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- [PART 3] Fundamentals of Bible-Based Self-Improvement
[PART 3] Fundamentals of Bible-Based Self-Improvement
What they are and how to apply them to your life today.
Zach Demoff
July 16, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 27 minutes
Greetings, my friend,
Welcome to The Arsenal, your weekly newsletter designed to train and equip you for a set apart lifestyle.
And welcome to part three of my Fundamentals series. So far, I’ve presented a couple foundational things to help you build the kind of lifestyle you’ve been wanting to help you win in life. If you missed or would like to review Part 1 and/or Part 2 of this series, click each respective part to do so.
At this point, we’ve established the importance of having Yah at the heart and center of our lives while prioritizing our pursuit of true purpose found through obeying His Word and utilizing our spiritual gifts. From here, I’d like to shift gears a bit and present the remaining fundamental habits as supplemental activities you can implement into your routine to help you reach those two goals.
Let’s roll.
Habit #3 – Honoring Yah with Your Body
Let me lay the foundation of today’s message with the following Scripture:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.
Let me emphasize that Yah, The Almighty One and Ruler of All, made us His image! And because of that, as His greatest creation, He placed us in charge of all of the earth and everything in it. How cool and wonderful is that!
Unfortunately, due to the fall of man, things aren’t as easy and straightforward as they used to be. But Yah’s commands don’t change, and throughout the Bible and other records of human history, we’ve seen this decree from Him of multiplying and ruling the earth naturally come to fruition.
But based on what we know about creation, I’d like to present this idea: Despite our now sinful nature, it doesn’t change the fact that we’re made in Yah’s image. And since we were also created and commanded to take dominion of the earth, many of us have a natural instinct and desire to want to control things. So, if we’re trying to live a life where we’re reflecting and imitating Yeshua (Yah in the flesh) in everything we do, and we have a desire to take control of things, it begs the question: Shouldn’t we be doing our best to have dominion over our own thoughts and desires and control ourselves in order to best reflect Yeshua?
To quote Scripture demonstrating this concept:
“casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”
This question in of itself is a foundational principle anyone trying to improve their lives while abiding by the Most High’s commands and principles should understand. And the past couple habits that have been discussed in this series thus far have been things that will help you do that. Walking humbly and remembering that Yah is the ultimate ruler of our lives is key to not falling into pride, which comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18).
But more specifically, what are some other ways we can exercise dominion and self-control over our lives? In addition to filtering out harmful thoughts and desires, another great area of focus is with arguably Yah’s greatest creation: our bodies.
Everything we do, from when we wake up to when we lie down, is all thanks to the amazing, biological machine that we live in. And as the most intelligent creatures on Earth that also possess the gifts of creativity, language, free will, and a soul, we have everything we need to do great things in the name of Yeshua and advance the Kingdom (2 Peter 1:3-4)
Furthermore, since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Shavuot/Pentecost recorded in Acts chapter 2, every believer in Yeshua as the Messiah has the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them. This is incredibly important to recognize, as the apostle Paul points out in his first letter to the church of Corinth. Here’s another foundational Scripture of today’s message:
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For ‘the two,’ He says, ‘shall become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
There’s a lot to unpack here, and we’ll get to some of that. But don’t miss this core takeaway: Currently, we have no physical temple here on earth in which Yah’s presence would dwell with mankind, as in the past. But rather, Paul states that because we have the Yah’s Spirit living in us, we are individually and collectively a temple in which Yah’s presence dwells to guide and instruct all who believe and follow Him.
Therefore, if we are a temple for Almighty Yahweh, we should be striving to sanctify ourselves and provide a clean, healthy, and set-apart place for His Spirit to dwell in, as the ancient Israelites did with the Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai, as well as the first and second temples built in Jerusalem. And to tie in having dominion over our desires and exercising self-control, King Solomon wrote,
“Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.”
