Colossians 2:23 · World English Bible
These things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Harsh rules a person picks for himself can look like deep devotion, all the fasting and sternness worn where others can admire it. Yet such display leaves the real appetite untouched.
From the Sufism reading below.
The same verse, read by one tradition.
SUFISM
Harsh rules a person picks for himself can look like deep devotion, all the fasting and sternness worn where others can admire it. Yet such display leaves the real appetite untouched. This is pride disguised as humility, a mirror polished only on the side that faces the crowd.
The cure is to turn the effort inward and unseen, to work on the hidden greed and vanity that no rule about food ever reaches. God waits in that quiet, private struggle, present exactly where no one is watching to praise the one who struggles.
Sufism lens
Where is your discipline quietly performing for someone?
The Buddha starved himself nearly to death and found it got him nowhere, so he ate, and then woke up. Punishing the body is not the same as changing the heart.
Someone standing on tiptoe to be seen cannot stand for long. Display is unstable, however impressive it looks from outside.
If you fast, do not go around telling people you are fasting, and do not make a performance of drinking only water. The discipline is for you, not for an audience.
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Sufism