You are incredible! Did you know that? The scriptures reinforce what I’m telling you. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14). The media, the food and diet industry all want you to believe there is something wrong with you. They say you-you lack willpower, you have bad genetics, your nose is too big/too small. “Enlarge your breasts, get rid of those lines and wrinkles. You will never be enough the way you are.” They bombard us with advertisers telling us what’s wrong with us. But I am here to tell you that God is not a liar. God made you the way you are. Now, wait, before you decide that “if God wanted me to be thin, He would have given me a better metabolism.” Let’s be real. If you have an obesity problem, don’t blame God. I have battled weight since I was a teenager and I used to blame God too. The primary reason most Americans are obese has to do with their diet. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys have been charting obesity rates since the 1980s. Their findings point to Americans eating out more, eating more fast foods, drinking more sugary drinks (yes, this includes the fancy coffee drinks) and not practicing portion control. The unhealthiest foods taste good, they’re cheaper, they serve larger portions and they are easily available.
God did not create fast food. Man did. It wasn’t until I was ready to surrender the control of my eating to God that I found successful weight loss. I reminded myself that Satan is a liar and a murderer. He loves nothing more than to hit us with our weakness, mine being sugar. For over 50 years, I ate sugar like an alcoholic drinks liquor. I spent all my allowance money on candy, I would hide it, lie about it, and I hate to admit this, but I would even steal sweets out of the student’s lunch boxes.
Satan made me believe I was weak and had no self-control. I had avoided becoming an alcoholic like my parents. At 31 years old, I developed type 2 diabetes and had high cholesterol. This was not how God had made me. At 40, I underwent gastric banding and lost 100lbs, but within five years, I had gained 80 of the 100 pounds back. As I grew in Christ and studied scripture, I discovered that I had to surrender my control of eating to God. When we begin to trust him, we can accomplish so much more than trying to do it ourselves. (Eph. 3:20). God is the source of our health and healing. “Do you not know your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
I have no control over the natural aging process. I’m getting more wrinkles, my hair is turning white (which until recently I was buying color from a bottle), my eyesight nor my hearing isn’t as good as it was, but I still believe God made me and, in His eyes, I’m beautiful.