...because you're fat, overweight, whatever. I'm in the process of trying to reconcile these negative feelings and thoughts about myself. In understand that our bodies are God's temple and that we should be healthy (in order to do those things that we're here to do) and yet over the last 5 years I haven't done that (my siggie tells ya that).

How can I rise above the feeling that I've somehow let God down in the area of food in my life? Or am I the only person that feels like this?

I have never considered myself to be a religious person. I would say, I am more spiritual than religious, but I know EXACTLY how you feel. We were put here with only one body and it has a very long ways to carry us. It is a gift that I have abused in more ways than one. But I am learning. I am changing. Our bodies can bounce back. We will eat better, we will exercise more, we will stop talking negatively to ourselves, and not only will God forgive us, but we will also forgive ourselves.

I believe that we are here to grow spiritualy, to learn, and to help others along life's journey. We have hurt ourselves, but we will heal and then we will be even more equiped to help someone along the way or to provide inspiration for someone who needs it and has been unable to find it elsewhere.

I believe that we are good people... that God will forgive us. And now it is important that we take taht remorse and learn from it - we will use it to move forward and to make ourselves better people. Better physically, better emotionally...

:

Thanks for being so honest in asking this question. It's a tough one.
You're right that our body is our temple and we need to take care of it. In addition to that God is a God of forgiveness, though I have to disagree with the last person who said we can be forgiven if we are good people. The Bible makes it clear that we can be forgiven because of the sacrifice that Jesus has made in our behalf. The debt has been paid for our sin, we only have to accept it. You can accept forgiveness for what you have done (or not done) to your body, and ask God's help to start making better choices. God does not want you to live in guilt for the rest of your life, but to live in the freedom that He offers in forgivness.
Beth

HONESTLY, that thought has never really crossed my mind: probably becuz I feel that the only one I have really let down is MYSELF! I have been a believer and follower of JESUS CHRIST all my life, so I hope I am becoming a better person for that, but I am far from perfect and GOD knows that very well. He is a LOVING and FORGIVING GOD.

Firstly, I diidn't become overweight on purpose; GOD knows that! He also knows our intentions and thoughts. I am just doing my best to live as healthy as I can. I also think that life is a school and we are the pupils.

GOD knows that we live in a society that shoves unhealthy food at us all the time; and some of us were not taught how to eat healthy either. Some of us eat from emotions becuz we have suffered or been too stressed. GOD is a compassionate GOD; and I think that he not only LOVES us and CARES ABOUT US, but he wants to help us too.

I ask GOD in prayer daily to give me strength and wisdom to make more excellent choices. I look around for the advice of those here who are doing well; I even believe that GOD has directed us to find this great place for support. And, I read the bible every day, and I have never found anything in there that makes me feel badly about myself; it only seems to be other people who do that ...

I believe that GOD wants me to start TRUSTING HIM for better health, and not to rely on others; and to live in a healthy, balanced way. That means to be more concerned with good health and moderation, not vanity. Sometimes we are just way too hard on ourselves, and then we project that on to GOD too.

I agree with everything SCRAVER has said (thank you dear). I also think that we need to forgive ourselves more. Forgive myself for listening to the wrong people. Forgive myself for not seeing what was going wrong sooner. Forgive myself for being flawed and weak. BUT, what's most important to me now is that I know that GOD LOVES ME AND CARES FOR ME; so, now I can start taking better care of myself with HIS help.

ROSEBUD

I totally agree with Beth and Rosebud...our God is a forgiving God because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

Dreamgrl you are so not alone. Talk to God daily...hourly...every minute of every day...! God loves you and he wants the best for you. He knows your struggles and wants to help you through this. Let Him!

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

There's a really great book out there called Becoming the Woman You Want to be. It's a 90 day program/journey to renewal with Bible verses, prayers, ideas for developing better eating habits and starting a fitness program. The pathway to becoming the woman I want to be is found in actively persuing maximum health in my spirit, soul and body. This book gives daily affirmations to recite and has room for journaling.

"I forget those things that are behind me, including all of my personal shortcomings in the area of spiritual disciplines, diet and exercise. I am pressing towards what lies ahead, a bright future filled with health in my spirit, soul and body..."

"I have the power to change my life, because the spirit of the Lord rests upon me. I can learn a new way of living because I have a spirit of wisdom and understanding."

"When I look at my life right now and see things I am dissatisfied with, I realize that for the most part I am reaping what I've sown, the encouraging news is that I firmly believe that as I begin to sow differently, I will reap differently. I'm planting new attitudes and actions, I know it will take awhile before these seeds are ready to harvest, help me be patient."

I love this book, it was my start to mental, physical and spiritual health a year ago when I was going through a rough time in my life and gained weight. Even if you dont' get the book, you can know that God forgives us for our past choices, and can help us change our lives around. Gradually, day by day. Yes we may have treated our bodies poorly, but as we change our habits we'll reap new benefits. I've lost about 20 lbs in a year or so, through hard work and discipline, sometimes I back track, especially mentally and spiritually into negativity, but I try to remember, I'm a new person, my body is slimmer and I have more energy, my mind/spiritual life also needs to be changes/new.