With the importance of sanctifying our minds and bodies as a holy temple having been established, what can you start doing today that will help you do this?
In conjunction with having dominion over our thoughts and desires and making sure they align with God’s Word and standards, here are three things you can do to help consecrate yourself (and your body) as a holy place for the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Frequent Exercise
While Scripture doesn’t have much to say about these two things in a self-development context, in addition to maintaining a physical body for the Spirit to operate through, there are some excellent reasons to focus on constant improvement in these areas.
In addition to the well-known benefits of basic cardiovascular exercise like running, biking, and swimming, these things give you mental clarity and help build discipline to go the extra mile (and make it through the first mile of whatever exercise you’re doing too). Both of those benefits of cardio will assist you in achieving your goals and being more aware of the world around you as you strive to understand and fulfill your purpose with your spiritual gifts wherever the Father has called you.
As for strength training, it’s a similar principle. While I definitely think cardio and strength training go hand-in-hand, the latter is just as effective, if not more so, in building discipline and a healthy, capable body for use toward Yah’s purposes. And besides, who doesn’t want a good-looking physique that’s also a visible indicator to yourself and others of your dedication and discipline to becoming the best-version of yourself?
But that thought is also a great reminder to remain humble as you grow, especially as you start seeing physical and mental progress. In fact, Paul wrote the following in his first letter to Timothy:
“But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.”
While Paul is not saying we shouldn’t even bother with physical exercise, you must remember that their benefits are limited compared to practicing doing “Bible things, Bible ways”, to quote one of my favorite teachers and motivational speakers, Nathan Harmon. And even though many people’s achievements and physiques via exercise and strength-training are often quite impressive, they shouldn’t be our primary goal.
But considering how well exercise of any type builds discipline, it’s still an invaluable tool we should be utilizing to help get us in the proper mindset and maintain a healthy body to be doers of the Word and create a healthy, well-trained vessel for the Spirit to dwell.
Getting Adequate Sleep
Because exercise involves putting stress on your body, it’s also essential to make sure it gets the proper rest it needs to fully recharge, and doing so will maximize your daily performance. Although it sounds counterintuitive, certain systems within our bodies work quite hard while we’re sleeping to replenish and repair our bodies. During sleep, your body will:
· Decrease your heart rate and, consequently, your blood pressure, meaning you’re giving your heart more time to not stress as hard. This decreases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, or coronary heart disease
· Increase immune system activity to help you fight off germs and disease
· Figure out a proper schedule to make certain hormones based on your sleep patterns
And these are just a few of the known benefits of sleeping, in addition to improved cognitive performance. So making sure you’re getting enough of it is quite important to maintaining your body/the Holy Spirit’s dwelling place.
Our wonderful God, as the Creator of our bodies, knows they need proper sleep to function properly and efficiently. And as such, He set apart the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. In fact, He thought it was so important for us to have rest, He made it a commandment for us to follow and it’s one of the Ten Commandments at that:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
As someone who keeps the Sabbath according to the Bible as our Israeli brothers and sisters do (minus all of the extra man-made limitations they place on themselves), I cannot emphasize enough how important this is to all believers and especially those who are constantly working long, hard hours to build a great life for themselves.
Having a day where I can fully rest from my job, not having to worry about running errands or going out all day to prevent others from doing work on Sabbath as best as I can, and enjoying the subsequent peace and ability to sleep in before attending my weekly Bible study and worship service at my fellowship group is something I continually praise and thank Yah for.
As often as many self-improvement guru’s will tell you that not working weekends to get ahead in life and work toward your mission is for the weak and those who want to be comfortable, I value what Yah say to do (six days you shall work, and on the seventh you rest) over man’s opinion. And more often than not, Yah’s way is always the best way.
So I highly encourage all of my readers to explore what keeping the Sabbath truly looks like and means for you, and I think the peace you’ll feel and the extra time you’ll have to catch up on some sleep for maximum performance during the rest of the week will speak for itself.
