Saturday, October 15, 2011

I want to be a BIGGEST LOSER


Not generally a fan of reality TV, I must admit I’m hooked on the show The Biggest Loser. I didn’t catch this show until the 4th season when somehow, because my hands were busy with dirty dishes, I couldn’t make it over to the remote as the season opener of Season 4 came on and 15 minutes later, I was a fan.
 
What I love about the show is not just watching the physical transformation people make as they lose pounds, but the mental and emotional transformation they make as they lose life-long obstacles and misguided self-perceptions that have kept them from being the person they were meant to be – outside AND inside.

Although I can’t say I would ever be a candidate for the show – I already eat fairly healthy and maintain a decent weight – but there have been several times where I’ve sat there watching the show like a sloth, munching away on something I don’t need, just a few feet away from a dust-laden piece of workout equipment that’s been doubling for a clothing rack and thought to myself, “wow, I should probably get up and workout a bit instead of snacking this late” …but I don’t. Despite the fact that I am not content with my fitness level (thin and fit are not the same thing) and intellectually I know it wouldn’t take much effort to set down the Cheddar Cheese Combos, and emotionally I do have the desire to get up and workout … still, I sit watching others do what I wish had the initiative and motivation to do.

Do you have those moments? There’s something you want to do, it’s something you know how to do, it’s a fairly simple thing, yet you still don’t do it. The only thing stopping you is YOU … and a few of your life-long obstacles and misguided self-perceptions holding you back from the transformation you yearn for.
 
Maybe that something isn’t exercise or eating right. Maybe that something is reading the Bible. Maybe that something is praying. Maybe that something is serving in church. Or maybe that something is simply making it to church. It’s something you want to do, it’s something you know how to do, it’s a fairly simple thing, yet you still don’t do it. The only thing stopping you is YOU.

So what are the life-long obstacles and misguided self-perceptions holding you back? Perhaps it’s time to LOSE them. I know I want to lose mine. I think of John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Or in other words, I must LOSE, so He can WIN.

I want to be a loser – the BIGGEST LOSER. I want to lose the obstacles that keep me from knowing the intimacy God wants with me. I want to lose the misguided self-perceptions that convince me I’m not worthy of it. I want to lose as much of myself as I possible so that I might gain all that God would be in me and through me.

My prayer for you is that you would be a Biggest Loser too -that you would lose your obstacles, your barriers, your fears and your excuses for not doing the things that you want to do and you know how to do so that you may have the physical, emotional or spiritual transformation you yearn for.