I’m 5’4” on a tall day and I weigh 144 pounds on a thin day.

That’s crazy scary for me to disclose.  

Why?  I don’t know.  Maybe it’s because I’m on the upper end of “normal” (whatever that is) on the recommended height and weight charts.  Perhaps it’s the fear of being illegitimized by my peers.  Maybe it just doesn’t seem like an accurate description of healthy weight for my muscular frame.  

Or possibly it’s that I just horrified my very traditional and proper mother by putting such a personal detail out there.

But this is the deal:  it doesn’t really matter.  What is relevant is that I’m taking care of the body God entrusted me with so I can use it the way He wants me to.

The Bible’s Directive

Every morning I open my bible to learn from and spend time with God.  His word envelopes me in love and grace.  It clarifies my actions and gives me guidance on what to do that day.  

What is not there is a chart of how much I should weigh. Or what size of pants I should wear.  What is repeated over and over are two very clear directives:  Love God and love others.  

“But wait!” bible scholars say, “it says right in 1 Corinthians 6:19, our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit!”  Yes.  Yes, it is.  We must treat it with all the care and respect we would want if Jesus himself came and stepped into it.  Because that’s essentially what has happened – God in Spirit form is living inside us.  If you need a visual, think Patrick Swayze in the movie Ghost.   

We are also told in Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  As I wrote here, if we are spending more time treasuring our fitness tracker app or thinking about how to ingest perfect nutrients, then it’s possible we aren’t leaving enough mental space for listening to what God wants us doing with our bodies.  It’s easy to get our heart out of place, even with good intentions.

Reconciling this to real life

My body needs to be equipped and ready to love others.  To serve others.  To encourage others.  I need to take proper care of it to ensure it lasts as long as God wants me on this earth. 

Heaven has no physical scale.  God doesn’t care what we weigh, or what our abs look like, or if we have a saggy or perky butt.  He commands us to honor Him by taking care of our temple, our entire body, lumps and sags and all.   

This isn’t to say that the lean, athletic physiques have commitment issues to God.  There is nothing wrong with looking like an Athleta model.  I wish I could get there.  God knows, I’ve tried.  And when I have, I’ve lost sight of the end game: Take care of my body to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

You may be someone who could grace the cover of a magazine. You may be that way naturally or you may work for it. There is nothing wrong with this and even at the end of the day, I will still be a little jealous.   

But would I sacrifice my muscular legs, toned biceps, and efficient heart to take 15 pounds off?  No way.  And as I’ve written, I enjoy wine and chocolate too much to take it out completely, which might pull the scale down a little.  It’s just not worth it to me.  

Your Weight Does Not Define You

Our country’s obsession with the scale, I hate it.  It doesn’t define me.  A smaller number isn’t going to make me less frustrated when my children forget to unload the dishwasher.  It won’t mend a relationship.  And sometimes the focus on it turns into random acts of violence, like my friend TheFitnessedSister wrote. 

You know.  

• You know deep in your gym shoes, or lack thereof, if your scale number needs to decrease for health reasons.  
• You know if your number is truly keeping you from being your best and doing what God wants you to be doing, today and for years to come.  
• And scale aside, you know if your heart is healthy, your muscles are strong and if your bones are dense.  If they aren’t, then do something about it.  

There is no shortage of health and nutrition plans to give us tools. If you need ideas, email me and let’s chat.  There is no one-size-fits-all nutrition and exercise plan, otherwise, it would be in the Good Book itself.  

Let’s stop focusing on the number on the scale and use that energy to live the life God has planned for us. Because it’s good.  And if you need to get your body in shape for that goodness, then make that commitment. Think of difference we could make if we strengthened our heart for God and others.  

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