God Is Not Mad At You
“UNCLEAN, UNCLEANâ€Â, is what the lepers of Jesus’ time had to shout when they walked through the streets, “UNCLEAN!†they were the outcast of society. Everywhere they went, they were shunned and mocked. People looked at them in disgust, thankful it wasn’t them.
We, the overweight people in our society, are the lepers of our day, we don’t have to yell out unclean, our bodies do that for us. We are shunned and avoided. We are the repulsive joke in shows such as Good Luck Chuck (I didn’t see it, just the previews made me sick).
I saw a news story the other day that illustrated one of the many ways we are treated and it broke my heart. A Rapper was in concert, and he said “ all the beautiful ladies in this audience, get up on the stage and dance with me, so girls started dancing up on the stage. The rapper started to laugh, and said “look ladies, if you weigh 200 pounds get off my stage.
It was appalling to see the beautiful young smiles being wiped off their faces as the girls tried as quickly as possible to get off stage. They had done such a brave thing in getting up there. They gambled on the risky prospect of human kindness and lost. Any self respect they might have desperately gained up to that point was shattered, and I know the pain they suffered, you probably do too. We suffer with them, knowing what the world thinks of us, as gross fools with no feelings.
Just as it felt hopeless for the lepers in Jesus’ time. We feel doomed to failure, we have tried, and hoped, and tried and hoped, maybe this one will work, maybe this will be the one. It feels like this can’t be our fault, we have tried so hard.
I understand how bad you want to be healthy and slim, I know because the desire to be thin consumed me. I was so humiliated about my weight, I hated to leave the house. I dreaded social situations, I thought my husband was ashamed of me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t lose the weight. Just like you, I felt hopeless.
Believe me when I tell you, you are strong, in fact, this diet will show you the more will power you have used, and the harder you have tried to lose weight, the heaver you will be, because dieting creates two obsessions, one, you become fixated on food and two, you become fixated on your weight.
You, yes you! can be the person you want to be, that God made you to be, because it’s not about changing the food you eat, It’s about understanding and fixing the reasons you overeat. It’s about changing your wrong thinking into right thinking.
You have a problem with your weight because you eat more than your body uses, and in truth the answer is, stop eating more than your body needs. Don’t you wish it was that simple?
Diets try to convince us that we need to change the food we eat. They over simplify, and, over complicate the whole process. Wouldn’t it be easy if we could all just decide which diet was best for us, then do it? If it were that clear-cut, obesity wouldn’t be the second highest preventable cause of death in America. I knew all that but I couldn’t help myself from overeating. I needed to find the reason I was overeating and why I couldn’t stop, that’s why I started to write this study. I was desperate, I always felt like I was in trouble with God, but writing this study I have come to know the character of our loving father and thorough studying His word, I found God wasn’t mad at me at all.
In essence, the definition of sin as an act that hurts you or someone else,
Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.†(notice the prerequisite for loving your neighbor is, you to love yourself).
Before I knew Him, I thought God was up in heaven somewhere saying “FOLLOW THESE RULES BECAUSE I SAID SO, AND I -AM –THE- BOSS. God has a plan for your life, and that plan includes you being joyful and successful, He understands our weaknesses, read
Hebrews 4:15,16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
God says gluttony is a sin for good reason, It’s a serious health condition that can lead to early death. If a person is twenty percent heavier than their ideal weight, they are considered obese (determined by standard medical and insurance data). For example, the normal weight for woman who is 5;7", is 143 pounds, but they are considered obese if they weigh 189 pounds or above
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
There are a so many medical problems associated with being overweight, including high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, sleep apnea, depression, and arthritis. The heart of an obese person has to work harder causing congestive heart failure. Cardiovascular problems are common among obese people. High blood pressure can lead to the development of heart disease, kidney failure, and stroke. God designed our bodies to digest only so much food. Overeating puts too much sugar and fat in our system and our bodies can’t handle it, increasing the risk of developing type II diabetes.
