I’ve been overweight most of my adult life. My two babies, a thyroid condition, poor eating habits and little physical activity had me packing on the pounds. As a former collegiate
athlete, I’ve always wanted to get back closer to my competition weight. I’ve
started and quit working out more times than I can count. I’ve tried just about
every fad diet there is. I will say I want to lose weight, and I genuinely do.
But then I will shove ice cream, candy and cokes in my pie hole. Countless days, I’ve chosen to forgo the
gym because I’m just exhausted from being a single working mom. So if I’m not
willing to put in the work, how much do I really want to lose weight?
It takes an extraordinary amount of sacrifice and discipline to lose weight. Or to
get anything you deeply desire, actually. What God showed me a while back is
that talk is cheap. I can say I want to lose weight all I want, but until I put
action into those words, they mean nothing.
I started to think about how this same “talk is cheap” flows over into other
areas of our lives. We want a close relationship with God, but we aren’t
willing to wake up just a bit earlier to have a quiet time with Him. We say we
want to get married and have an amazing love story, but we are unwilling to
forgive and set aside our pride for unconditional love. We say we want a better
job with better hours and pay, but we aren’t willing to sacrifice the time it
may take to get the education or training to make it possible.
Having an intimate relationship with God isn’t easy. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves
and take up our cross daily (Matthew 16:24). Denying myself sounds uncomfortable and hard.
There are things I want; things I desire; things I feel I need. But if I
ultimately want that relationship with the Lord, I have to be willing to
sacrifice my own fleshly desires to get what I truly desire in my heart of
hearts.
It makes me think of a child with a lollipop. The child wants that lollipop, and
it tastes good. But it’s dinner time, and she needs to eat real food.
Afterward, she can have a delicious piece of pie, which is all so much better
than that silly lollipop. But she indignantly holds fast to the lollipop, not
realizing it will never fulfill her or satisfy her true needs. If she would just sacrifice her temporary desire, she would be able to attain her ultimate desire.
Last summer, I started keto and lost about 50 pounds. I felt great, and I looked the best I had in years. But I got tired of the
sacrifice, the meal planning, the lack of chips and salsa. So I quit. God is
showing me that I need to get back on the wagon, not only with my diet, but
with my relationship with Him. I have to deny myself, because the end goal is
so much more rewarding than the temporary pleasures. Because once I marry the
love of my life, I’m going to need those skills to be the wife God designed me
to be.
