“You’re gettin’ too big for your britches!”

For a pretty scrawny kid, I heard this phrase a lot growing up…🙄

Of course, it had nothing to do with me actually outgrowing my pants — it usually meant I needed an attitude check.

As an adult, however, this phrase has taken on a much more literal meaning…

You’ve heard of the freshman 15, right?

Well, over the past two years, I’ve put on the “Covid 19” — if you know what I mean…😜

And as a result, I’ve literally gotten too big for my britches…😂😂🤣😔

When I first noticed that my pants weren’t fitting the way they used to, I thought…no big deal, I’ll just cut back on the calories…take a few more walks…and I’ll be down to my previous weight in no-time.

Ha.

Turns out, it’s a lot easier to pack on the pounds than it is to take them off.

So, despite my good intentions, it became clear that I needed to go with Plan B…

…Buy some bigger pants.

🤣🤣🤣

Ahhh…much better.

In the moment, it seemed my problem was solved…but there was just one glitch.

You see, I changed my pants without changing my habits.

I became so comfortable in my new, roomier pants that it allowed me the wiggle room to continue being complacent in my old eating habits.

Since my old snug pants were no longer there to make me feel like a busted can of biscuits every time I tried them on, there was no longer any catalyst for change.

So…….as I continued along over the course of a few more months, I reached a point where even my new pants were getting a little snug. 😱😱😱

And eventually (I’m ashamed to say), I decided it was time to activate Plan C…

…Stretchy Pants.

😂😂😂

I mean, it was during the height of the pandemic, so we really weren’t going anywhere anyway…(besides Wal-mart pickup, that is)….so it seemed like the perfect solution. 😂

But in the long run, it was more of a band-aid to my problem than a cure.

And in my heart of hearts, I realized that if didn’t break this pattern, it could become an endless cycle…if I outgrew every successive pair of pants I purchased, one day I’d have my own reality TV show and have to be removed from my house by a crane. 😳😳😳

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But my struggle is nothing new…experts have been spouting statistics for years about the American diet/lifestyle and how it is contributing to conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

We get ourselves in these predicaments in at least one of two ways:

1. By eating for taste, not for hunger.

2. And a lack of exercise.

I think we all know that by now.

But what experts have yet to report on is that Christians in America are having similar issues with their spiritual diets as well:

In a spiritual context, choosing to “eat for taste, not for hunger” means we only consume Biblical teachings that are palatable to us (e.g. God’s love, forgiveness, and grace)…without feeding on the Word of God as a whole.

Many believers in America today want to skip over the “meat and potatoes” of the Bible and go straight to the “dessert” — and many churches are responding by holding back parts of the Truth for fear of offending picky palates.

But this isn’t Golden Corral.

You don’t get to just pick and choose what you put on your plate — and you definitely don’t get to skip straight to the Chocolate Wonderfall. (🤭)

By failing to acknowledge both God’s love as well as His severity (Romans 11:22), we’re not just loosening a belt…we’re loosening doctrine itself…for the purpose of our comfort.

And just like my own experience, it’s a slippery slope.

Over time, as we become more and more set in our unhealthy habits, the belt only tends to become looser and looser…the pants bigger and bigger…until, like me, one day you find yourself just lounging around all day in a pair of “spiritual sweatpants” (you know, the ones with the mystery stain and the elastic waistband that’s almost shot) feeling more than comfortable in your sins 😱…

I suppose that’s fine if you’ve got no where to go and no one to see…🫣

But let me remind you of this… just as one day the pandemic waned and I actually had to put on real pants to go out in public again…one day, we will have an appointment with God as well…and the last thing we want to do is show up looking less than presentable.

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God calls us to be imitators of Him, and the only way to do that is through spiritual diet and exercise.

Maybe you aren’t glossing over what the Bible says. Maybe you are feeding on every thing God’s all-you-can-eat buffet has to offer…that’s good and I commend you.

But that’s also a lot of calories to consume in one sitting.

So, we can’t just settle for a sedentary lifestyle…we also need to walk…with God.

James 1:22 puts it like this…”Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.”

Or to use a more familiar phrase…Just Do It.

It may be Nike’s slogan, but it applies to our walk with Jesus Christ as well.

What good are all those calories if we don’t put them to good use? Calories were meant to sustain our energy as we expend it!

In I Corinthians 9:27 (NLT), the apostle Paul says, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”

Indulgence and complacency feel good in the moment, but the effects of their habitual practice are far-reaching…you know what they say, a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips. 😉

When it comes to what God’s Word says on a subject, don’t go “shopping around” for a better fit…instead make the effort to allow God to mold you to fit what His Word says…

…because after all, when we find ourselves getting too big for our britches, it not because He’s changed — it’s because we have.

Until next time…

-PWAP