Starving slaves

Instead of enjoying their newfound freedom in Jesus, the Galatians had gone back to their old ways, putting themselves on a strict diet of impossible law-keeping that made them feel holy (and hungry). 

New Year’s resolutions can make us legalistic like that. If we get things right, we think we’re super-spiritual. If we get things wrong, we self-flagellate. We enslave ourselves to impossible ideals and when we (predictably) don’t reach them we think, I’m such loser! We somehow believe we need to go on a grace detox, starving ourselves of the rich fruit God supplies, in an attempt to pay for something He already paid for, in full. Jesus died so we’d be free and filled – never deprived of His love. 

Today’s apple: Detox disaster

Google detox. You’ll go, ‘Wow, detoxing must really be a thing, right?’ Wrong! Despite its popularity, there’s very little science to support detoxing – because there’s no such thing as a build-up of toxins in your body. If something toxic does arrive in your system, your skin, liver and kidneys work to get rid of it. The true benefit of detox diets is what you don’t eat during the process. So instead of a dedicated ‘detox’, make healthy food choices your new normal. This is more sustainable, and more likely to give you the results you’re looking for.