Getting Destructive

So far, I've tried to stay in the area of non-destructive behavior. That is, so what if I have a couple of Oreos? In the illustration, non-destructive behavior is represented by the gray circle. Eventually, if we persist in using a genuinly unhelpful pleasure mechanism to deal with our daily discomforts, that pleasure mechanism will turn into a destructive behavior.

The quick illustration is: 2 Oreos = 150 calories, no problem. 1 package of Oreos = 30 Oreos (more or less) = 2250 calories. Now there is a problem. When our comfort behavior starts doing damage to our body through weight gain, for example, we are compounding our problems with interest.

I have been using food as my example. That's because that's my pleasure mechanism. Therefore it is also my struggle. But food and eating is certainly not the only way people deal with their discomforts. The list can be very long, and the most obvious examples might include:

Alcohol
Sex
Drugs
Work
Exercise
Thrill-seeking
Hobbies
Entertainment

None of these things are necessarily bad in themselves. How they are used is the issue. All of them are devoid of spiritual content by themselves. They might be used spiritually, but that must be in relationship with God.

If the discomforts we deal with are spiritual in nature, relying on any of these is doomed from the start, and even more likely to lead to destructive behavior. If the discomforts are emotional in nature, the most common pleasure mechanisms are unlikly to be of any long-term help.

I tend to believe that since God is the god of all comfort (Remember that verse back in 2 Corinthians?) that discomfort always has a spiritual component. So leaving God out of our comfort behaviors is risky business.

Some of our comfort mechanisms are more obviously destructive than others. Obesity is destructive to the body. It can be destructive to others, as our failing health can adversely affect those in our families.

Alcoholism is an obvious destruction. Adultery destroys a marriage, pre-marital sex is emotionally and spiritually destructive. Constantly overworking can be very destructive to the health of a marriage, or to one's own spiritual and emotional balance, for we were not made to work 24-7. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" is a reflection of our spiritual and physical nature. We were created to rest one day out of seven.

Next time, back to the spiral . . .