Self-nourishment

Self-Nourishment

Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 14:20-45

We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

We once used our addictions to find comfort and to help us cope with life’s daily battles. In recovery, we may have become so focused on the battle at hand that we’ve neglected our basic physical needs. We may have forgotten our need to enjoy some of the sweet things of life. Failure to take care of ourselves can leave us weak and vulnerable.

During a difficult battle, King Saul had declared, “‘Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening—before I have full revenge on my enemies.’ . . . But Jonathan had not heard his father’s command, and he dipped the end of his stick into a piece of honeycomb and ate the honey. After he had eaten it, he felt refreshed. But one of the men saw him and said, ‘Your father made the army take a strict oath that anyone who eats food today will be cursed. That is why everyone is weary and faint.’ ‘My father has made trouble for us all!’ Jonathan exclaimed. ‘A command like that only hurts us. See how refreshed I am now that I have eaten this little bit of honey’” (1 Samuel 14:24, 27-29).

When we’re in recovery, we already feel deprived. We need to make sure that we’re being good to ourselves in healthy ways, eating good food and tasting some of the sweet things that life naturally provides. Recovery isn’t a time for unnecessary deprivation. If we allow ourselves to become too hungry, physically or emotionally, we’ll find ourselves weary and less able to fight the battles we face each day.

We should be more interested in what is right than in looking good.