Standing on the scale, I watched the digital numbers escalate while my weight was calculated. The final number made me cringe.
How can I exercise all week, control my appetite, and not lose an ounce?
Five weeks earlier, I faced two choices: Lose weight or buy a bigger pair of pants. I elected to spend my summer eating more fruits and vegetables and exercise regularly.
I was motivated as long as my pounds decreased. When I hit the plateau, self discipline took a nose dive.
That evening, I indulged my craving for a HUGE bowl of popcorn…smothered with melted butter. Yep, ate the whole thing.
I don’t know how many calories I consumed, but I didn’t taste an ounce of guilt when I licked the bottom of the greasy bowl.
Contrary to all the weight loss miracle ads, losing weight (in a healthy way) is a slow, methodic process. And when it comes to building and toning muscles, forget instant gratification.
However, since I began eating healthier and exercising, my pants are less tight. I have more energy; more strength. My mental outlook improved. Isn’t that worth the process?
Or am I only focused on an end result—reaching that ideal number on my scale? If that’s true, my healthy regimen is a temporary fling like a summer romance instead of a necessary, life-long commitment.
The same holds true for spiritual growth.
Years ago, whenever I wanted to experience more of God’s presence and become a “better Christian,” I’d pray more and inundate myself with reading the Bible and Christian material.
I experienced spiritual growth spurts; glimpsed moments of euphoria. However, I couldn’t maintain that spiritual high or rate of growth. Finally, I realized…
There’s no such thing as microwave Christianity.
We renew our minds by the daily reading of God’s Word. Then we’re chiseled and changed by the Holy Spirit in the minuscule moments of each day.
This slow, sometimes painful, chiseling process is necessary to achieve God’s finished product: molding us into the likeness of Christ. (Romans 8:28,29)
My task is learning how to obey and cooperate when I’m confronted with God’s Word. For example…
- Do I listen to my heart’s desire to complain, scold, attack, and ridicule? Or make peace?
- Do I apply God’s Word throughout my week even though the lessons are painful?
- Do I sweat to do the right thing? Or cave in when something becomes too difficult?
- Do I rely on my own strength? Or lean on the Lord to make a way in the wilderness?
“Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation.” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).
If I want to strengthen my faith and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22),
I must abide in Christ.
Not sporadically during a spiritual whim, but habitually.
Even in this … endeavor to lose weight and live healthy.
Share this:
Even In This 
Karen!
Blessings to you in the mighty name of our Dear Lord Jesus Christ.
Please forgive me, for I know this is the most inappropriate means of connecting with you…but this is the avenue I could find.
First of all, I want thank God for your life and the awesome work He is doing through you on this blog!
To Him alone be all the GLORY!
My name is Tim and I am the founder of the newly unveiled Christian Social Media/Community known as: Rhemalog
If I may crave your indulgence, I will quickly like to intimate you on our purpose, goals and objectives.
The name Rhemalog is a compound word, coined from both “Rhema” and “Log”.
It means, putting into writing(Log), your encounters in the Word of God(Rhema).
That is, sharing with the beloved, the things that God has shown unto you in His Word.
Rhemalog was established by the leading of the Holy Spirit, as a platform to enrich and impact the body of Christ all over the World!
You will agree with me that there is a lot of degradation going on.
Abuse, spiritual contaminations, mental pollutions and attacks on our faith.
All you need is to refresh your social-media pages long enough…then boom!
There you have it, in your face!
But.
Wouldnt it be awesome to have a sanctified environment?
A platform built solely for the Children of God.
Devoid of negativity around us, but filled with inspirations, encouragements and above all, the WORD OF GOD!
A breath of fresh air. Family friendly, conducive, loving and embracing.
Your own family of fellow brethren, encouraging, building, cheering on and strengthening each other on a daily basis!
This is our driving force.
The clarion call that moved us to put Rhemalog in place.
And this is our call to you: Would you like to join us?
As one of the (Christian) thinkers and opinion-makers out there, logically, it is a no-brainer that we need you, especially since our main goal is to ensure that the people are well fed.
We need your insightful thoughts. Inspirational ideas. Well written pieces. We need YOU!
We need you, not only as a member, but also as an A-List contributor.
And we already have all the tools required.
– Personal Blogging feature
– Video sharing
– Community pages (think facebook pages)
– Timelines and profiles
– Pictures, etc
Together, we can build one of the most vibrant and impact-full communities out there.
Should you decide to join us now:
– Your personal blog and info will be shared on our social media pages (with over 67,000 members)
– As an early adopter, you will be a part of a huge and influential community at its infant stage.
– Your community page will be featured, if you create one. Meaning, it will come up first in searches and views (with its own cute ribbon)
– You can host all your youtube and vimeo videos, thereby increasing your viewer-ship and enhancing your reach.
Well, “gold and silver” we have not.
But can you help us be a blessing to the children of God out there?
The address of the website is:
rhemalog dot com (No need to create an unsolicited backlink!)
It will be a huge honour and we will be waiting for you.
The first step is to be registered. Duration of your submissions will be totally up to you. To keep up though, we would suggest you begin by sharing the links to your blog posts, later on, you can start doing reblogs or creating unique postings using our blog feature.
However, in-between, we would love your quips, wits, quotes and words of wisdom, posted on your homepage timeline. We consider these to be quick tonic for the soul…snacks for those in hurried need of inspiration and motivations.
Whichever option you choose, we cannot wait to have a drink from the fountain of your God-given wisdom.
Thanks and may God continually keep His face shining on you.
Yours in Christ,
Tim (Rhemalog Community)
LikeLike
I’ll pray about it.
LikeLike