Eating Right
As another habit much of the world recognizes to be important, I would agree in that neglecting this habit will significantly hinder your performance in the previous two activities. Even though it’s certainly inconvenient to eat healthy, especially thanks to today’s food prices and just how much (junk) food is a part of our culture, it doesn’t change how our bodies respond to eating more natural foods versus more sugary and processed foods.
Over the past year, I’ve begun experimenting with different dieting methods to initiate the bulking and cutting processes your body must undergo to build good muscle and a lean physique. And I remember when I tried the keto diet in particular when coming off of a “dirty bulking” diet, my energy levels improved and remained steady throughout the entire day.
This in turn allowed me to have more energy and drive to get in the gym quite consistently, have heightened awareness during college classes and at work, and enjoying overall improved cognitive performance. And because I also wasn’t consuming substances like caffeine and sugar throughout the day, I could feel my body naturally begin to wind itself down every night after maintaining steady energy levels all day long. And this gave me better sleep at night, which only compounded the benefits I was already seeing.
While I’m no health expert, I can testify that finding a diet that works for you that cuts most, if not all, processed foods, sugar, and caffeine is a great start if you really want to maximize your cognitive abilities and make the most of your study sessions or working hours to name some examples.
I’m also a large proponent of taking vitamin supplements to support brain and immune health, and also drinking enough water every day in combination with refreshing your electrolytes. Both of these actions are other methods that will allow to eventually see a performance boost and just feel more alive and inspired as you strive toward your God-given goals.
So we’ve talked about eating healthy, but the question arises: What are some things you should absolutely avoid consuming?
Based on my previous few paragraphs, you’ve probably already eliminated sugar and caffeine for how they mess with your energy levels throughout the day. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, and even drinks with so-called “natural flavors” have also been proven to cause significant problems over time, with aspartame being linked to brain cancer and sucralose leading to bad gut health. A final category I’ve personally tried to minimize consumption of lately is gluten and dairy products. While nothing inherently wrong with them unless you’re allergic, both products are known to cause brain fog, which is quite an annoyance. Gluten products in particular, due to their carb content, also converts to sugar in your body, which gives the same effects as processed sugar itself.
As a final point to bring it all back to Yah, food is mentioned quite a bit throughout all of Scripture in many different contexts and scenarios. But as many of you may know, Yah, as our Creator, designed certain things that we should and should not eat if we wish to be our bodies healthy. And since we’re trying to honor Him with our bodies to create a set-apart dwelling for the Spirit, it’s worth looking into what Yah (and Yeshua) considered food according to Scripture. And that info can be found in Leviticus chapter 11:
“Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat. Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; the rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you.
These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers—that you may eat. But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination to you.
And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, the kite, and the falcon after its kind; every raven after its kind, the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture; the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
‘All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you. Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth. These you may eat: the locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.”
As a Torah-observant Christian, through lots of study of the Scriptures, I personally have come to the conclusion that these food laws and eating clean by following them are still relevant and a good idea for us today.
The reason I bring this up is not to smack you over the head with my beliefs, but because most of the foods Yah commands us not to eat actually can cause significant health issues. Animals like pigs and shellfish are the garbage-collectors of the earth, and as such, there’s a lot of nasty stuff that gets absorbed into their bodies that we then consume through eating their meat.
If you’re interested in learning more, a fantastic resource is this podcast episode featuring Dr. Monzo, a wholistic medicine expert who’s also Torah-observant. He dives into some of the health risks associated with eating many of these foods, as well as some of the other foods I try to avoid like dairy, grains, etc. I’d recommend checking it out!
