The January Battle

The gym was packed yesterday. It seems everyone is starting strong with their New Year’s resolutions. Isn’t it interesting how we go from indulging in every sweet treat available in December to sugar fasts and exercise plans in January? There’s shame and guilt associated with eating too much of the wrong things and then penance served by exercise and food restrictions. It’s a never-ending cycle of yo-yo dieting and fitness plans, all to achieve the body that we think will bring us happiness.

I’ve been on this pendulum swing more than once. And even this year, after writing Beautiful Freedom, I found myself triggered by reading a friend’s diet plans and goals, wondering if I should be doing something similar. Some of you who have battled body image issues or eating disorders know this game well. January is often a difficult season to stay balanced when you see others touting specific food, calorie/macro or fitness goals.

I wrote Beautiful Freedom to help us fight against the narratives that often consume us in our culture: warnings about what not to eat, exercises to help sculpt the perfect body, or the products that will help us look 10 years younger. As women we can so easily be enticed by the world’s promises of a firmer, toned body or flawless skin. Instead of the freedom Christ purchased for us, we find ourselves enslaved to fitness, food and beauty.

It’s not that God doesn’t care about what we eat or how we exercise, but he cares so much more about our hearts. He gave us a body both to enjoy and to steward. But he also gives us the gifts of food, fellowship, movement and His word.

I want to steward my body well to be fit to serve however God calls me, whether that’s caring for babies in the nursery or shoveling snow in the driveway. But I want even more to be stewarding my heart, feasting on the bread of life each day and growing in godliness. True beauty isn’t found by achieving the ideal physical image, but by being conformed more and more to the image of Christ.

“Train yourself for godliness,” Paul writes, “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7-8).