Eternal Perspective on Losing Weight

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with [...] the anxieties of life" - Luke 21:34.

How refreshing is this verse?!  Look at the weight that God wants us to focus on:  the weight of our bodies?  Those extra pounds that everyone wants to lose from their stomach, hips, or thighs?  Nope.  He instructs us to pay attention to the weight of our hearts.  The world constantly focuses on the outside appearance; however, God cares about the condition of our hearts.

How to lose physical weight?  By eating healthy and working out.  It takes a lot of dedication and commitment to plan out healthy meals and get a good workout in.  Since healthy food is more expensive, we must spend time examining our budget to find ways to accommodate this nutrition plan.  A significant amount of time is needed to research new recipes, grocery shop, and prepare meals.  If we aren't able to eat every meal at home, we need to plan accordingly by preparing food ahead of time and bringing a "lunch box" on the go.

Physically working out and eating healthy are great things to do.  Ultimately though, God directs our primary focus to our heart.  He wants us to "be careful" (Luke 21:34) about our inside appearance.  Being careful is defined as "done with thought and attention."  How much thought and attention do we spend each day working on humility, patience, and thankfulness?  Listed above are some things that are necessary for a great nutrition plan.  Do we take the same approach to our spiritual well-being?  Engaging in a spiritual workout requires the same amount of commitment and dedication.  Reading the Word, praying throughout the day, and spending time sharing/listening with and to other believers is important in strengthening our hearts.  Like the example where someone prepares their lunch box the night before, this same skill can be applied to a busy next day...set reminders on your phone to withdraw from work, go to the bathroom or outside for a break to read a verse, send up some prayers, text a friend some encouragement, or listen to a worship song.

I pray that all of our minds continue to be transformed so that we look at food, body image, and appearance from an eternal perspective.  We are called to be spiritually fit first and then everything else is second.  By allowing God to take the added pounds off our hearts, we are uplifted with a renewed sense of confidence in Christ, ourselves, and others.  Nothing good comes from trying to live up to the ridiculous standards the world places on how everyone must look.  If you don't fit the perfect stereotype the world thinks as beautiful then all hope is lost.  Well, God is here to remind us that we are all created in His image; therefore we are filled with beauty, grace, and power.  "The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

Here's a prayer that we would pray at times before our team workouts:  "I pray that anyone who walked in wanting to lose body weight, leave having the weight removed from their hearts.  I pray that we rejoice not in how strong we are but how strong our God is.  "It is God who arms me with strength" (2 Samuel 22:33).  Lord give us your strength, shut out the voice of deceipt, and let your power be on full display.  Now's the time to work out the greatest muscle we have:  our heart.  In Jesus' name, amen."

Let us all continue looking at ourselves and others the way God does...not by the outside, but the inside  Let all the anxiety, burdens, and stresses be removed and our hearts be uplifted.

Strength in Christ.

G.I.G.I.