Fit Faith

I have been absolutely overwhelmed with the success of my new Book Fit Faith. I wrote it with the desire to share Scriptures and truths that helped me through my weight loss journey, in hopes that it would inspire others as well with what God can do. You can order your's too through the link to the left on Amazon.

Beauty

Song of Solomon 4:7 “You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.” NLT

My parents always told me I was beautiful. My daddy especially made it a point to build my sister and me up in every way so that as we grew older, we had confidence. But as I grew, kids were mean. As mentioned before, I have a birth defect that affects my eye alignment. It’s unnoticeable to some, but to others, it’s glaring. At every chance, kids would point it out, and sometimes, even adults. As I journeyed on in life and grew obese, I felt ugly and unsightly. Despite my best attempts at hairstyles, makeup application, and nice clothing, I still felt ugly. My husband tried his best too to make me feel loved and commented regularly that I was beautiful. Still, I didn’t feel it. I struggled too with the thought that there are so many bible verses that speak of a woman’s outward beauty as something that wasn’t necessary. I knew that soul beauty was more important, but I still struggled with the desire to like what I saw in the mirror. All I needed was to lose weight, I thought. 

Song of Solomon is a book about the love Christ has for His bride. Much debate has been discussed through the years as to whether this is really about King Solomon or Christ Himself. I happen to believe that it’s both. While the story is true for Solomon, it’s applicable to how much Christ loves us, his beautiful bride, and in turn, how much we should desire relationship and intimacy with Him. If you’ve never read through Song of Solomon, buckle your seatbelt for some interesting reading. It’s much unlike any other book in the Bible. In it, the man consistently tells the woman how much he loves her and how much he adores her. She is beautiful to him, and despite her insecurities, he insists that he loves her and finds those flaws beautiful still.

Whether we want to admit it or not, the desire for outward beauty for women is there. But like the Apostles Paul and Peter and the author of several proverbs, I agree that our truest desire should be that we are beautiful for our Bridegroom, Christ Jesus Himself. No other person’s opinion matters. We as women struggle with this desire to be beautiful, but yet Christ Himself sees who we really are. Without our makeup, on bad hair days, and even when we feel gross and ugly to the outside world, He still sees what’s on the inside. With that said, though, we can be beautiful on the outside, yet have hideous souls on the inside.

It was only when I began my healthy lifestyle change that I began to feel beautiful. Some reading this may say that it’s because I was losing weight. Sure, my self-confidence was boosted a little as I grew stronger, but the truest transformation was when I gave total surrender to every aspect of my life totally over to Him, my Bridegroom. 

There are those within the Christian realm that believe that women shouldn’t care at all about their appearance. However, I believe that the Bible contains several instances where husbands take note of their wives’ beauty as well as other instances where a woman’s beauty is mentioned. There is nothing wrong with taking pride in our appearances if it’s done with the right motive. Whom are we striving to please? Remember also, though, that with age, beauty fades. It’s a natural course in the circle of life. 

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? What do you feel that others think about you? Who’s opinion matters most?

Let me tell you today that no matter who you are, YOU are beautiful. No matter how you may feel or what others may have told you, YOU were created in the image of God with a plan and purpose for life. Living in the way that God has designed you is nothing less than perfect.

Take some time today to soak in the verses listed in the “Encouragement” section. They are transformational and breathe beauty into our souls.

Encouragement for Today

1 Peter 3:3-4 “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” NLT

Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.” NLT

Ecclesiastes 3:11a “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.”  NLT

Psalm 139:14 “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--how well I know it.” NLT

Further Reading: Genesis 12:11; Song of Solomon 1:5; Esther 2:7; Song of Solomon 4:1; Genesis 29:17; 

Celebrate

Psalm 126:2 “We are filled with laughter and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, ‘What amazing things the Lord has done for them.’” NLT

A woman from my neighborhood was trying to lose weight too. We’d initially talked over our goals with one another, and she’d decided that she too would set short-term attainable goals. But she decided that at every 10 pound weight loss, she would celebrate with an all-out cheat day. Whatever she wanted, donuts, french fries, or ice cream..it was her’s. She reasoned that she wouldn’t have a weekly cheat meal, but after a ten pound weight loss, she deserved it, right? 

After her first ten pound weight loss, she held her much-anticipated cheat day. She had planned for two weeks what she would eat, and she enjoyed every bite. Unfortunately, the next day when she stepped back on the scale, she had gained three pounds. Although, she quickly lost those three pounds, it took longer to lose the next 20 pounds. She decided that to celebrate this victory, she would simply have 1 cheat meal. She enjoyed this meal too. But unfortunately, the next day when she stepped on the scale, she had gained weight again. After her third 10 pound weight loss, she decided that she’d choose a healthier way to celebrate. 

When the Lord rescued Israel from exile and brought them back home, they celebrated! It closely mirrored the rescue of God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. The radical change that had taken place for them turned them from crying and weeping to rejoicing and laughter. There was certainly reason to celebrate! The Lord had done great things for them, and they couldn’t help but express their joy. The Psalmist goes onto record their prayer that God would restore their fortunes as they “plant in tears” but will harvest “with shouts of joy.” 

As we think of our spiritual lives, there will be times of weeping as it seems as though we are in exile. Troubles come, storms rage, and it seems as though God is absent. It is in those times though that we press in closer to God, crying out in faith that He is there, even when it doesn’t seem so. In time, the storms will clear, the sun will come out, and we will rejoice that He has brought a season of harvest.

It’s hard too when we transform our physical lives. Changes in any way are a hard adjustment, but physical ones may seen unnatural and awkward. We too may “plant in tears,” but we have the hope that we will harvest “with shouts of joy.” Celebrations are tricky. It’s true that in biblical times, celebrations often included feasts, but they also included other forms of merriment. Dancing, singing, and fellowship were all common in praising God for the blessings they enjoyed.

When we reach weight loss goals, we should celebrate, but there are healthy ways to do it! And we must remember who gave us the strength to achieve our goal! We must praise and thank Him first of all, for leading and guiding us every step of the way. Secondly, we must be reminded that a transformed life doesn’t celebrate a change by resorting to old ways.  An alcoholic certainly wouldn’t celebrate sobriety by having a drink to celebrate. What makes perfect sense in our old way of living suddenly seems odd when we are transformed.

Think of ways you can celebrate the victories God has given you. For me, I celebrated weight loss goals by rewarding myself by buying a new outfit or going on a weekend biking trip with my family. In whatever way you give praise and thanks to God, make sure it includes healthy shouts of joy!

Encouragement for Today

Ecclesiastes 3:4 “A time to cry and a time to laugh, A time to grieve and a time to dance.” NLT

Ideas for Healthy Celebrations

-New Outfit

-New Hairdo

-Physically Active Outing like skating, biking, bowling, golfing, swimming

-New Fitbit or other Digital Heart Rate Monitor

-New Piece of Fitness Equipment

-Sign up for that fitness class you’ve been wanting to try

-Enjoy a expensive dinner but choose healthy grilled or baked exotic fish on which you normally wouldn’t splurge.

-Massage

-Manicure or Pedicure