Not too long ago I read an article entitled, “Are you ready for children” and one of the “tests” was the physical test -
“Obtain a large beanbag chair and attach it to the front of your clothes. Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10 of the beans.”
What’s funniest about this scenario is how sadly true it is.
This is what led me to my 2012 goal of losing weight. At first I set out on my own to reduce the amount of soda I drank and to attempt to exercise. But, like many other goals on my list to accomplish, this one quickly came to a grinding halt.
Thankfully, that’s not the end of my 2012 goal. God knew I could not reach my goal on my own power so He strategically placed me in a small group of women to work through the book Made to Crave. The book and my accountability partner have made my weight loss goal an obtainable one.
At first this journey seemed to be such a struggle for me. I had given up soda completely, began exercising and eating right but my body just didn’t want to give up any of the extra pounds. In a fit of anger and frustration I ended up destroying our useless scale and ridding myself of the last of the soda left in our house.
~I do want to interject right here because I know some of you are freaking out right now, “Why on earth did you have to put a knife through the glorious, delicious Pepsi?” Well, here’s why I had to destroy it instead of just giving it to someone.
There’s a story in Scripture where Jesus tells a young, rich man that unless he is able to give up all he owns he can not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Let me clarify, this is not saying that unless we sell all our possessions and live poor lives we won’t go to Heaven. What it’s saying is that you need to be able and willing to give up the things in your life you are holding onto and are unwilling to give up – even for God.
What is the first commandment? You shall have no other gods before me. If there is something in your life that you are unwilling to let go of, you may want to evaluate if it’s an idol in your life. Something you are putting before God.
I know this may seem drastic and you may be saying to yourself, “I don’t have other gods in my life” but I would caution you, if you have something - food, a certain drink, a possession, or even an emotional attachment to money - that you are completely unwilling to let go in your life, then take some time to really pray about it.
Pepsi was my idol. Pepsi had become part of my identity to the point where I just could not let it go. I knew it wasn’t good for my health and that I would be better off without it, but the attachment was so great I was unwilling to completely get rid of it.
That’s why I had to destroy the Pepsi. I didn’t want to be like the young, rich man. I wanted to be able to put God’s temple (my body) before the soda which meant I needed to completely destroy the temptation. ~
I can not tell you how freeing it was for me to completely release myself from the temptation of soda and the temptation of obsessing over the scale each day.
I have been working extremely hard the past 10 weeks and, although my journey is far from over, I have great news to announce…..
I HAVE LOST 10 POUNDS!!!!!!
It’s a great feeling to finally begin to see the progress I’ve been working so hard for and I’m certainly not at my goal but I count this as a success.
One last thought before I close - A few weeks ago while I was having some quiet time with God, I was reminded of the value of my body. My body is God’s temple. He created me exactly the way He wanted and made me extremely special. But I had taken the body He created and I filled it with unhealthy things and allowed myself to get out of shape. It’s like if I made something special for my kids and they took it for granted and ended up destroying it. In a sense, that’s what I did. To think of my body as something valuable that God took precious thought and time to create, gives me the motivation to take care of it. I hope it gives you the motivation to take special care of the gift God has also given you.
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