September 17th, 2023
Luke 4:1-2
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them, he was hungry.
When we are hungry, we are more susceptible to moral shortcuts. In an experiment with college students after fasting for 12 hours, the hungrier they were, the less disgusted they were by a morally problematic dilemma in a short story (Vicario et al., 2018). We could have less energy for moral reasoning when our blood sugar is low. It is probably easier to agree with whatever is going on.
Luke reports that Jesus was much more food deprived than the study participants, and we can only imagine what kind of hunger he was experiencing. There is no mention of why Jesus didn’t eat anything during that time and if he planned to go that long without food. Regardless of the reason, as we learn in Luke’s subsequent verses, Jesus did not take the easy moral shortcuts he was tempted towards, but this must have been excruciating and only because of his immense moral strength.
For the rest of us, in addition to relying on the Holy Spirit and bible study for our moral strength, it is an excellent idea to minimize our human vulnerabilities
to moral compromise, including our biochemical vulnerabilities. As the study authors conclude, if you have something you need to do at the top of your moral game, “…make sure you do it after breakfast.” (p. 35).
JOURNAL:
How might your moral choices be influenced by the health basics of appropriate nutrition, sleep, and exercise?
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them, he was hungry.
When we are hungry, we are more susceptible to moral shortcuts. In an experiment with college students after fasting for 12 hours, the hungrier they were, the less disgusted they were by a morally problematic dilemma in a short story (Vicario et al., 2018). We could have less energy for moral reasoning when our blood sugar is low. It is probably easier to agree with whatever is going on.
Luke reports that Jesus was much more food deprived than the study participants, and we can only imagine what kind of hunger he was experiencing. There is no mention of why Jesus didn’t eat anything during that time and if he planned to go that long without food. Regardless of the reason, as we learn in Luke’s subsequent verses, Jesus did not take the easy moral shortcuts he was tempted towards, but this must have been excruciating and only because of his immense moral strength.
For the rest of us, in addition to relying on the Holy Spirit and bible study for our moral strength, it is an excellent idea to minimize our human vulnerabilities
to moral compromise, including our biochemical vulnerabilities. As the study authors conclude, if you have something you need to do at the top of your moral game, “…make sure you do it after breakfast.” (p. 35).
JOURNAL:
How might your moral choices be influenced by the health basics of appropriate nutrition, sleep, and exercise?
By Dr. Kenny Boyd
Thank You for Supporting the Ministry of Crosswalk
Recent
Archive
2023
January
Lovewell: A Theology - Day 1Lovewell: A Theology - Day 2Lovewell: A Theology - Day 3Lovewell: A Theology - Day 4Lovewell: A Theology - Day 5Lovewell: A Theology - Day 6Lovewell: A Theology - Day 7Lovewell: A Theology - Day 8Lovewell: A Theology - Day 9Lovewell: A Theology - Day 10Lovewell: A Theology - Day 11Lovewell: A Theology - Day 12Lovewell: A Theology - Day 13Lovewell: A Theology - Day 14Lovewell: A Theology - Day 15Lovewell: A Theology - Day 16Lovewell: A Theology - Day 17Lovewell: A Theology - Day 18Lovewell: A Theology - Day 19Lovewell: A Theology - Day 20Lovewell: A Theology - Day 21Lovewell: A Theology - Day 22Lovewell: A Theology - Day 24Lovewell: A Theology - Day 23Lovewell: A Theology - Day 25Lovewell: A Theology - Day 26Lovewell: A Theology - Day 27Lovewell: A Theology - Day 28Lovewell: A Theology - Day 29Lovewell: A Theology - Day 30Lovewell: A Theology - Day 31
February
Lovewell: A Theology - Day 32Lovewell: A Theology - Day 33Lovewell: A Theology - Day 34Lovewell: A Theology - Day 35Season 1 - IntroductionUncomfortable (S1) - Day 1Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 2Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 3Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 4Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 5Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 6Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 7Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 8Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 9Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 10Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 11Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 12Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 13Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 14Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 15Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 16Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 17
March
Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 18Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 19Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 20Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 21Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 22Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 23Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 24Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 25Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 26Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 27Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 28Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 29Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 30Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 31Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 32Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 33Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 34Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 35Campus WeekAfter - Day 1After - Day 2After - Day 3After - Day 4After - Day 5After - Day 6
April
After - Day 7After - Day 8After - Day 9After - Day 10After - Day 11After - Day 12After - Day 13After - Day 14After - Day 15After - Day 16After - Day 17After - Day 18After - Day 19After - Day 20After - Day 21After - Day 22After - Day 23After - Day 24After - Day 25After - Day 26After - Day 27After - Day 28
Categories
Tags
1 Corinthians
1 John
1 Peter
1 Samuel
2 John
3 John
Acts
Belonging
Campus Week
Certainty
Church
Clarity
Colossians
Community
Compassion
Connect Group
Crosswalk
Daily Study
Dave Ferguson
Deconstruction
Easter Week
Easter
Ecclesiastes
End of Series
End of the Week
Faith
Galatians
Galations
Gathering
Genesis
Group Study
Hebrews
Holy Wednesday
Hosea
Isaiah
James
Jeremiah
Job
John
Jonah
Joshua
Light
Lovewell: A Theology
Lovewell
Love
Luke
Mark
Matthew
Mike Rhynus
Paddy McCoy
Philippians
Proverbs
Psalms
Revelation
Romans
Sabbath
Service
Small Group Guide
Small Group Study
Small Group
The Little Letters
Timothy Gillespie
Uncomfortable
William Johnsson
Witness
Zechariah
choices
patience
rules
small group guides
No Comments