Week three devotional

Lie #3: I need to look a certain way to be loved and valued.

Has this lie been the root of your motivations for working out or eating healthy? Are you starting this journey because you feel like you’ll be more loved if you are a size 2 with rock hard abs? If so, you are not alone in falling prey to this lie.

This lie is so evil. It robbed me of my joy for so many years of my life, and I know that I am not alone in that struggle. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in thinking we need to look a certain way to be loved or accepted in today’s society. Working out used to be my way of trying to control my outward appearance so that I would be perceived as being more desirable or attractive. My motivations were in the wrong place, so I never felt good enough. But by the grace of God, I’ve been able to find freedom from this, and I want that for you too. But I am not coming to you from a high and mighty place and claiming that it’s done and over with for good. It’s still a choice I have to make daily, but I’ve found so much peace about my self-image. The thing that used to fuel my insecurities (working out) actually became a part of what helped to set me free from them. I want to start by sharing this verse with you “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight…” Ephesians 1:4

God chose you. Before he even created the whole universe, he planned to make you exist in this world. He planted every gift you have within you (and trust me, you have them!), and he predestined you to be a part of his kingdom. And God doesn’t do things without cause, so there is a reason you are here and your looks have nothing to do with it. He will run to the depths of the earth to pursue you and show you how loved you are in him, and NOTHING, I mean nothing, we ever do (good or bad) will change that. That alone should tell you how valued you are. Just AS you are. But if that’s not enough, let’s look at Isaiah 43:4. “Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.”

We are so precious to God and he loves us so much that he is willing to give up absolutely everything in pursuit of us, including his own son. I can’t imagine a person in this world who would lay down the life of their child for anyone, especially for a sinner like me. I probably wouldn’t even give you my snack if I was super hungry! But God laid down the life of his son for us, long before we ever existed because he loved us before he even brought us into this world.

I think one reason we feel like we need to present a cleaned up version of ourselves to the world is because we struggle to accept God’s love for us. We can’t even imagine a love like His ever being real. The way that he loves us is so unfathomable, so we carry this out into our relationships with others and wind up searching for our identity in the wrong places. Whether you are single or married, I want to assure you that no human being, no amount of physical change, no single thing will ever satisfy you the way the Lord does. And for my single ladies, I want to specifically address this for you-- I can assure you that working on your physical attributes is not going to attract the type of man who will pursue you the way Christ pursues you. And that is how you deserve to be pursued!

My prayer for you this week is that you would focus on transforming your heart, first and foremost. You are precious in His eyes and He chose YOU to be a part of his kingdom.

Don’t get wrapped up in the lie that you need to do something to clean yourself up to be worthy of love. The truth is that nothing we can do will ever make us worthy of God’s love. He gives it to us freely. Check your motivations before you start your workouts this week. Galatians 1:10 says “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Don’t go on this journey for anyone else but for you. Stop seeking the approval of man to feel beautiful. You are precious in God’s sight. Rest in that. Pursue living a healthy life not because you want to be loved, but because you already are loved. You are loved by him.

Week three, you can do this!!