Gary: Yeah. Sedentary living may be one of the greatest challenges of healthy living today. Early on in human existence you had subsistence farming without tractors. 200 years later you had industrial labor. About 40 years ago, we entered the digital age and- and they did a study. The difference between calories burned for our ancestors and the typical 10-hour period of work today, if you weigh 170 pounds, is 765 calories…
Jim: Oh my.
Gary: … Just by having to work. If you weigh 140 pounds, it’s 630 calories. Which means if we wanna keep up with our grandparents and they have their typical work day and we have our typical work day, we would all have to run six miles a day just to even it out.
John: Hmm.
Gary: I, you know, I’ve seen this with my dad and my mom. My mom is 89, in amazing shape, physically and mentally. My dad is 95, um, soon to be 96, and you see the importance isn’t just chronology, but mobility.
John: Yeah.
Gary: How- how active you will be. Dr. Mehmet Oz and Michael Royzen said this: “Your level of physical activity is the single most important predictor of whether you look old and decrepit by age 62 or 102.”
John: Mmm.
Gary: “Humans are designed to be physically active. The project of staying young is not about avoiding disease, it’s about avoiding frailty. Physical activity is underrated in terms of helping you stay vital and keep you from disintegrating.” And I- I have seen that with my parents, that as long as we can stay mobile, we should try to. And it is never easier. How many people are listening to this podcast while they’re walking. I mean, it’s never been easier to… The- the ancient… Some of the Christian classic writers talked about artificial exercise as a waste of time. Not anymore. You can have great worship times, you have great sermons, great podcasts, um, like Focus on the Family where you’re not putting your life on a shelf to exercise. You’re building your mind as you’re building your heart and your soul and your body. So, uh, I think being active, Jim, is so key. And like we talked about yesterday with Karen and volleyball therapy, find something you like.
Jim: Mm-hmm.
Gary: Whether it’s taking a walk, playing volleyball-
Jim: Something active.
Gary: Something active…
Jim: (Laughing) We need that disclaimer.
Gary: … That- that keeps you going. And, and we all have our challenges. You mentioned you like strength training. That’s where I’m absolutely weakest. And everything I read says it’s what’s most important for me at that age. I like the cardio. I just don’t enjoy the strength. So, we all have these things where we have to do, “Okay, I’ve gotta get past what I don’t enjoy doing ’cause I know it’s good for me,” but staying active is so key to remaining a good instrument for God’s work.
John: Mmm. Gary Thomas is, uh, our guest today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, and we’re talking about some of the content in his terrific book, Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul. And, uh, you can get the full book from us here at the ministry. Stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. And Gary, what I love about you is you think up here at the 50,000 foot level, and then you make it very personal, very practical, and you observed that when we resist the temptation, say for instance, to overeat, that kind of helps us build up our resistance to other sins like lust or greed or even impatience and I think you had a story about a Walmart parking lot…
Gary: Yeah.
John: … That illustrated that.
Gary: Yeah. This has been a lifelong battle for me. And even joining like church staffs, I see how I’m challenged sometimes by church culture. I- I was in a church office, a worship office, where they always dump all the excess food from the church dinners…
Jim: More donuts.
Gary: … Or whatnot.
John: (Laughs) Yeah.
Gary: And, and one time somebody had left a box that somebody had given them of those chocolate covered macadamia nuts…
John: Ooo.
Gary: … Which macadamia nuts have more fat and calories than any other nut.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: Which is why we cover them with chocolate. (laughing) You know, that’s sort of the United States…
Jim: To hide the, the fat.
Gary: Uh, um, and so I knew I had to double down. You know, we’ve just gone through Christmas, a lot of people have probably gone through Walmart, and it’s the worst time of the year to go through a Walmart, right? Because you’ve got people just walking with their carts and you’ve got traffic and getting outta the parking lot and this one was just… And I just know before that there would’ve been this impatience and this frustration, literally resenting people I’ve never met…
John: Mmmm.
