Friday, November 26, 2010

Natural living as an idol

I just read this great blog post here. It is about Natural Living becoming an idol. I have been grappling with this myself lately, so it was great to read this post.

My thoughts are that God wants us to be good stewards of our bodies, our finances, and the earth. He gave them all to us to care for.

-Eating healthier food helps us be good stewards of our bodies.
-Making many foods from scratch is better for our bodies, plus if making these foods is a family activity it blesses God that we are spending this time with our family.
-Spending money on fillers (things that many companies are disguising as food) is not blessing Him with our finances. A bag of chips is about $3. I can get a small bag of organic apples for that cost. Eating organic, local, and healthier doesn't have to blow the food budget.
-Growing our own food is a better use of our finances, and the earth (no gas to drive to store to buy, just walk to your yard. As an added bonus gardening is great exercise.)
-Making our own cleaners is better for our bodies, our finances, and the earth.
-Eating organic and locally grown food is better for the environment (I am certain when God said for us to rule over the animals, it wasn't to abuse them. Free range animals that eat what God intended are better for us to consume anyway.)

That all being said if I spend more time researching natural living than talking with God, praying, and reading the Bible than natural living is an idol (and I am guilty of this.)

If I yell at my kids while doing above mentioned research (again I have done this) than it is an idol.

If I have an argument at Thanksgiving table with cousin over white bread verses wheat, maybe it is an idol (yes, this happened yesterday.)

My natural living should not be a stumbling block to sharing Christ. Or send a bad testimony of me (I don't want people to think I am judging them, because then they certainly will not want to talk with me about Christ.)

On the flip side God has been revealing how He wants me to live, and since I am the mom to two boys this also includes how they should live until they are old enough to live on their own. And my ultimate goal is to do His will for my life and share His good news. I have to find a better balance to do so, but I believe that for my life more natural living is a part of that.

On a side note my definition of natural living includes family as #2 priority (under God.) This means lots of time spent with family, and teaching my children to value family as well. This goes against what many believe (many feel they should be with peers and kids own age all day, as in school; and that time with friends should come first, especially at Jason's age.) This may be right for some kids and families, but for ours I feel they are right where they should be at home. And I believe this is God's will for our lives right now. (Next year I may feel He calls me to put them back in school.) I want to be doing what He wants, even when it is not what I want or what the world says is right.

Any thoughts?

-Becky

1 comments:

Becky said...

Good post. It is so easy for "good" things to become idols. I'm very guilty of this myself.