Exhale: Establishing Your Worth; Waiting for Weight Loss Episode 3

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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hey there, Heather creekmore Hair. I'm glad you're listening to the Compared to podcast. We're in an amazing new series called Waiting for Weight Loss. Have you joined our community yet? It's absolutely free. You can join at waitingfoweightloss dot com. If you've tried before and had technical difficulties, I'm sorry about that. I think everything's working well now, but if you have any tech issues, reached out to our team. We'd love to meet you in the community. The conversation has been awesome. Today We've got another great topic for you. Can't wait to get into it. Last time, we talked about just how exhausting it is to chase weight loss. I know many women who when they think they finally got it, they finally arrived, finally reached that number, they always hope to see or let down because they don't feel any different. In fact, that's kind of part of my story too. In my twenties and early thirties, it wasn't so much about a number on the scale per se. It was me trying to prove that my body was athletic or physically fit. You see, I think I had gym class trauma Okay, I don't know if that's actually a thing, but I was always picked second to last. There's always one kid who looked like they'd be worse at kickball or volleyball than me. You know the scenario. The person is saying your name is never excited to have you join their team. It's more like, I guess we'll take Heather, and then you do the walk of shame over to join your team, where you find out that your order and the kicking lineup is last and your position in the field is the least important. Like I internalized pretty early that athletic people were natural born VIPs. Being athletic and fit and cute is what made a woman valuable. So I thought I could become a fitness instructor and that would make me feel valuable too. If I was in charge of the fitness class, people would admire me. They talk about how athletic and how in shape I was, and I never feel insecure. Again. Didn't quite work out that way. I distinctly remember when I started teaching fitness classes being overwhelmed with I think what they call the impostor syndrome. I felt like I didn't deserve to be there. That Surely I wasn't leading the class. I wasn't qualified to do that. I mean even though I had a certification that said otherwise. I achieved the goal I thought would make me feel good enough, feel valuable, and still it wasn't enough. I'm really glad Instagram didn't exist back then. I think now they call it monetized insecurity. Have you heard this term? Marketers figure it out several decades ago that if they can make women feel bad about their bodies, then they could sell them something to feel better about their bodies, and they'd make a lot of money. And make a lot of money they have. I don't want to sound cynical, but the beauty, diet, anti aging, and wellness industries are worth a combined seven trillion dollars. That's tea trillion. If women actually felt okay about their bodies just as they are, world economies would literally crumble. I promised you today that we do an exhale. What do I mean by that? I mean, so many of us have been white knuckling it. We've been holding on so tightly to our body change goals, our food rules, our exercise goals, our habits. Sometimes we've gotten so serious, so intense about all of our plans and programs, it may even feel like we've made it a religion. But last time we talked about that rest that Jesus promises that annopauso being a refreshing break intended to restore strength. So today I want to offer you a refreshing break from the messages of culture that beat you over the head and tell you you're not good enough. You need to do better, You're not loved unless you fix this. You're not trying hard enough. You must have more willpower. You are lazy, You're not smart enough to do this. Friend, I know you've heard some of these messages in your head. These are some of the lies I've heard, and the women I work with every week tell me these lies and more so, the refreshing break, the exhale, if you will, is this. You are already more loved than you can imagine, through Jesus Christ. You don't have to earn it, you don't actually deserve it. There's nothing you can do to make him love you more. There's nothing you can do to make him love you less. Your value is determined in and through Him. In other words, God isn't in heaven waiting for you to get to your after picture. He is not like, Wow, I really hope she can get it together and stay on the plan this time. Like I've been waiting to love her, But goodness, I don't know if she'll ever drop those pounds, So I guess I'll just sit here disappointed in her until she gets her act together. No, friend, that is not the voice of God, who loved you so much that he sent his only son to die for you so that you could spend eternity with him. You are fully loved right now today, write this second. No matter what size tag your gene says, no matter what this scale said this morning, you are absolutely worthy, valuable, and loved. And here's the cool thing about God. I mean, there are many, many, many cool things. But when you compare his message to the messages of our culture, there's one thing you've just got to see. Ready for this. God isn't trying to sell you anything. He doesn't need anything from you. God doesn't need your money, or your devotion or your love. I mean, he wants you to be fully his and follow him and love him and see everything you have as good gifts from him. But God's not trying to get rich off you. In fact, God is the only one in this whole world who has no ulterior motives for you at all. God's character is pure and he cannot contradict his own character. Have you ever thought about that? So here's the question for you to ponder today. Whose message Is it easier for me to believe the message of monetized insecurity those who are trying to sell me something to help me with my appearance problems of all kinds? Or do you believe in worth that's beyond measure, that God's definition is what makes you valuable. That you have security in Christ that is not dependent on you meeting your self improvement goals. Your security is anchored in God's grace, not your ability to become an after Here's why this is important to the exhale. It's very difficult to do anything successfully from a place of insecurity. And we're going to revisit this concept again and again. But there's way too much at stake. If you don't get that thing, you'll feel like you'll die because you thought this thing you wanted was going to give you worth and value, and when it doesn't go that way, when it doesn't come through you feel empty inside. The only healthy way to pursue body change is from a place of complete security in Christ. You have to know that He alone defines your worth and nothing else, period, end of sentence. His kingdom is upside down. It's not like this culture. He doesn't see things and do things like Instagram influencers do. He looks at your heart, not your gene size. He asks for love and obedience, not more willpower. So here's what I want to do. I should take a big inhale and then I want to just slowly exhale it out. That's your practice one. Did I sound a little bit like a fitness instructor? Right? Then? Okay, do that for me one more time. The first breath is normally a little shallow. We're not used to breathing that deeply. Here we go and then exhale and getting that oxygen and actually signals to your body that it's okay to relax, that it's okay to rest, that it's safe, that you're going to be okay. Let me think about it. If there's a tiger standing in front of you, you're not going to take a big inhale and exhale right, so your body knows, okay, I'm safe one more time inhale an exhale. All those messages your body needs if it's ever going to release a new weight, safety, security, rest, they all come. Well, we can't just bring it down a bit. So now this time is you breathe in. I want to do something different. I want you to say this little prayer. Okay, here we go, God help me believe, and then as you breathe out, say my value is found in you. Let's try it together. Here we go, breathe in, God help me believe. My value is found in you. So that's your exercise for today. And don't forget your question. Whose message is easier for you to believe, monetized insecurity or God's message of worth beyond measure. Take some time with that question and join us in the community as we chat about it today. If you've not joined the community yet, get in at waiting Forweight loss dot com. It's absolutely free. We'd love to have you be part of this conversation there. Thanks for listening today. Come back next time as we talk about this second way to Exhale to Compare to You podcast. It's proud to be part of the Life Audio podcast network from our great Christian podcast, Go to lifeaudio dot com.