Thursday, July 28, 2011

Encouraged by His Glory

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

I am discouraged today. Not I woke up discouraged today. Not I was discouraged, but now I feel better.  I am discouraged. I’ve been working hard getting back into a great routine of exercise and drastically improving my eating habits for several weeks now. I lost three pounds. Such great encouragement! But, stepping on the scales today, I discovered I gained all three back. Still eating well. Still exercising. But gaining. Being diligent has been very, very hard this week, and I can tell you without a doubt that gaining back my initial progress is not helping. I want to just give it all up and stop putting the effort into it.

But I can’t.

As the first wave of discouragement hit me this morning, 1 Corinthians 10:31 was the first verse to hit my mind. (Isn’t it awesome how the Holy Spirit fights for us immediately upon every attack? Now that thought encourages me!) As I pondered the very familiar verse, I realized that I was falling into the trap of letting the scale be my idol. Losing those pounds was becoming the goal.

Now it is true, if I don’t lose the pounds, I’m not succeeding in the overall goal. But, seeing specific numbers on the scale is not why I’m supposed to be doing this. No, I’m supposed to be doing this for God’s glory.

  • I bring Him glory in my finances when I keep myself able to wear the clothes in my closet instead of having to spend money for new, bigger clothing.
  • I bring Him glory with my energy when I, well, actually have the energy to give for His glory!
  • I bring Him glory with my future by ensuring that I do everything in my power to keep myself healthy for His work. That does not mean that I am not bringing glory to Him if I have to battle cancer or some other disease in my future. But, if I chip away at my health by not exercising or eating well, then I am not honoring Him.

Those are just the surface ways I glorify Him with this diligence and discipline. So many other things lie not only just below the surface, but also deep down in the depths of obedience.

All of these truths do not make me more encouraged about what I saw on the scales. But, they do keep determined. I will not give up. And they do offer me a challenge. My encouragement should not come from those scales. It should instead come from the knowledge that I am being obedient and disciplining myself that I may bring glory to God.

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