Gary: … Because they’re taking so long or trying to get their kids along, or they’re just walking slow or whatnot. And you feel like… My goal in a Walmart is get in and out. It’s not the journey, which it shouldn’t be that way, but that’s often how I am. But I noticed how addressing physical fitness addresses many of those other issues. You mentioned patience and lust. This isn’t new to me. I don’t want to take credit. The early church Father Chrysostom said this: “The God of the belly overwhelms the whole body. Set self-constraint as a bound to it as God sets the sand to the sea.” Jerome, who was a contemporary of Chrysostom, said this: “In the eating of meat and the drinking of wine and the fullness of stomach is the seedbed of lust.”
John: Hmm.
Gary: They saw a connection between bodily self-control and self-control of things like impatience, greed, lust, some of these other sins we focus on that- that we’re whole people. And if we’re gradually becoming dull to God’s spirit and self-control every day by what we eat and how we don’t move, we’re becoming duller to every sin in our life. What they would say is, this is sort of, uh, a gateway sin to other temptations that were opening wide the door and I… And I found that to be true. I don’t believe that working out and watching what I eat constitutes carrying the cross as Jesus represents it. But working out and watching what I eat helps me to carry the cross.
John: Mmm.
Gary: I feel spiritually stronger to do that.
John: Yeah.
Jim: You know, Gary, again, I think we miss it within the church community. I don’t know many churches that have a, uh, time of worship set up with a bunch of, uh, bikes or something like that.
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: But I mean, in some ways that’s what you’re saying. I mean, we should come in and learn the word and there should be some time during the week where there’s the guys are getting together and doing some kind of workout and the ladies can get together and do some kind of workout. That is kind of what you’re saying.
Gary: Absolutely. In fact, uh, I started doing that, meetings with younger men where we would walk as we were talking. You know, why not? Uh, they’ve shown just even little ten-minute walks or everything, just really trying to get away from the sedentary living, I think is so important for our health and our energy.
Jim: What can churches do… Uh, you talk about this in the book. What can churches do to build up the body, figurativ- (laughs). Figuratively and literally?
Gary: Well, what- what I loved is… You might think, “Oh, that just is like a mega churchy thing to do,” but there was a couple from Iran who visited our church and he was so frustrated… I mean, they were just from Iran. And he was so frustrated ’cause there were a lot of health clubs in the Houston area where… Imagine coming from Iran…
John: Mmm.
Gary: … And the modesty expected and then you go into a Lifetime Fitness or a 24 Hour that… And they loved that there was a safe place…
Jim: Yeah.
Gary: … For her to work out. And he said, “Now, you know, we’re not gonna become Christians. Our grandparents are Christians, but, but we are not Christians. But we’re…” And I’m just like, “Buddy, you have no idea.” (Laughs) A few months later I saw him come forward to accept Christ and become members of the church, where really that fitness center was the draw for them to have a safe place where they could work out. Um, I know another church in Chicago where they have regular running groups that meet at their church. Church is a great place for this. Open it up so people can use the bathrooms. I would say this to the pastors, they’ve shown this, one of the biggest impediments to getting somebody to visit your church is if they’ve never been there before. And if they will come on a Saturday morning for a group run and use the bathrooms, you’ve removed a huge psychological block for them to visit on Sunday morning. And I’ve found in running groups, it’s the best way for me to talk to others. In one running group in- in Houston, there was a Jewish man there that loved to talk religion and theology and the Bible and it was some of the best conversations we had ’cause you’re running for an hour or two. I think just recognizing that evangelism doesn’t have to be synonymous with feeding. (Laughs)
Jim: Yeah.
Gary: Sometimes it can be synonymous with getting active and that’s why I- I think there’s a place for church legs, or I’ll even say this for some guys that go out golfing or whatnot, where… Uh, I know if you’re in a cart, it’s not so much exercise, but- but at least you’re moving and recognizing that that could just be a very valuable thing to do.
