Scripture to Memorize
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
Proverbs 31:14–15
Passage to Read
My [daughter], pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man’s whole body.
Proverbs 4:20–22
Guided Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, I come before you as your daughter today. I’m choosing to pay close attention to your words and have committed myself to keep your Word before me through regular reading. Holy Spirit, strengthen me with wisdom and diligence as I study and store the Word in my heart.
Thank you for the promise that your Word will bring life and health to my whole body. I believe that I can experience wholeness in spirit, soul, and body. As I keep my mind at peace, meditating on the Word, I’ll be enabling my body to do what you created it to do: heal and restore itself. Thank you for the power of your Word. Not only does it renew my mind, strengthen my will, and soothe my haywire emotions, it even brings health to my body. You are such a wise and loving God! Thank you. Amen.
Personal
The Proverbs 31 woman provides both food and portions for those under her care. Not only is it important for us to provide those we love with the right quality of food, we also need to exercise control over the portions we serve. Americans are suffering from a severe case of portion distortion. We no longer have a realistic sense of what a reasonable portion of food even looks like.
A study at Rutgers University:
compared what people currently perceive to be a typical portion size to what was perceived as appropriate two decades ago. More than 175 young adults were invited to select typical portions of 8 meal items for breakfast or 6 for lunch and dinner. Their selections were compared with a similar study conducted 20 years previously. The foods with the greatest difference in portion size between the two studies were those served and consumed from a cup or bowl. Servings of orange juice, cornflakes, and milk increased by 40, 20, and 30 percent, respectively.4
To get an idea of what a reasonable portion of food looks like, draw an imaginary line through the middle of your plate. One-half of your plate should be filled with vegetables and fruits. Divide the other half into two equal parts: one section for protein and the other for whole grains.
America has become a nation of inadvertent gluttons, thanks to the supersizing that abounds in restaurants and homes. Once upon a time, gluttony was considered one of the most serious sins a Christian could commit. It was included on the list of the seven deadly sins. The church took overeating seriously because they knew it had far-reaching ramifications. At its core, gluttony proves we value the flesh more than the spirit. That’s a very destructive mindset. But have you ever heard a sermon preached against overeating?
What we eat, and how much we eat, has a profound impact on our body, soul, and spirit. God’s ideal woman, as portrayed in Proverbs 31, doesn’t just live for the moment. She lives with an eye on the future. She proactively plans to age well. According to the Harvard Study described in Aging Well by George Vaillant, being overweight is one of the top six hindrances to aging well.5 Literally, it’s right up there with smoking and alcohol abuse.
Conversely, one of the leading predictors of longevity is moderate eating and a healthy body weight. Almost every known centenarian had a lifelong habit of low caloric intake. I had a dear friend who lived to be 103. Whenever I visited him, he would serve tea and cookies, Fig Newtons to be precise. He gave each guest one or two. Not half a bag—one or two.
Smaller portions are the key. If you must have M&M’S, eat a handful, not an entire king-size bag. If you are dying for a cookie, eat one. Don’t bake and eat an entire batch. One of my best friends has a small square of Hershey’s dark chocolate every day. That’s her chocolate fix. She knows it’s there for her, so she doesn’t act like a parched woman in the desert when she’s faced with the temptation to gorge herself on chocolate.
Moderation. It’s anti-American. That probably explains why—despite our vast resources and advanced health care system—we are among the unhealthiest people on the planet. The United States recently ranked forty-second in longevity among nations of the world, behind Guam and Jordan.
Digestion is one of the most taxing jobs our body must undertake. When we force our body to devote too much time and energy to digestion, it becomes a drain on the entire system. Overeating is truly one of the most destructive things you can do to your own body, right behind living a stressful (translate that: refusing to trust God) lifestyle.
Here’s a simple strategy you can begin to implement immediately: never clean your plate. That’s right. I’m suggesting you do the opposite of what your mother taught you. Always make it a point to leave a little of each food item on the plate, with the exception of raw or steamed vegetables. You’re protesting: “Oh, but that’s wasteful!” Would you rather be wasteful or have a full waist? When confronted with the choice, ask yourself this question direct from Scripture: “Is not life more important than food?” (Matt. 6:25). Which is more important: a few scraps of wasted food or killing yourself by overeating? If you really feel that strongly about not wasting food, you can gather up the fragments that remain and eat them at your next meal. But remember to leave something on the plate at that meal, too.
And while you’re at it, begin to watch the portions you serve to others. The Proverbs 31 woman gave portions to her servant girls. She didn’t hand over the whole bag of Fritos and turn them loose. She exercised wisdom.
Psalm 103:5 says that God “satisfies your desires with good things.” Learn to satisfy your hunger with good things: time with God or good friends, fresh air, long walks. When you’re feeling blue, feed on the Word of God instead of downing a gallon of ice cream. Don’t live to eat; eat to live. One of the most practical ways to transition from living to eat to eating to live is by reducing your portion sizes. That’s precisely your assignment, beginning today.
Affirmation: I eat reasonable portions.
Practical
Begin using an eight- or nine-inch plate, rather than the typical eleven- or twelve-inch dinner plate. Don’t take seconds of anything but vegetables. Consciously reduce your portion sizes and never, ever clean your plate! One helpful tool is The Portion Plate, available at www.theportionplate.com, a nine-inch plate with visual aids to remind you, at every meal, exactly what a reasonable portion looks like. They have two plates, one for adults and one for children.
Remember: Today is day three of vegetables and water.