Scripture of the Day:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
Shame Rx:
Your weight is not about you or a reflection of who you are in Christ.
Stepping on the scale in the WW meeting, I felt my cheeks flush with heat. up .6 pounds? How? I had followed the diet. Perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. Okay, one cookie, but really? This was not fair! And the two preceding weeks I had lost 2 pounds each time that I had not worked as hard for. Humph.
Ever feel discouraged with your weight? Maybe even a little ashamed about it? You are not alone.
And what is weight? It is a measure of how much gravity pulls on a mass or object. Very scientific, huh? So, now, don’t we all feel better? No? Why not? Because somewhere we believed lies about our weight. That we should feel shame if we are not a perfect weight. And shame has not helped us in our weight loss endeavors, right?
Your weight is not about you or a reflection of who you are in Christ. Our weight loss struggles are an indicator of our battle to walk in the spirit rather than the flesh. While this can produce shame—shame that we failed, or shame that we don’t fit into a certain outfit, truly the cause of our shame is pride.
When we fall short, we can allow that humility to bring us back to Christ and to ask for His strength in our weakness. And. Press. On. Toward. The Goal. The question is, what goal?
If our goals are not so worthy, like having a perfect body (can you say pride again?), then our fortitude and carry-through will wane when something we love (food) is enticing us. No our goals have to be more worthy than just appearances. We need real. Real goals. Real purpose.
When we consider that our bodies are not our own, we realize our weight is not about us in the first place. It is all about God’s glory. We are not our own and our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes when we become so absorbed with self and our appearance, we lose sight of what really matters and we don’t end up achieving our goals, either. Shame causes us to focus on self. Honor causes us to focus on Christ. As we pursue God’s glory in all things, we lay down our lesser purposes and cling to God’s. Don’t make excuses. They only entrench our shame and relationship with food. When we can let go of the food and its hold on us, we can cling to Christ, instead.
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This Wednesday, join me as I continue the What If? series and we explore how we can ditch the shame in Jesus’ name over our battle with weight loss. See ya then!
Why live with shame when you don’t have to? God has provided a way for us to remove shame and live in victory. Come and release your shame in Jesus’ name. Shame Off You details a biblical method for removing shame and is available at many retailers. Here are a few places you can get Shame Off You. Let me know you bought Shame Off You and receive a free bonus digital download.
I purchased “Shame off You” at BN. I am finding it helpful. But today’s post has hit it directly for me. I am short petite, but not tiny. It is not the easiest thing to Miwbthst I’m in prednisone. But, this is me, continuing to work to honor God.
Hi Gloria!
Me, too, friend. I am also on prednisone due to autoimmune diseases and the battle has been real. But I, like you, am pressing on, by the grace of God alone. And progress is better than not trying at all. 🙂 Keep going, sister!
Great post and perspective, Denise! You nailed it that the source of shame is pride and that it’s easy to have the wrong motivations (prideful about our appearance) even in trying to do the right thing (lose weight; get healthier, etc.). Like you said, our motivation ought to be to bring glory to God; even in how we look, since our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (for us who are Believers). That changes my perspective and motivation. I want His Temple to look as good as it possibly can (within the limitations of the building blocks He’s given me to work with, of course!). If I am an Ambassador of Christ and representing Him to the world; I should represent Him as well as I can; even in my appearance. There are a couple of things that I’ve learned (the hard way) in this area
1. Don’t focus on weight or weight loss–Focus on getting healthier, getting in better shape (fit for service)
2. The motivation for getting healthier and in better shape is to not just make His temple “look” better; but so that, by being healthier, we might live longer and more productive lives, bearing fruit for His Kingdom.
3. A quote I got from Pastor Craig Groeschel: “I give up things I love…for things I love even more” (Giving up unhealthy food, giving up some sleep in order to exercise; because I love God even more and love getting healthier and more fit for service…than I love unhealthy food {sometimes!} or extra sleep). This has been a helpful perspective for me.
Great insights and reminders, Jeff! Ultimately, all we do and are is for His glory alone. If it is for the flesh, then it is hay,, wood and stubble. Physical training is of some value, but it is not to be for our glory.