Jim: You still walk a lot in golf riding a cart I tell you…
John: Said the golfer. (laughing)
Jim: Said the golfer.
Gary: Especially in the winter…
Jim: I end up nice and sore…
Gary: … You gotta stay on the path.
Jim: … At the end of the day for some reason. I don’t know why. Uh, Gary, I do, as we’re narrowing in here the last few minutes. Uh, one of the things can be this overwhelming shame. I’m- I’m making this comparison, you know, like a new believer that comes into the church and you say, “Turn to the book of John. Let’s read John 10:10,” and they may be sitting next to you and they don’t know where to go and you help them. You say, “Oh, let me show you where that’s at.” You know? But when it comes to this issue, let’s say somebody who’s severely overweight, we’re not going, “Hey, let me help you with some ideas on how to go there,” or to invite a relationship, a friendship, so you can actually engage that person for that goal. Is that wrong or? I’m trying to make that comparison when you look at intellectual or, or spiritual development and then how we treat this differently. And then how much shame comes in…
Gary: Yes.
Jim: … From people who can’t control this area for whatever reason.
Gary: I’m so glad you brought this up, Jim. Thank you for bringing this up ’cause we have to be so careful with this. I remember back… I’ve- I’ve always loved 1970s music and I think Karen Carpenter had one of the finest voices of anyone…
Jim: She did.
Gary: … Who’s ever sang and it was one reviewer’s comment that she looked a little heavy, that eventually launched her into… Wasn’t just life-threatening, it took her life, um, of an eating disorder. Of all the places I’ve been in the world, I think one of the most amazing man-made things I’ve ever seen is Michelangelo’s David. Everybody have seen pictures of the statue of David, but when you see it at the academy in Florence, where it is and you walk up to it, it’s just different. It is 17 feet high. It weighs eight and a half tons. And it’s shocking. Michelangelo is just 26 years old. He saw this gigantic block of marble and said to himself, “There’s a masterpiece in there.” Which we-
Jim: Huh.
Gary: We would just see this- this block. And I wanna say to everybody here, that feels shame about their body, don’t compare yourself to Michelangelo. None of us are Michelangelo. Compare yourself to that block of marble. We’re just nothing until God gets a hold of us. And he’s such a master craftsman. And we said this verse yesterday, which I think is so key. I wanna read it again. Romans 12:1, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,” which is your spiritual worship. If you are 20 pounds underweight or 20 pounds overweight, if you offer your body to God today, your walking, your driving in the car as an act of worship, immediately that body is pleasing to God and His opinion is the only one that matters. And there are million things I love about being a Christian, but one of the things I particularly love is that our holiness and acceptance before God doesn’t rest on the shape of our bodies, but on the acceptable sacrifice of Jesus’ broken and bruised body.
Jim: I love that.
Gary: And I- I could be completely outta shape and you know, it- it goes by stages, but I’m saying, “Okay, God, today I wanna honor you.” Maybe I’m gonna walk around the block. Maybe I might even go to McDonald’s, but I won’t have the Coke or the Diet Coke, I’ll just have wa- You make some small steps, but you’re saying, “God, I’m doing this for you,” and slowly He brings us back. But our ultimate acceptance is based on Jesus’ broken body, not on our body. We’re not trying to become ornaments. We want to be instruments to serve God and that begins by offering our bodies to God.
Jim: Yeah. That is so good. Gary, right at the end here, you, uh, wrote in the book about a vision that God gave you.
Gary: Oh.
Jim: … When it comes to this idea of persevering and…
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: … Being prepared for struggles.
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: Especially in that area of overcoming exhaustion and discouragement.
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: Tie that together. What did God show you in that…
Gary: Yeah.
Jim: … Moment?
