Weigh In: Maintenance

172.5 lb Always remember: you are not immune to the muffin top.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

Okay, I give in. I will discontinue my rebellion against the REAL FAT institution of weekly weigh-ins. Oh. Wait. I didn't come up with that, did I? No, I didn't. Weekly weigh-ins are part of nearly every single weight loss program known to man. It is a method used to keep track of progress and hold one accountable. Duh.

I will never forget the first time I posted my weight on this blog. Holy cow! It was hard. But it was something that I knew I had to do. For years, in my own pride, I had kept that little tidbit of information (actually a rather large tidbit, as it were) to myself. There was no way I could admit to the world and especially those closest to me just what a mockery I had made out of God's creation. Not to mention I didn't want them to realize how fat I really was.

Gently, as it often works, the Spirit of the Lord began to speak to me about pride in the area of my weight. This is obviously a stronghold in my life and by keeping it a secret I was giving it far too much control. I was allowing it to hold me captive. The Spirit also reminded me that everyone in the world struggles with embarrassing and debilitating sin, many with the same one I do, whether they are willing to admit it or not. By owning up to the depth of my sin--and for some reason the number on the scale represented this in a very tangible way--I could release it. I could say, "See this number? This is what my addiction (my sin) has done to me. I refuse to be a prisoner to it any longer!" Suddenly freedom became more important than my pride.

So I did it. It wasn't embarrassing. You see, after that number "went public" I began to realize that in reality, it had never been a secret to others that I was overweight. You know those pictures we see of ourselves and think Ahhh! I need to burn that. I don't want anyone to see me like that! Yeah, you know what I'm talking about... Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you are a hermit, what you look like in those pictures is exactly what you look like in person. People see you, my friend.

But more importantly God sees you. And he sees your pain. He doesn't see the number on the scale but he does see the prison that sin creates in our lives. He is ready and waiting to fling open the prison doors! In John, chapter 8 we are told that the TRUTH will set us free. And if you don't like the Bible I think there is even an old saying: "Honesty is the best policy." It's true. We just have to be able to face the truth of what we are on the inside, confess it (blog it?) and then--and ONLY then--sweet deliverance.

I'm just curious if anyone else has had this same experience of truth=liberation. If so, leave a comment and tell us about it. And if you are afraid of being honest, what exactly is it that holds you back?