Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas

The subtitle of this book is "Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul".  What a great concept!  I read Lysa Terkeurst's Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food last summer and this is a wonderful companion book to that one.`

Mr. Thomas does a great job in tying our spiritual health in with our physical health and stressing the importance  of both.  Some of my favorite quotes from the book are as follows.

"Our battle is today.  Because of God's grace, yesterday doesn't count.  Because of God's hope, worry about tomorrow is inappropriate.  This moment, this day, this hour, are we being faithful toward God, honoring him with what we eat and don't eat, and taking care of our bodies accordingly?"

"Our holiness does not rest on the shape of our bodies, but on the acceptable sacrifice of Jesus' broken and bruised body.  Losing twenty pounds won't make God love you any more, and gaining twenty pounds won't make him love you any less.  The glorious truth is that our skinny, chubby, overweight, and obese bodies are all "holy and pleasing" to God because of what Christ has done (Romans 12:1)." - I have a hard time accepting this comment, but I know it's all true.

"It's important to know the difference between physical hunger, emotional hunger, intimacy hunger, relational hunger, and any other kind of hunger.  Many, many calories are consumed in response to needs and appetites that have little or nothing to do with physical hunger but rather are consumed in response to appetites that these calories will never touch." - Can I get an "Amen"? :)

"We need a new relationship with food altogether, seeing it as an aspect of life but not the reason for life... we need to remember that our use of food is something that, due to our sinful nature, can imprison us, assault us, and take years off our lives."

"Protecting your health is the same thing as protecting the vehicle through which God wants to change the world."

And my absolute favorite quote from this book that has become my mantra:

"If I'm going to hurt in this fallen world - and everyone of us will - I'd rather hurt and be sore getting in shape than hurt and be sore because my body isn't fit."

There is also a small section in the first chapter titled "Refined Souls" which struck me so much I made "Refine" My One Word for 2012!

 Check out this book and see how it changes your life!

 Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Zondervan book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”