My husband and I participated in a medical study at a University on how marriage affected blood pressure. They sent us to a lab for blood work, the lab was also conducting a five-year study on the morbidly obese. I had been on a diet and was almost at my goal weight (naturally, I gained it all back and more). The technician who was taking our health histories, said, “How refreshing, I’m used to patients having so many health issues because of their weight†she told me how much they suffer. It broke my heart, because I could still remember how much it hurt to be overweight. How trapped and desperate I felt in my body. My ribs hurt my knees and feet hurt. I was so tired and I hated myself, I knew the world thought I was just lazy and stupid. I wanted to defend myself to everyone “I am trying to lose weight, the person inside here isn’t the person you see out there, I’m trapped. I felt like I wasn’t considered valuable, I was trivial, and had to be put up with. The goodness of the world was reserved for thin people, and the way most people treated me intensified my feelings, I felt people either dismissed me or patronized me.
There were times I tried to dress up my fat and say I didn’t care, and there were times I didn’t care, and I would wear an old holy sweat shirt and comfy bleach stained sweats everywhere. I hated how I looked, and felt, every moment of every single day.
God doesn’t see you that way, He sees the value of your eternal soul. You are important to God and He doesn’t want to see you live like this. it doesn’t make Him less of a God if you sin. If God didn’t love you, your pain wouldn’t hurt Him in the slightest. It’s the verity of your suffering He labels as sin, God doesn’t condemn you He loves you.
Being overweight is not a sickness or an inherited problem, it is the result of eating more than your body needs. You may say you have a slow metabolism, and it could be true, but it isn’t your get out of jail free card, it isn’t an excuse to eat more, it means your body doesn’t need as much food to maintain it.
There are legitimate health reason where a person may eat very little and still be overweight, but it is very rare, and you would defenetly know you had this condition, as it usually comes with other genetic defects.
I know the excuses from the medical world make us feel justified, but it doesn’t help our problem. If you think about it, and are honest with yourself those excuses dash all hope of ever being thin, healthy, and vibrant.
You are probably saying to yourself “I don’t need something else to make me feel guilty, I already feel Hopelessâ€Â, but I am here to declare to you that there is hope! You are going to tap into the power of the almighty God who created heaven and earth. The good news is because gluttony is a sin and not a defect, you have control of weather or not you participate in the sin. This Bible Study will help you understand the difference and apply the principles from the Bible to recognize and overcome Satan’s deception.
When I started writing this Bible Study I was well on my way to becoming another sad statistic. I weighed over two hundred pounds, had high blood pressure and cholesterol. Food was the first thing I thought of when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I thought of when I went to sleep. I desired it beyond reason. The yearning to chew was irresistible and I couldn’t control it, I didn’t want to. The more I ate the more I needed. My desire for food was voracious and no matter how much I ate, the empty longing was never satisfied.
Then one day my beautiful teenage foster daughter Mylissa, came home upset, with tears streaming down her sweet face she told me how hurt and humiliated she was, because a group of teenage boys drove by and yelled something about her being overweight. This beautiful sweet young girl, who had overcome so much in her life, was so wounded by these foolish boys, who had no idea of who she was as a person. I could feel her hurt and I wanted so much to help her.
I found a book on using the Bible as a diet guide. We started to read it, and even though I found the diet to be quite sensible, I quickly realized the religious part of it was based on works. I found myself trying to explain why so much of it wasn’t Biblical and we finally gave up. I thought, Somebody needs to write a real born again spirit filled Diet Bible study. I decided to write one for me and Mylissa
I pray it will help you to find the truth about the emptiness we try so desperately to fill.
For a free printable study go to
http://www.flowersoverthewall.com
Sometimes I think people are afraid you will be insulted if they ask you if you have lost weight. I want them to ask NOW!
You are so right in what you said - we shouldn't weigh ourselves. I have no idea how you dropped so fast, so quickly!?
But thanks for your update, I will also look online and mark what updates you have done on my notes.