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Manna 16
#1
Manna Issue 16

2 Corinthians 10:12 "We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise."

Have you ever said, "My spouse can eat all they want and not gain weight." "My brother has always been thin like a rail like Dad, but I take after my Mother." "My best friend is high energy therefore she burns the calories off easily." "The only reason they lose weight in all those ads I see is because they are younger than me and still can." These are all comparison excuses and today we will learn to eradicate them from our vocabulary.

We are told when we compare we are not wise. We are also told that this is not to be our measuring stick. We will not just rid ourselves of comparison's today, we will seek to understand how God loves us, uniquely, calling us each by name, hovering over us as if we were an only child, always offering to be with us whenever we desire. He loves us unconditionally, and we need to not just accept that, but seek to make Him proud of us in return. The avenue we will take to discover these two items is through the issue of self-esteem. How is yours rating lately? Isn't it much more difficult to feel confident when we are overweight? Do you see a pattern of negativism more often in your life as the scale goes higher and higher? Does it appear that as the weight climbs, uncertainties about who you are in Christ Jesus, in relationships, in abilities and in an all around feeling of well-being just continues to decline? It did for me.

My relationship was great with Christ, except however for this one thing: I didn't feel good about myself and I found that I was turning less and less to God throughout the day just to send Him a cheery hello and a praise. I was reacting to the way I looked and felt, rather than how God loved me. Can you relate to the scale affecting our ability of being happy, joyful, content and cheery, especially as we pass a mirror or see a photo of yourself? If you can't then perhaps I am preaching just to myself today, safely on the other side of obesity, and if you can, perhaps I can encourage you that are depressed, just can't put a finger on why you have the blah's, or just plain old don't feel good anymore, anyway, anytime about dieting.

Why start this food sermon off with a verse about comparisons then? Because of two issues is the answer. One, we have to admit that we do compare ourselves to others in any society; that is the standard. And two, we tend to drift and compare ourselves to the good old days, for many of us that was the skinny days that are now bygone. Neither are wise. You don't have to go very far to notice that the ideal for women's bodies at present is a thin, fit, radiantly healthy, young, woman, or super chiseled man. Just open a magazine, turn on the TV, wait for a bus or subway, or merely walk down the street and look at billboards. The message of what we should look like is everywhere. The inescapable presence of these images shape our images of our own bodies, and cause us to make comparisons of what we feel the norm is and what we certainly are not. The range of actual body types in the past was no different than today. What has changed is what has been set up as the ideal. Studies have shown that while 25 years ago the average model weighed 8% less than the average American woman, today's model weighs 23% below the national average. Can you see how our image of our own bodies has been distorted by society? How we do compare and as we are told in Scripture that is not wise. It is not wise because Psalms 139:14 tells us, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Who ever heard of praising God for our body that is 20 -50 pounds overweight, or more. And yet we are told to praise God, and I will tell you why. God has designed the body to make a remarkable recovery. He lets our body signal us by weight gain if we take in more food and nourishment than is necessary to sustain life, but God also gives us an escape route called dieting where, with effort on our part, we can have the body return to a normal range. Isn't that reason enough to rejoice? To praise Him? To be glad that we are so wonderfully made? And we know exactly what it takes for our own body to react. We may realize that we have a slower metabolism which will mean less calories or more activity than another. We know that we do not have to develop an eating disorder as so many models do to attain a size that is acceptable in the industry. We can know for a certainty that God who has formed us will certainly show us the way to regaining control of our weight, and we simply put, can rest content that we do not have to become a toothpick size waif to have a better confidence in this wonderfully created body. I am not telling you to not extend effort to be in good shape or an acceptable size. What I am telling you is to take your weight loss efforts and set realistic goals.

For men, it might be a desire to get down to a 34 or 36 inch waistline in pants. For women it might be a goal of buying a 10 - 14 size dress. You do not have to have the enormity of burden to get yourself down to a societal acceptable size, but a size that is presentable, and one that makes you comfortable with your body image. If you then want to take it to a further level you may do so, but without obsession, disorder or the feeling that your body will never be acceptable to you because of what you perceive the "norm" to be. I knew I had 85 pounds to lose and it did overwhelm me. I had no confidence that I could lose that much. But after hitting my first ten pound loss mark, I decided to make my next marker go to below 200, then 175, than 167 (the weight I first became uncomfortable at) and from there on in to goal. It was in taking these smaller increments that were helpful in boosting my confidence and self-esteem as I made my markers, rather than dwelling on the times in my life that I was skinny and had to make no effort to be that way. Those days were long gone, but I could adapt to today and put forth the effort I needed to maintain a healthy weight range.

