From The Inside Out

From The Inside Out

Almost three and a half years ago I decided I needed to make a drastic – much needed change in my life.  At first I thought the change I needed was entirely outward until a dear blogger-friend, Mary Murphy, sent me a special message that literally brought me on a journey that would change my life from the inside out!  She sent me her book and workbook called, Winning the Battle of Bulge – It’s Not Just About the Weight.  

At first I looked at the book as another diet plan – yet the book has NOTHING to do with dieting!  Instead it has everything to do about changing your life from the inside out!  I had never applied Romans 12:1, 2 to my battle with my weight.  Yet as the title of the book says – It’s Not Just About the Weight!  I needed to present my body to God – my whole body, mind and spirit to God!  He cares about all aspects of my life – including my weight!  As I began to focus on the Who I needed to follow instead of following the worldly who and what – diets, what society says I should look like, etc.; my life began change from the inside out!  

This journey I am on is a life-long journey, a life- long battle – yet a battle that Christ has already won! I just have to believe it and claim it!  The Word of God is my battle plan and road map for my life – everyone’s life!  We just have to be willing to lay down our lives – our own will and follow His best plan for our lives.  Why should we settle for anything less than the best?  Yet every day we make choices that are opposite to His best for our lives!  

My journey has included weight loss surgery due to medical conditions, yet as many know, weight loss surgery is only a tool – I still can gain all the weight back if I go back to my old ways and not follow His plan – His way for my life. Even though I have lost almost 220 lbs. to date, I still struggle just like everyone else – so over a year ago I decided to start a Becoming a Healthier Me Support Group utilizing Mary Murphy’s book/workbook.  We do not stop after the 12 week study, we continue meeting at least twice a month until each January when we start the 12 week class all over again to welcome others to the group. 

It is so exciting to see and hear how the Lord is changing each man and woman in the group – from the inside out!  Each participant has said they first come to the group to lose weight but within weeks they share they have become a new person – from the inside first.  Their relationship with the Lord has grown and their outlook on life as well as their battle with weight has completely changed for the better!  We all support, encourage and pray for one another as we find ourselves changing from the inside out.  

Do you desire to change your life for the better?  Why not practice what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:1,2?  Transform your life – from the inside out! 

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.  Romans 12:1,2 (MSG)”