The Power to Say No to Ourselves

I’ve attempted to transform myself many times over. A new wardrobe, a new hairstyle, or a new career even. Yes, I’ve done many things to reinvent myself. But as a young person, physical appearance was so important to me that it cemented an unhealthy and destructive mindset that followed into every area of my life. Poor eating habits without exercise landed me in the overweight category for most of my adult life.

Many years ago, I decided I better do something about the weight. So, I started to exercise. I did lose thirty-plus pounds, but my mind hadn’t changed about how I related to food. Food was my go-to stress reliever. And I was stuck in a pattern I couldn’t shake. I wasn’t following Jesus at that time. Instead, I followed what I thought was best, but comfort came with a cost.  Philippians 3:19 You probably guessed it, my weight crept up again little by little, and a decade-plus later, I was back in the same boat. Only this time, I was older, and exercise alone wouldn’t cut it. I not only needed physical activity but accountability to help. 

My self-esteem and body image weren’t a number on the scale; it’s much more complex than that. Instead, it was what that number meant to me – was I succeeding or failing? Was it a reason to grumble, celebrate or avoid? And what did it say to others about me? Left to my thoughts and opinions, a number on the scale or a clothing size did a lot to form my value and self-worth more than what God said about me.

I didn’t know what I didn’t know. 

I did happen to shed the weight again. My new arrangement with food worked so well that although I had made a habit of saying no to foods, my mind and emotions still needed buffering when stress upended logic and willpower failed. I still thought the same ways and needed somethingggggg to help me. That’s when I made the pivot from food to drink. It accelerated the risk, speed, and potential power to hurt myself and others. Food does that as well but at a much slower incremental pace and not with the same stigma as substance abuse and addiction, but it’s abuse and addiction all the same. 

I’m wondering if anything comes to mind as you read my story? What has been your go-to comfort source? What is the thing or things you just can’t say no to? 

Transformation is possible, but we have to be able to say “No” to ourselves. Because what we want isn’t always good for us. We have no transformational power to say “No” to ourselves – “our flesh” or “old sinful nature,” as the Bible calls it, without Jesus in our hearts and minds. And I can still get caught up unless I turn the channel in my mind to what God says and pour out my heart and emotions to Him.

It’s God’s Holy Spirit that gives us the power of self-control. Galatians 5:22-23  To say “NO” to the sin that enslaves us. Romans 6:6  

I can testify that it’s true. I haven’t had a drink since May 20th, 2014, and have had a healthy weight and BMI from 2014 to the present. Thanks to God for enabling it and I give Him all the glory.