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One half pound doesn’t even register if your scale isn’t digital. If your scale is digital, one half pound means the number before the decimal point stays the same for two whole weeks. And two whole weeks of calorie restriction can feel like an eternity for one single pound. Can’t the time go quicker and the pounds melt off faster?
The high-end average for weight loss is two pounds—and if I could pull that off every week, I’d have no problem persisting. It is persistence both during weight-loss efforts and after achieving weight loss goals that fails us. We expect too much too fast. We are not happy with ourselves right now, so we want to lose weight faster. We are discontent with whatever “now” has for us, so we eat too much of the wrong things in order to anesthetize our discontent.
A friend recently posted a picture on Facebook that, among other things, featured my backside. It’s not an angle that I’m used to seeing, and I find it far less photogenic than my smile. When I mocked myself, she returned the comment with a compliment that reminded me, I am not my weight or my looks. It reminded me that I am too focused on my outward appearance and therefore prone to think that all of me encompasses what you see on the outside. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially as time ages me.
When the Apostle Paul wrote that the old has gone and the new has come, he was speaking of the Old Covenant versus the New. Ironically, our bodies are a testimony of the Old Covenant—of death and dying. And while, at 42, I’m hoping I have just as many healthy years to come, in Christ there is a sense that new life is happening within me. In other words, we’re supposed to be getting better on the inside, even as our bodies give way to the results of the Fall (I suppose that includes the cottage cheese I see on the back of my legs—I don’t believe we will have cellulite in glory.). “Getting better” means I grow in perseverance.
CBFC youth pastor Greg Carder explained to his staff at a recent conference that perseverance is being loyal to a belief or idea. It is different from persistence, which is maintaining a course of action. But you see, we need perseverance in order to remain persistent at what we do. It’s the belief or idea held fast (perseverance) that steers the rudder in that course of action (persistence).
If we give up in our course of action, it’s not just because we’re tired—it’s because we’ve failed to persevere in our belief. It may be that the belief was unfounded in the first place. How about this one: when I lose weight, then I will … If life for you begins when you become a certain way on the outside, you are persevering in a lie that will just leave you empty. You are not a number on a scale. You are not a dress size. You are not even a time in a 3K race. You are you. And you need something true to persevere in.
If for you, contentment begins when such and such a circumstance changes, you are persevering in a lie that will leave you empty—and no amount of chocolate fudge chunk brownie ice cream will bring you happiness. You are you right now. And at the risk of quoting Eminem, you only have one shot to seize all that you were meant to be right now. You have the most potential for God in this moment than you will ever have again. You will never be back to this place.
The scale, the passing of time and the moment right now can become our greatest teachers. They beg us to ask, what is it that you are persevering in? Why do you want to drop the weight? Why do you want to stop the weight gain? Why do you want to escape in a bag of chips? What do you believe right now? What beliefs are you persevering in that will steer your course of action so that you do not grow weary in doing good?
Am I over-spiritualizing the subject? It’s possible to make an idol of weight loss, health concerns and exercise. It’s also possible to make an idol of the antithesis—gluttony, irresponsible living and comfort. Everything needs balance—and we can only over or under spiritualize the subject if we are not living for God’s glory. And that in itself is a pretty good place to start persevering.
