I’m so happy Focus on the Family is releasing a two-part-interview on my book Every Body Matters yesterday and today (January 9th and 10th). You can find the links HERE. (Just for the record, Every Body Matters was published in 2011, so don’t make any political assumptions about the title.)
The interview discusses the connection between body care and Christian discipleship. To celebrate the interview, we’re offering two excerpts from the book this week and next. This week’s excerpt is on the lost art of mortification. The Puritans talked about how we can fight sin before temptation hits. Since mortification is mostly a lost art, in this chapter I try to describe it in common, popular language. The paid side has my notes from John Owen’s classic work, “Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers.”
A Greater Race
“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”
Perhaps because of my long pursuit of running the Boston marathon, when I read of Paul’s urging Timothy to pursue something, I know what a guy is willing to go through if he wants to pursue something badly enough.
But will I ever pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, gentleness, and endurance with the same passion—or more—that I pursued Boston?
Will any of us?
Without becoming critical, think about this honestly: in your own home church, how many Christians fulfill Paul’s admonition to truly pursue holiness and Christlikeness?
How many of us who deal with a bad temper ultimately give up and then give in, saying, “That’s just the way I am”?
How many have let our bodies decline because we’ve tried before, maybe on and off for most of our lives, to choose healthier habits, but have concluded that the race can’t be won?
How many addicts have made a home in their addiction and are tired of feeling like a failure and unwilling to face another defeat—so they just stop fighting?
There are issues of disobedience in my life that stick to me like superglue. I may have victory over them for months or more, but then the right conditions come back—and wham! I think to myself, “Again? Really?”
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