She looks down at her belly and grabs her gut, squeezing the life out of it. “ Uhhhh! What happened? I hate my fat stomach… so gross. “ her internal groans are evident on her face, reflected by the mirror she detests. She squeezes into her pants and hates the hug they give her waste. “I wish I could wear my yoga pants… “Her brow is furrowed and sadness is reflected in her eyes.
Her day is plagued with the food she wants to eat and won’t allow herself until she caves at 9 PM , after dinner and her children are in bed. An insatiable sweet tooth beckons her back to the kitchen only to invite her to beat herself up in the mirror the next morning yet again.
Her self-image denies her confidence in the bedroom and she rolls away from her husband. Her connection with the man she adores is held captive by her inability to love her body and give it to him with abandon. His God-given desire to embrace the women he treasures is rejected and withheld creating tension in their marriage.
“If I could lose weight I would have so much energy, and confidence and wear what I want. I’d be happier.” She thinks to herself as she rejects his honest compliments on the body that carried their children.
As long as the enemy can hold us to the poor reflection we see in the mirror, we will look down at ourselves rather than out at the world and reject the goodness and love surrounding us. He builds walls around compliments, self-acceptance, and happiness that are offered to you daily with the lie, that “You don’t deserve it. You are not good enough to believe you are beautiful, confident, and lovely until you look different."
He wants us to HATE our body, our vessel for God's spirit.
The enemy keeps us distracted from serving God’s Kingdom by consuming our energy and attention through the lies that he whispers to the poor self-reflection we see in the mirror.
Our self-reflection is a combination of our experiences, the political, cultural, and religious doctrines we’ve been exposed to, what we were told as children, and how we have been shown to give and receive love and kindness towards others.
The beautiful truth about God is that our transformation begins with the renewing of our minds.
Ro 12:2
Once we accept Him as our savior, He rewrites those old stories and replaces them with the truth that says, "You are worthy of being loved and you are fearfully and wonderfully made".
I’ve learned that it’s difficult for a mother to “rest.” She is always going until most likely she burns out. She fears idleness evident by the build-up of laundry, dust, dirt, and a bare refrigerator.
God is so gracious and loving to mothers as He reminds us that to “Rest” is not merely couch time, a good book, and a bubble bath (although those are lovely and necessary to experience ). Rest also means to “Pause” or “Fast.”
When we step back to put a pause on the hurried, self-imposed expectations of getting “it all done” which leads to “burnout, “ and choose to “fast” from the negative self-talk, we discover the spirit-led truth about the image in the mirror.
God has given us a body and a spirit to move around, interact with other souls, and share His truth using our unique gifts and talents. Our height, weight, skin color, and stature are all part of His design. When we become obsessed with diets, specific ways of eating, rigorous exercise routines, or treatments to alter our appearance because we believe it will change the way we feel about ourselves, we begin to believe the lies planted by the Father of Lies. We can never feel content with ourselves without Christ Jesus. Food is intended to nourish our body, and God wants us to take pleasure in the vibrant colors of food, its richness, the fun of the flavors He created, its ability to bring people together in fellowship, and its delightful aromas.
The most important step towards experiencing our healthiest body (and mind) is to “fast.”
Fast from the things that are not serving us and that is robbing us of energy, starving our relationships, and perpetuating negative self-talk. Take a step back and create space for change.
Before trying to fill this space with eating “healthier”, efforts to “Lose weight,” or “ eat for energy.. “ We need to identify the opportunities we already have, every day, to make life-giving nourishing choices. Whether it’s to take the stairs rather than the elevator, whether it's using the time to go for a walk, use the elliptical that’s now a clothes hanger, choose water over caffeine, speak patiently rather than hastily, say yes to love rather than roll over.
It's important to take a break and reflect on the stories we tell ourselves every day, whether we're looking at ourselves in the mirror or comparing ourselves to others. We should also think about the times when we choose to say "not right now" or "I don't have time" to things that would be good for us. Take some time to pause and think about these things.
We may just discover that it’s not flesh and fat that you desire to lose but the weighty burden of carrying the negative, false image and old stories of ourselves.
Most importantly we must surrender these to Christ and be open to the joy, pleasure, and self-acceptance we can experience NOW through His image of us.
Once we see ourselves as Christ does, a vessel of His love, we will be drawn towards making healthy decisions on behalf of the body God gave each of us.
That’s the beginning of a journey of feeling utterly UNSTOPPABLE.
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