Controlling My Gut
March 1, 2021
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. 1 Corinthians 9:27 NLT
What would be your first reaction if you overheard someone say, “I just have to get control of my gut?” You’d think you have accidentally happened upon a true confession of an overeater, someone who needed to diet and get their body in shape. But in studying the way we make decisions and run our lives, we understand “gut” in a new way that certainly presents a need for control.
We have three centers of intelligence and knowledge: the heart, the head, and the gut. All three are very significant to us as humans. When we need to make a decision, we can access all three areas and make a good, informed choice as to what we should do. But all of us have a tendency to rely on and trust one of the centers more than the others. We become imbalanced because this center carries too much weight and influences our decisions unduly.
Our Gut Center is the seat of our physical sensations, responses, and willfulness. It’s where the “I just have a gut feeling about this” response arises. It’s also the place where our desire for power and control and anger when things don’t go as we wish arise. It’s the place where the decisions to go with our feelings are born. Our feelings can help us, but they also can lead us astray when our “gut” is out of control.
Paul was aware that his instincts, his “gut,” his feelings could disqualify him for the full life; the life for which God created him. He certainly didn’t hate his feeling center. He valued it, but he was determined to control it, not let it control him. He said that he trained his body or gut like an athlete would train. He took charge of what he felt and didn’t let his feelings take charge of him. His feelings informed him but didn’t control him.
That’s our opportunity and need as we work with our Creator to be all that we were created to be. Our head, heart, and gut can learn to function in concert as we lead our feelings, and they don’t lead us.
- Pray: Lord Jesus, I thank You that I have the capacity for deep and real feelings. But I want to submit my feelings to Your Lordship and daily decide to live the full life. Help me think, feel, and act in the ways that honor You, satisfy me, and bless others. Amen.