Gary: It’s really personal to me, and I’ve- I don’t think I’ve ever shared anything like this in any of the- the books I’ve written. I’m not a mystical kind of guy. I think prayer is one of my weaker points. I love to study. But there was this time where I just… I felt like God was leading me into this vision and as a runner, I was running in this awful storm, in this really hilly thing, is reminds me of sort of the mountainous area around Colorado. And I knew it was a long run. I know what a long run feels like. I was soaked, I was wet. When you run out of doors and trails, you get cut up and whatnot. And then I- I came up to this cabin in the top of the mountain and there was Jesus and He invites me in and it’s warm. And He offered me a dry shirt. And if there are any runners out there, you know, if you’ve been running for an hour in a wet shirt and somebody offers you a dry shirt… And I had dry socks and shoes and it was just warm. And then He gave me some food to restore me, and it was just amazing. Jesus doing all this. And He shared some things I’m not gonna share there that was very personal. But, so I had on this clean dry shirt and shoes and socks and had been restored, and then I felt Jesus opening up the door again and it’s still storming out and it was still dark and there’s a trail. And He says, “Now keep running. The race isn’t over.” And I- I don’t know how much longer I have. Um, couple days, couple decades, that’s up up to God, but it was really about this God restoring us and saying, “You are my instrument. I’m going to use you.” And you get a little bloody and you get a little beat up and you get a little tired and wet and God puts us back together. But then He says, “Keep running,” and- and I think that’s the difference. This isn’t just about me enjoying life more or feeling better or thinking I look better. The- the temptation is always to use vanity and pride to try to overcome gluttony and sloth.
Jim: Yeah.
Gary: That’s just trading sins, right? That doesn’t make me any more acceptable to God. But when I can say, “I wanna address this because God has me in this race and He wants me to keep running, until He says, you’ve hit the finish line, I wanna run to the end.”
Jim: Well Gary, this has been so good and so often we don’t think of it in this context and that’s why we wanted to have you on talk about your book, Every Body Matters, which is a great play in words. But I mean that whole concept of developing yourself spiritually, which we all get. I mean, we wanna know the Word, read the Word, pray, do all those things, which are the right things to do. And then intellectually, to be able to defend the faith, know the classics like you refer to, and then obviously to be active in such a way that you can proclaim the gospel and think of that with your grandkids and getting down on the floor with them face to face and seeing those smiles, and then your neighborhood, your church and all those things. And if we could add a few years to our life like Paul to fight the good fight, to run the good race…
John: Mmm.
Jim: It all starts making sense. But it just means we gotta get off our bohookies.
Gary: (Laughs).
Jim: Really. And we gotta go do it. And to live it for the Lord in every facet. So, thank you for being with us.
John: Mm-hmm.
Gary: Thank you for having me.
John: Well, we hope you’ve been inspired by what has been shared the past couple of days now with Gary Thomas, and that you’ll get a copy of this book, Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul. It’s, uh, gonna motivate you to get engaged in a little more activity and to take care of yourself, to do those very things that Jim and Gary have been talking about. Uh, get a copy of the book from us here at the ministry when you make a donation of any amount. Uh, we’re inviting you to partner with us as we reach out and help families. Um, over the last 12 months, thanks to the generosity of our donors, we were able to help nearly 1 million people grow stronger in their faith. And, uh, as Gary alluded to earlier, if half of our audience hearing this adds a year to their life, that’s a lot of impact. So, join us as we make Kingdom Impact with your, uh, generous financial gift today and we’ll send the book to you. You can donate when you call 800, the letter A and the word FAMILY, or we’ve got the details for you at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. And we hope you have a great weekend with your family and your church family. Coming up Monday, Dr. Kathy Koch explains how to have a good attitude about your unique God-given attributes.
Dr. Kathy Koch: I pray that all of us would, in our humility, choose to change our attitude toward the things we cannot change, change what we can and leave the rest alone and change our attitudes because it honors God. If I walk wounded through my days, angry at my voice, that I’m angry at my Creator, and I say, I dismiss you.
