Time for a detox!

Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “ You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitudes of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

In February, after being diagnosed with the Borrelia bacteria, also known as Lyme disease, I began a series of intensive treatments. Along with heavy doses of antibiotics and natural supplements, I began a nutritional detox diet. Like many other Lyme patients, I needed to change the way I was eating. For years, I had been consuming dairy, gluten, sugar, etc. without knowing that I was contributing to the inflammation in my body and feeding various harmful bacterias.

For me, the decision to radically detoxify my body all boiled down to this one question, “Do I want the pleasure of food or do I want health?” The daily debilitating and persistent neurological symptoms made my decision easy. I was willing to deprive myself of culinary pleasures in order to have more pain-free, symptom-free moments.

After 5 months and counting, I’ve come to realize that these same nutritional principals can also be applied to my spiritual life. We can daily ingest “toxins” like false beliefs or ideologies that are harmful to us. Whether it’s adapting to godless cultural norms, or giving in to the deceitfulness of our own sinful desires, these germs can contaminate and infiltrate our spirit.

The dictionary defines detox as “a means to abstain from, or rid the body of, toxic or unhealthy substances,” but the Bible goes a step further in its definition. We are not to simply participate in religious activities of abstaining and trying to rid ourselves from sin, but we are to participate in a transformation, taking on the very nature of Christ.

Just as an effective food cleanse removes harmful substances and then adds the nutrients lacking, so the spiritual “putting off-putting on” principal is essential to a healthy, vital spiritual life. Without this daily cleanse of renewing our minds, will, and emotions, we can get stuck in the murky waters of conforming to the system of this world and it’s low set of standards.

2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ.” So what are we waiting for? What is keeping us from taking captive and taking charge of our spiritual health?  As many of us have accomplished the Whole30 food challenge, why not accept the Romans 12:2 Whole spiritual growth challenge? Spiritual transformation comes through the renewing of our minds.