Bringing Honor to the Temple—Building Godly Boundaries
1. The material covered in this day includes a focus on how hard it can be to determine how we will spend our time, treasures and talent. We are encouraged at the top of page 183 to “seek God’s perspective on this topic and to carefully obey His call.” Can you relate to the struggle to prioritize your time, talent, and treasure? How so? What demands do you face upon you in this regard? How have you fared?
2. Some feel that boundaries are not a godly concept. From the discussion in this chapter, what is your view? What is a boundary? Can it be maintained in a godly way? Should it be? Does it honor God?
3. On page 185 is the following quote: “We can learn to avoid the trap of ‘finding a need and filling it’ simply by being still and knowing that God doesn’t call us to be all things to all people. This is modeled throughout the scriptures. In our desire for human approval and not wanting to offend others by saying ‘no,’ we may deplete the energy we need for going about the Father’s business. On the other hand, with proper boundaries we become energized in ministering to others and in service of our Lord.” Respond to this quote. Do you agree? Disagree? How so?
4. What are some reasons we may lack appropriate boundaries (page 185)? Does this apply to you? In what way?
5. How did you feel about “categorizing” your food into Pleasers, Teasers, Total Rejects and Whole-Body Pleasers? How do these categories relate to boundaries?
6. What are some of your whole-body pleasers?
Thin Within Book Study 
I like the idea of eating whole body pleasers. This helps me to feel free to eat things I like, yet steward my temple well by eating things that are also good for me and sweets in moderation. This chapter is one of my favorites because of the definitions of pleasers, teasers, and whole body pleasers. I must say though that it is hard for me to know for sure if something is truly a whole body pleaser. I saw a natropath who told me I might be lactose intolerant, that my body doesn’t like caffeine or corn. However, I don’t notice any negative changes when I eat lactose in moderation. I don’t know what sort of reaction I would notice to caffeine and corn. Maybe I get bloated, but I am not sure. If my body does react and get bloated does that mean it is something to avoid or just eat very little of since I enjoy it? I am still trying to figure this out.
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I think there are no perfect answers to your question. But what a great question! If you don’t like how bloated you get, you might consider it worthy of avoiding. If you enjoy it, but don’t mind the bloating, it might be a Taste Bud Teaser. Does that help at all? 🙂
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Yes, that helps. I guess I don’t want to just eat pleased because I like them I want to desire whole body pleasers
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Give yourself some time and your preferences WILL change over time! Truly. For you young moms, there is a Thin Within book for raising kids. It is called Raising Fit Kids in a Fat World. It is out of print, but it is still available, I think, at Amazon. It is a WONDERFUL book!
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Thanks. I have already begun to teach my kids how to know if they are hungry or satisfied. Kids naturally eat only what they need, and the authors mention that in thus book. So I am trusting my kids to eat what they need instead of making them eat more. We have even talked about eating a fist sized portion. It is great being able to teach my kids what God is teaching me about taking care of our temples.
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Oh yay!
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As. I hit my late 40s and 50s increasingly fiounf that I had little trouble setting boundaries in my daily community life. Although I slipped on that recently Snd agreed to do something I think was ambivalent about sure enoug I showed up at wrong time :). I think God is living but he always sets boundaries much as parent might a child. I don’t think we are always aware or understand why that happens. I loved the classification of food. I released weight the first week but then have been sort of stuck. I think cuz I’m not quite where god wants me in grasping all this. I think too I tend to stop closer than 6 but going for whole body pleasers is helpful in that. One of my rejects is raisins. Love them but more than a handful and they give me digestive problems. So u don’t buy them. I do find though that I’m no longer fearful that if ii don’t do all the legalistic things that I will just keep gaining.
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