I mean no disrespect - I just want to clarify, that I did not say we would be forgiven because we are good people. I believe that we are good people and I also believe that we will be forgiven. I do not feel that one guarentees the other.

While the body is indeed very important, I have to think that God is more interested in what's on the inside. I believe that when we make a big lifestyle change, our bodies aren't the only things that change- our souls change too. The hard work and dedication to making things right makes us more conscious of ourselve, and of others. Being overweight, I am more conscious of the struggles of other overweight people. Plus, I feel that when I reach goal, I will have a much greater appreciation for my body. Remember the story of the prodigal son- it is more important to God that we learn from our mistakes and become better, wiser people. God is a forgiving God, and he gave us temptations of all sorts so that we could learn to become better people. "Like Gold Tested in Fire"

1Cr 6:19, 20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

I totally understand and have spent many times crying in prayers asking for forgiveness for sinning against God. Our bodies are God's Temple and by not taking care of our bodies whether we meant to or not is going against God. But, (this is a good one!) God's Grace and Forgiveness is so amazing that we can hold our head up and move forward from our sin. However our prayers of repentance should be real and serious and we've got to walk away from this sin. Wow, my response has totally been what I needed to hear myself. I pray that this helps you as it has me.

Thanks everyone for your post and encouragement (and for the book Horsey - I will definitely check it out).

I guess just in general I've been struggling with my faith because I've been looking at the things that are right and wrong in my life and it just occurred to me that my weight is probably the number one thing that is holding me back and preventing me from accomplishing other things that I would like to do (such as get married, have children, move up in my career) - hence the reason I'm here at 3FC and I'm trying to work on it slowly but surely. So of course all of my attention goes toward my weight and all the problems it has caused and finally - the feeling that I've disappointed God because of it.

I grew up in "the church" and I know inside and out what the bible says but for whatever reason I just can't move past the feeling that because I've screwed this up (becoming obese) that now God may feel like he can't trust me to do the other things that He has planned.

Does any of this make sense? lol I will admit that I am a rambler.....

It makes sense, in "human," but that doesn't make it true. I read a wonderful book, but can't remember the title. I know the theme was "God doesn't care if you're fat." It was by a woman, about 220 lbs, who was very active in her church, doing amazing things, and how most of her life, she was trapped in trying to lose weight for all the wrong reasons (Dieting can be just as sinful as gluttony, if it turns your attention away from, rather than toward God).

For her, she had to learn that having a perfect body was her goal, not God's. She had been a former member of First Place, or Weigh Down (I think the latter) and had been formerly very "preachy" to fellow parishoners about how sinful being fat is. She came to a different conclusion when she realized that she was putting more effort into keeping the body temple "pretty" and feeling morally superior for it, than she was putting into the "function" of her temple - growing in faith, caring for her family and other contributions to her community that she could be making if she didn't use all of her time losing or maintaining her weight.

I'm not saying that overeating, and not caring for the one body God gave us, cannot be sinful. But so can dieting and being preoccupied with our failures. In fact, there's no way to avoid sin entirely, because we just can't do it. Sin isn't about "being bad," it's about turning away from God. There are millions of ways in which we do not put God first in our life (sin). God knows this and forgives it, when we ask, when we try to get closer and put God first.

In the scheme of things, none of us can be "trusted" to do God's will. We're not God's employees who are assigned tasks God has delegated to us because He hasn't the time to do it Himself. We're children who mess up in a thousand ways, the baby learning to walk who falls alot (and even cries about it). He picks us up and helps us learn. Some of us have lots and lots to learn, some of us seem to pick it up faster than others. Don't obsess over the "grades" because they're not important. Whether getting very fat is a "worse" sin than cheating on your taxes or being jealous of your neighbor, or hurting someone in an argument... sometimes even thinking that way can be sinful because it leads us away from where we really need to be. Trying to learn and do what God asks of us.

Have you tried those weight loss groups at church, TOPS, etc? I keep seeing ads here locally for them... maybe it would help to have other Christians meeting a few times a month?

Hmm, that is a good idea. I've flirted with goingg to a TOPS meeting but never have. I should just stop worrying about it and go. LOL

And thanks kaplods for your post. I guess I just needed a reminder that I should be looking at things through God's eyes and not my own. Because when I obsess over my weight, then it becomes my "god" or an idol to me - and that is more displeasing to God than anything else.

I can't say enough great things about TOPS. I've been a member of TOPS groups in several communities, and it didn't always "click." The first group I belonged to was in Ottawa, IL, when i was in my 20's and it was a wonderful large group with a very diverse membership. There weren't a lot of women my age, but there were a few, and the group was really fun. I lost over 60 lbs, but when I got another job in another community, I just didn't connect with the group in my area (looking back, I think I was looking for an excuse to give up).

While not religiously affiliated, TOPS does attract a lot of church-going members (not surprisingly, especially those that meet in churches). It's also extremely affordable (one month at WW, cost my husband and I more than our entire first year of TOPS will - we joined in late August).

i feel that way often times that GOd does want me to do better with everythig that is going on but it feels kind of overwhelming