As you might have read in a previous blog post a plant-based has so many health benefits and it has been demonstrated scientifically as well as in the Bible, to be the best diet. Nevertheless, there are 2 Possible Deadly Side Effects of a Plant-Based Diet.
#1: A plant-based diet can have a potentially bad effect on the heart
Many of those who adopt a healthy diet have a change of heart which is good toward animals but which is so bad toward human beings. There are some who believe that because of their lifestyle, they are better people. Listen, that’s a real danger because not only there is a judgment of others that God warned us against, but also a feeling of being righteous and therefore looking down on others. It is not because we are plant-based that we are the best in the eyes of God.
We can read in the Bible in the book of Genesis that Eve was tempted by the devil to eat a fruit. A fruit from the tree of knowledge of Good and evil that God commanded not to touch and eat. You see, because God is love and doesn’t force his creature to love him back, he needed to test Adam and Eve and see if they would obey because of their love for Him. Satan is the one who insist and forces people, and through the disguise of a beautiful creature, a magnificent serpent, he used deceiving words ( just as he does today) to convince Eve that there won’t be bad consequences if she does eat the fruit, that she would not surely die and that she will even be as gods knowing good and evil. Well, there was some truth in what Satan said because she would know indeed good and evil, but she would surely die. Satan loves to mix truth and lies. Often using a lot of truth with a few lies, which can be deadly for those who are deceived. There were 3 things that happened to Eve that God warns against and that we can read in 1 John 2:16 the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
In Proverbs 16:5, it is written: “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD”
And can read in Proverbs chapter 6 that God hates a proud look
The Bible clearly says that a plant-based diet is the one designed for mankind and for a healthful body and I explain that in my book The Bible Diet. But eating a plant-based diet while being proud is worst than eating meat, or at least the clean meat mentioned in the book of Leviticus. The Bible doesn’t condemn eating clean meat but it does condemn pride. If we don’t repent and turn away from our pride we are playing with our salvation.
#2: There is something else that can be deadly. It is gluttony.
We can follow a plant-based diet but we can at the same time be a glutton. Gluttony means habitual greed or excess in eating.
I praise God that he is so patient, kind, and loving above what we can imagine. But he is also just. God is gracious in his justice and he is just in his grace. And we are not saved by works but by grace through faith. Nevertheless, faith without works is dead. So what we do is because of our faith and love for God and others. And we should not mock God.
The Bible is clear that gluttony is a serious thing.
Philippians 3:19 – Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
Proverbs 23:2 – And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
You will certainly guess that it doesn’t say to literally put a knife in the throat but it is to say that having a strong appetite is serious.
I don’t claim to be perfect, and I know that I am a work in progress and that God will finish the work he started in me as he has promised, But I wanted to share these things with you because there are among other things, a matter of salvation.
But there is hope and a perfect antidote to these deadly side effects!!!
The apostle Paul struggled with resisting temptation. We can read in Romans 7:19-25 that he said (and I am paraphrasing…), that the good that he wants to do he does not: but the evil which he doesn’t want to do, he does.
Then he talks about the law that he delights in, but that is like a mirror showing all his defects. There is a real battle between the flesh and the spirit. We can think that he is desperate and that there is no hope when he exclaims “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
But then he exclaims: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
There is hope in Jesus Christ! We can be presented as faultless in judgment because he covers us with his robe of righteousness by faith.
When we realize our defects and that we are not worthy to be saved, there is hope and there are steps that bring peace and restoration.
#1 Realizing our sins is actually great because it is the first step.
When we get to realize what Jesus did for us personally and that because he loves us, you, and me, so much that he took the penalty of sin upon himself which is death, then there is no way we can not feel bad about our sins. Except we don’t see the love of Christ. It’s like if you go to a luxury store and you break the most valuable vase in the world but you can not repay for what you did, and it means big trouble for you. But then a man comes and pays everything for you, and you go free. Won’t you be thankful and be more careful next time?
#2 So the next step is to repent. It means to truly feel sorrow for your sins, and the Holy Spirit helps you to feel this way so that you sincerely ask for forgiveness, and to decide to turn away from your sins. And God will right away forgive you. He delights in forgiving his children and he is not like us saying “hum ok I forgive you” but we keep things in our hearts.
#3 Then after we repent and we turn away from our sins and as we decide to follow Jesus, we want to show God and others that “the old me” is dead and that it will be a “new me” by baptism. And we show our love for God. It’s like a marriage. How would you feel if your fiancé wants to hide that he is marrying you? Baptism is so meaningful and it’s a declaration of our love for God to others.
#4 Becoming a new creature
Baptism doesn’t mean that all of a sudden we become perfect. It’s actually the beginning of a new life. Just as a baby is born and learns to speak, and then to walk day by day, Christ works in us to reestablish his image in us and the Holy Spirit fills us with more and more love, joy, peace, and other great things.
It becomes more and more natural to talk to our best friend, God, through prayers, to study what he wants to tell us through Bible study and to share what we know with others.
Final Notes
I want to say that a plant-based diet is a great blessing and we should indeed tell others of the benefits it has!
But we can’t urge or force others just as God never pushes anything on us. But we should teach about it, and then people can make their own choices and we should respect that.
And some people might not be at your level but there are growing at a different pace. As long as they grow God is happy. It is like if you plant seeds, as long as the plant grows and starts bearing fruits I am sure that it makes you happy.
We can also pray for and with people. Prayer is to me the most important thing when it comes to durable lifestyle change. We need God’s help, it won’t work for long if we do it on our own.
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I want to tell you a little testimony.
I used to eat all kinds of meat, yes even the French snails! I can’t say that I liked snails, it was kind of chewy and tasteless but I used to love pork. When I studied the Bible for myself and learned that indeed today some animals are still unclean, I put those things aside right away with God’s help. Later on, I had some health issues and God led me to learn about the health message in the Bible. With prayers and efforts on my part as well, I adopted a plant-based diet. God has also helped me with my addiction with chocolate ahah 🙂
God is still working on me but he brought me from far away, and I know that he will finish the work he started in me.
If there are any among the viewers who are questioning themself about the clean and unclean meat, the plant-based diet, and even some bible verses about food that are often misinterpreted, I encourage you to check out my book “The Bible Diet“.
If you want God to help you with the things you know are wrong and you struggle with, whether it be pride, gluttony, or other things. you can say this prayer:
Our father in heaven, glory, and honor be to your name. We come before you to ask you for forgiveness. Some of us have been guilty of judging others wrongly, and of being proud of our works, and some of us have not kept our body as your temple, or there might be other bad things you already know about. Please forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You promised to forgive us when we sincerely ask and want to turn away from our sins.
You also said that if we believe, everything is possible! And we believe! and you said that without you we can not do anything, but that with you all things are possible. You are the source of true joy, love, and peace. Please work in us of your good will and good pleasure. Help us to trust you and may we abide in you as you are the vine and we are the branches so that we can bear good fruits.
We thank you for your words and your promises because they are sure and you do not change. They are a light in this dark and confusing world. And we thank you in advance for the amazing work you are right now doing in us and that you will continue to do.
Amen.
