‘Better Hate than Never’ - Improving my Diet - Part 6

The Bible is packed with guidance as pertains to love. Love this, love that.

Nearly always, love is the answer. Nearly always, hatred is bad.

You will notice this if you are someone- like me- with a temper. The more you indulge your anger, even if you’re Novak Djokovic and it’s helping you win Wimbledon, the angrier and more resentful you get. This is something that can end in tears. On the other hand, if you focus your energy on reconciliation and trying to be calm, you are more likely to act rationally and achieve better outcomes- the key is reducing your arousal. This is backed up by the relevent literature.

So I was made to wonder if there were situations in which hatred was warrented. Surely, hating those things worth hating is a perfectly noble pasttime. The Bible is clear about righteous indignation as… righteous. What about hatred itself? What if I said I hate the dietary rules I’ve vowed to keep (which- like my nicotine addiction- I’ve broken already)?

I think it’s a valid question. According to Paster Jim Deyling, ‘If you love something, you will hate what threatens or destroys it. Passionless tolerance is a Buddhist doctrine – not a biblical one.’

The Bible indeed articulates things God hates, and as Christians we are commanded to ‘be imitators of God’.

I wouldn’t count my diet as hateworthy. I think I should reframe it: I might find the diet tough, but I could still regard it as a thing of goodness; it’s in the interest of my betterment.

Furthermore, I think God is probably much angrier over the fact I have broken two vows.

I consumed a bunch of sugary snacks and diet coke on graduation day. I had made an allowance for a small diet coke bottle, but I consumed more than that eventually, which was accompanied by a slew of snacks. At the time, I’m not sure I recalled the vow exactly. I definitely recalled in the moment that I was breaking some kind of rule. I’m not sure that I remembered that I’d vowed.

Then there was today.

Unlike every other day recently, I didn’t chow down on a warehouse’s worth of chocolate. So that’s a start. I had a meal deal for brunch, which included a ceasar salad sandwich, two diet cokes and a millionaire’s shortbread snack. Midafternoon I went down the road to the shop, I was thinking of buying chocolate and diet cokes again.

Then I remembered… I made a VOW. Not an IDLE RULE.

I still bought two diet coke bottles. So I did break it regardless. However, I did swap out chocolate for chicken in the form of Fridge Raiders packets.

By remembering my vow, I made a positive amendment. Yet, I still broke a vow.

So I will now pray to God for forgiveness. There are two broken vows I need to repent for.

Now, I shall carry on with following the vows properly. My mum is always saying that if you cheat your diet on a given day, its illogical to continue breaking it the rest of the day or in the coming days. So let’s not fall into that. Not that I should be weighing up a vow. Vow’s a vow.

I did say, in Part One, that I wouldn’t beat myself up for slipping up. Making a vow is the opposite approach: it should not be taken on suggestion. I think I carried my blasé attitude by way of the first approach, over to this new one. I will mention, I did vow to try to make the healthy choices. When I acknowledged the concept of ‘trying’ to myself in the context of making this vow, my meaning was clear. I am to endevour to make the best choices I can as regards to diet. Going to the shop and buying diet cokes when there are better drink options represents a violation of this principle. Especially since I was cognizent of the vow at that point, and afterwards blatantly broke it. Try was not a word I invokes for the purpose of excusing a failiure of willpower. There is a distinction there.

God probably hates that I renegated on my commitment. I feel like I hate these new rules for myself.

Better hate than never, though. I repented for my failings. All I can do now is stick to it. I have been slipping up, but tending in the right direction. Not good enough though. Time to knuckle down.

LET’S REMIND OURSELVES OF THE DEAL FOLKS -

Intuitively-healthy, twice-daily meals. No renegading. Water is the drink. This is to exist inside a daily/weekly routine which allows for exercise, self-care and sleep habits in aid of longevity and self-empowerment.

Regards,

Jed.