I wrestle with why I can't get down to my goal weight and stay there. I CAN stick with a diet. I CAN exercise. So why can't I get to my goal weight and stay there?
When we have questions like this we sometimes avoid asking them to God. He knows the right answers. He knows the answers we tend to shy away from. Somewhere in the recesses of our heart, we may already know the answers.
For me, the answers I've been getting lately all revolve around my lack of discipline.
Not only could I quickly arrive at my weight goal and maintain it, but I could be healthier, more fit, have more energy and feel so much better about my physical self if I could tap into self-discipline.
The Bible speaks quite negatively about laziness, so I don't want to admit I can be lazy. But seriously, I can be very lazy and very selfish. That chocolate cupcake or piece of cheesecake is NOT a reward for something stressful I've just gone through or a prize for using the treadmill. It's simply me being selfish, not to mention rebellious. I want that cupcake and no on can tell me I can't have it! When I listen to my own thoughts, I sound so childish. I want what I want, when I want it and no one is going to stop me.
Knowing that the Bible also says that rebellion is as witchcraft before God, I shudder at the thought that I could be rebellious. But today is the day. Today is the turning-point. I've been very lazy, selfish and rebellious. And I didn't expect it to effect me at all. How childish!
Today I will apply 1 Corinthians 10:3-5 to my life and put a demand on the discipline that I know can be found somewhere in my being to walk in this decision one day at a time.
1 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive everythought to make it obedient to Christ. (NIV)
I will be healthy. I will be strong. I will be slender and fit, with terrific endurance. I will reach or even exceed my goal and remain there until Jesus calls me home.
Just imagine what doors will open for me when I apply this to the rest of my life, too! :)
Nice blog, sistah!
ReplyDeleteYou are beautiful just as you are. You will be successful. You are all that and a bag of rice chips! It seems like a few of us are struggling with this area, so we can encourage each other. Congrats on this spiffy, Dare-Diva Blog!
Helen, You can do this. I have made some diet changes also. I am feeling better but still do miss some of the foods I have put aside. But it feels good to take hold of my flesh and say "no" and really mean it. We are in this together girl.
ReplyDeleteDiane
okay, Helen. I just put the junk back and poured myself a bowl of fiber cereal. You spoke truth into my life just when I needed it.
ReplyDeleteI too just turned 50 and I'm struggling with the need for "rewards". Never did I believe that I was being selfish or rebellious - ouch.
You nailed girlfriend - keep the word coming.
Lori
In the grand scheme of things - and knowing that so many people in our world suffer tragically - its amazing that this is one of the things I struggle with most!
ReplyDeleteAnd because you put your 'junk' back Lori - I've resolved that I will be disciplined today! : )
by no coincidence this was a portion of my morning devotions:
ReplyDeleteThe ultimate solution to rebellious tendencies is submission to His authority over me. Intellectually I rejoice in His sovereignty, without which the world would be a terrifying place. But when His sovereign will encroaches on my little domain of control, I often react with telltale resentment.
My possessions, my family and friends, my health and abilites, my time - are gifts from Him. Instead of feeling entitled to all these blessings I must respond to them with gratitude. I am to be prepared to let go of anything He takes from me, but I am never to let go of His hand.
(exerpt from "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young
You know Lori - a long time ago someone told me that the tighter we hold onto something the more it will hurt when God takes it from us. Why would God take something from us that we love and hold so dearly and tightly? For our good - nwhether we understand it or not. He loves us that much. So much that He's willing to hold us while it hurts so that we can grow through it because He knows what we will become, all for His glory.
ReplyDeleteBut 'little things' like letting go of the foods that SEEM to satisfy us daily - He doesn't just take that away, He makes us give it up - of our own free choosing,to create discipline within us which He knows will empower us.