Finally, like the process of building our bodies up through exercise and strength-training, we must remember why we’re doing what we’re doing with our eating habits. And it all comes back to Yeshua. He, who completes The Law, said to us:
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
So in our pursuit of bettering ourselves, we must not forget that we should be partaking of Him for our sustenance. While Yah gave us His Law as rules to follow till the end of time along with our own scientific knowledge we discover about harmful foods, they are not for our salvation, but to guide us toward the morality and purity of Yeshua. We’re to imitate Him and how He followed His Father’s rules for life. So let us purify ourselves as Yeshua did, that we might be a proper and set-apart dwelling for His Spirit.
Fleeing Sexual Temptation
As a large theme presented in our 1 Corinthians passage quoted earlier, the importance of this cannot be understated. Did you know that, as of January 2024:
· 46% of men and 16% of women in the US watch pornography every week
· 1 in 5 couples report conflicts related to pornography
· 56% of divorces in the US involve one partner having an obsessive interest in porn
· More than half of 11–13-year-olds have already encountered some form of porn, with 82% of them viewing it unintentionally
· 9 in 10 teens and young adults are encouraging, accepting, or neutral about porn
· Teens and young adults say “not recycling” is more immoral than viewing porn
· About 7.7 million Americans struggle with porn addiction
While viewing pornography and all of the nasty activities and side effects that often come along with it is not a lighthearted topic to think or talk about, these statistics gathered through various studies should speak for themselves and help us wake up to real of a problem our country in particular is facing, and how likely we are to be grouped into these statistics if we’re not extremely careful. How far we’ve fallen away from the truths of the Word…
Although viewing adult content is obviously not the only definition of “sexual immorality,” it is by far the most common form of it today and also the easiest to fall into due to it being only a thought, online search, and a few clicks away.
If it wasn’t already obvious, the Lord does not take this issue lightly. Failing to reign in this issue of partaking in sexual immorality can have some dire consequences. Some famous examples from biblical history include:
· Yah destroying Sodom and Gomorrah for their sexual immorality/homosexuality (Genesis chapter 19)
· Yah sending a plague that killed 24,000 Israelites for engaging in sexual immorality with the Moabites while they were in the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers chapter 25)
· The prophet Nathan issuing Yah’s punishment to King David (the death of King David’s infant son, division among his family, and the eventual split of his kingdom) for committing adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel chapter 12)
Some other Scripture, mostly from the New Testament, also indicate a bleak future for those who don’t truly repent of their sexual sin:
“Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;
He who does so destroys his own soul.”
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
“as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
“For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.”
Yeshua Himself even points out in His Sermon on the Mount how easy it is to fall into sexual sin:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
So, what can we do to avoid this terrible fate and guard ourselves against this prevalent type of sin? Thankfully, as often as Scripture condemns sexual immorality, it provides quite a bit of advice to help combat it:
“Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.”
“Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
In a world that glorifies gratifying the lusts and desires of the flesh, which also lusts against the Spirit (Galatians 5:17-25), we must stand strong and not get caught in the Enemy’s traps. How? Get in Yah’s Word and do He asks of you and understand how He will help you. Pray for His Spirit to help you resist temptation, and pray the same over others. Hold each other accountable, especially when you screw up. And eliminate from your life whatever may causing you to sin, as Yeshua said. And always strive for a heart of true repentance through Yeshua and a life that honors Yah and His commandments, lest you be lukewarm and Yeshua vomit you out of His mouth (Revelation 3:15-16).
Sanctifying yourself and honoring Yah with your body as Paul commands us is not an easy process, and you must remember you’re never going to be perfect. But the truth is, avoiding certain foods and exercising to build our bodies up is the least we can do when our Savior’s body was beaten, whipped, pierced, and hung on a cross to die an excruciating death so we can have forgiveness and eternal life with Him. And out of gratitude for the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who believe in Yeshua as Messiah, I’m more than happy to fully dedicate my body that He made and give up a few things so that I may better serve Him.
Hopefully my message today has you feeling the same way, or at least made you realize the true importance of it. My prayer is that you all would wish to seek Yah enough and do whatever it takes to serve Him best in your current stage of life and in whatever he’s called you to do.
Be blessed.
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