So we put behind, that picture of your favorite model or weightlifter and try to see our body as a vision of one that God has created as the "norm", not society. Here is a clever little sentence that might start you thinking in terms of reality. Thou shalt not compare yourself to Madonna or Cher, or anyone else that has a personal trainer.~~The Dieter's Bible by Muriel Kalish. That fits right in with our Scripture today from Corinthians. Be who God has called you to be and not that of another person. God has made you, uniquely you and you will, if you haven't already, discover that some day. Yes, He wants you to excel and prosper, but not in keeping accordance with keeping up with the Barbie and Ken images, instead in keeping accordance for His will for you. Start by asking God for a normal size body, not one that society or gyms, or weight loss clubs have assigned to you. And don't think it is a cop out. It is being realistic, and as I said, once you reach a certain goal, you can then reset it to another weight loss goal.

I John 5:14, 15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him.” God can do anything, but we must not petition Him to make us a size 2 like "Ali McBeal". We must know our bone structure, our genetic disposition, and we must know the weight that our body will be comfortable and healthy at. Imagine being a child in first grade again. The teacher has just asked a question and you know the answer. How do you feel? You would feel excited. Your hand would shoot up and wave wildly, while saying, "I know, I know!" Now, when you answer the question right, how do you feel? You feel important. You feel strong. You feel good about yourself. That feeling comes from the satisfaction of knowing the answer. Let your heart hear this: God designed you to feel pleasure when you know something. We should feel good about ourselves as a by-product of the nearness of God. We should feel good about ourselves and have confidence as a result of the nearness of God. We should know what it is that God wants our body to function as and we know from the Word that His primary concern is that we be in health and prosper as our soul does. (3 John 2)

As you diet, make attaining health your primary goal rather than a fixed number on a scale, and you will see how much easier, knowing the answer, and attaining your goals become! You are a special creation of a good and all powerful God. You are the climax of his creation, the magnum opus of the greatest artist in the universe. You are created in His image, with capacities to think, feel, and worship that sets you above all other life forms. You differ from the animals not simply in degree, but in kind. Not only is your kind unique, but you are unique among your kind. God has masterminded the exact combination of DNA and chromosomes that constitute your genetic code, making you as different from all others as every snowflake differs from the rest. He alone knows your perfect weight so above all be content in what you feel the Lord would set your goal as. It just might make all the difference in the world how and when we arrive at and stay at an acceptable weight range. And let me add another tip relating to comparison's: Scales are great on fish but hard on humans. Weigh yourself only occasionally to avoid being hung up on minor weight changes. We compare last week's weight to this and it seems to dictate our joy or disgust. This shouldn't be. It should be based on our relationship with God throughout the past week; how often we turned to Him, prayed to Him, listened to Him, not on whether the scale said we were obedient or not. This week, dare not to compare yourself to anyone else, let alone the scale. Let God guide you more and more and not the peer pressure of others. Seek God alone for health and kudos. Be content in your progress but confidently ask Him to help and encourage you along the way. Love your self and your body and ask God to make you the best that you can possibly be.

Read this devotional from Ralph Martson on Enjoy Being You. I do believe he is on to something! "Enjoy being you rather than chasing after what you don't have, use your energy to more fully express what you do have. Instead of striving to be someone you are not, instead of conforming yourself to the world's idea of success, create and live your own definition of success. Be who you are. That's where your most valuable treasure is. Set free that beautiful, worthy person inside of you. Free yourself from worrying about what others might think, or say, or do. Instead, focus on being the best, most authentic manifestation of you that you can possibly be. You are complete and whole right now. There is no need to prove anything to anyone. There is no need to wait for happiness or fulfillment. They are yours when you decide to live them. This is your moment in which to live with all the richness you can imagine. Enjoy being you, right now. There is so much you have to contribute, just by living the one-of-a-kind life that is your destiny. It's more than OK to be you. It's the very best and most genuinely fulfilling thing you can do. Enjoy giving your own special gifts to life only -you- can give, and lift yourself up along with the world around you." -- Ralph Marston

If you turtled this week and didn't lose any weight, thank God anyway, for He has set in motion a pathway for you to gain health and body acceptance. Be content with what ever victories you had and put the past behind you. Know for a certainty that God cares that you are happy and accepting of your progress however humble or mighty that might be. I see countless people on the message board disgusted the first week or two because they didn't lose any weight. They are comparing theirselves to those that lose 3 pounds, 5 pounds, even 8 pounds the first week. I don't know if it is effort or not; it might be well that this is how the body reacted, but it is no reason to throw the towel in as I see people disappear after a post that they are discouraged. They are comparing themselves rather than asking God to point out to them the things that they did do right. Each step is a victory in itself! Determine to make your temple fit, yes, but believe that God is cheering you along the way each and every step. You are totally loved by God and every effort that you make is seen by Him. This is what God sees in you. See it too!

Heavenly Father, I will not compare myself to others, save for what Jesus wants me to spiritually mature to. This week I will concentrate on our relationship, for I know that in doing so the concerns of my body will fall into place. Help me to realize the joy of my relationship with You, rather than to compare that with others. Thank You for Your love today and everyday. Amen ©2001-2007 www.gracetoday.com


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