This week, let’s dig into the topic of kindness to oneself and to others. Kindness is a way of treating yourself and/or others. First, let’s talk about not being kind to others. Then we will get to how we mistreat ourselves.
Last week, DailyMail UK reported how Gymnastics Ireland did not apologize for “racism” after a viral video showed a young black girl being ignored during medal ceremony and sparked outrage from critics such as U.S. Olympic champion Simone Biles, who condemned the “heartbreaking” incident and said she had sent a video of support to the young girl after her parents reached out.
Racism is hating on someone else, which shows you do not have godly love, not even for yourself. How can you mistreat someone else, especially a child, with no remorse? The only way is when you do not love God or yourself, therefore, you know nothing about real love. Racism is one example. There is a Scripture that says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Another is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31).
Scripture also says in the book of Ephesians 5:29 “For no one has ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, as the Messiah does the church.” When a woman prostitutes her body, is she tenderly caring for her body? When folk abuse their bodies by shooting up drugs in their veins, are they tenderly caring for their bodies? No, some of them end up dead from overdoses.
Now, let’s talk about how we mistreat our bodies, beginning with the habit of overeating, which causes our bodies to become overweight. We are not loving and caring for our bodies, in the way this Scripture describes. Let me stay right here on this topic, one of my favorites. Let us also talk about something closer to home, the sin of overeating for the wrong reason, why? It tastes good, and you are eating to drown our troubles! I’m guilty!
When my mother baked homemade chocolate layer cakes, I would eat half of the cake, slice after slice! She would tell me that I’m “eating too much of that cake!” Why did I do that? One, because it tasted so enjoyable, and secondly, because I didn’t have joy and fulfillment. My husband had abandoned me and our three children, I was working triple time, trying to make ends meet, so when I would walk in the door and my mother had made such a scrumptious meal — fried chicken, cabbage, some type of bean or maybe collard greens with smoked turkey in them, topped off with the chocolate cake — it was hard to resist.
It was a sin to eat that much food at once. Not only did I make myself fat and overweight, I also gave myself several health conditions that would hit me later. I didn’t get Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure until more than 20 years later, but it was a direct result of me overeating back in the day! My poor body decided, “You have given me entirely too much sugar to process, and you are interfering with my regular routine. Therefore, I’m going to quit doing what I do, and I will just let some of this sugar run rampant in your bloodstream.”
That’s what happens when our blood sugar is high. Our system just couldn’t handle any more. This article is written to remind us to love our bodies, and then we will know how to love others.
Be kind to others, and remember to be kind to yourself too! It’s scriptural!
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.
