I am just going to say it. Weight is one of the least inspiring and most misleading ‘symptoms’ of living well I can think of. Sure, it tells us how heavy our bodies are—organs, cells, skin, bones, muscles, and water all added together to make a nice, neat little number. We look at a scale and can tell if that culmination has risen or fallen.
So, what?
Consider what impacts us from month to month. First those things that fluctuate: Hormones, water retention, sodium intake and Lord knows that stress and sleep make a difference! Then the constants: Biology, genetics and bone density. Next take lifestyle, the living and breathing component of our bodies in the form of what we eat, whether we exercise and daily activities. Just when you think your weight should wane due to your diligence in working out, it rises! But then, weight may even increase as waist size decreases. Everybody’s different. Every BODY ‘weighs’ in differently..
All sarcasm aside, weight ain’t nuthin’ but a number.
I don’t know when it was or why, actually, but collectively as a culture we developed the belief that weight defines us—or at least it’s strongly linked to our health, wellness and, well, our self and social evaluation. (The fact that insurance charts and doctor rhetoric supports it doesn’t help.)
It’s about time we reconsider such a preconceived notion. It lacks accuracy yet ‘weight’ subconsciously invades the psyche of almost every woman. It’s as if we wear it on our foreheads as a source of social status.
We value our bodies, hinge our mood and either reward or punish ourselves based on what we weigh. Can you relate?
Ladies, my Friends, please hear me when I say that your weight is not your worth.
You do NOT wear it on your forehead as a proclamation of your potential as a person. Those small shifts from day to day mean nothing…except perhaps to you.
When you lose weight, you gain NO graciousness or gratitude. My heart gives the same regardless of weight. The essence of me, my faith, matters no less if my weight rises or falls.
Losing pounds will never replace problems. It’s true. Those financial, professional or relationship issues remain long after pounds depart.
And dare I take it one step further, but losing weight means nothing to the Lord…..unless, of course, you make weight your obsession above and beyond what He has in mind for you.
Let me clarify: Weight loss only leaves its mark on the heart of God when we give it what HE wants from us—our love, time, energy, commitment or undivided attention. If we value who we are based on a number rather than as an inherently valuable, lovable lady of the Lord, we have missed what we were made for.
We deny who we are and whose we are through spending more time on weight than faith.
Have you given your weight on the scale and all things related (body shape, food, fitness) a greater weight than you give God in the grand scheme of things? God made you for more than that struggle. And He wants more of you. When you spend all your time tracking calories, how can you trace your life’s worth according to His desires?
Weight does not define you—God did, even before you were born. Weight does not deserve credit for how you feel or how greatly you are blessed—God derserves credit. Perhaps we need another commandment: Your ideal body weight shall not define you—Let the Lord!
So, let’s look at weight more realistically. It provides us with one indication of how we care for our physical bodies, these lovely, unique vessels He crafted so carefully. Because He gave it to you, care for it out of love!
Care for your body out of love and not a longing to look a certain way.
Lift your eyes UP to Him rather than down to an arbitrary number on a scale.
He planned you for more than a life filled with an ache for a certain aesthetic. If you have been giving your weight more than it deserves, it leaves you with less of the real essence of you.
Maybe it will be for you like it was for me: When I stopped staring at the scale and started seeking His plans, I naturally gave my weight less weight and I have gained so much more! And, as for my body—I love it without always knowing my weight. I (and my forehead) are blank slates for God to write what HE wants others to see. And I am certain that it’s not a number!
Ladies, let the numbers go and live well from the inside out.
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