The world loves to preach that fear is a great motivator. As Christians, we know that fear is also an evil spirit. When it comes to health and fitness, fear is often the root of the problem. As crazy as it may seem, for many people, fear is the primary deterrent to starting a health and fitness plan. It presents itself in many forms, but the most prominent and most effective types of fear in regard to health and fitness are the fear of failure and the fear of success. While it may be understandable that people are afraid to fail, especially when they have a history of failing on diets or treatment plans for eating disorders in the past, being afraid to succeed directly contradicts common sense and reason. After all, isn't achieving a healthy weight and living a healthy lifestyle what you want?
If you are truly honest with yourself, you will admit the answer to that question is, "No." That is why you are afraid to succeed. For example, successfully losing weight and keeping it off means saying goodbye to cheeseburgers, fries, Philly cheesesteaks, funnel cakes, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate cake, to name a few. It means eating kale, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, baked fish, grilled pork, rotisserie chicken, fruit, and drinking lots and lots of and water for the rest of your life. It is a complete overhaul of your current existence. It is change. And most people do not like change. Change is particularly difficult when you like things exactly the way they are. For instance, hiking up a mountain may not be your idea of fun, neither is using a treadmill or enrolling in a Zumba class. Moreover, your taste buds might actually recoil at the mere mention of cauliflower, beets, or star fruit. Yet you are well aware that the end result of your current lifestyle is an early, and often long, torturous death. That should be even more frightening than the idea of changing for the better. So why is it that the vast majority of people continue on the road of obesity and eating disorders? That has a lot to do with the fear of failure. The fear of failure says you will not succeed before you even begin. After you manage to work up the courage to start, fear insists that you will not last much longer, so you may as well quit now. When you achieve health and fitness milestones, fear switches gears and says you are just going to gain it all back or insists that you will start to binge and purge again. Once your fitness goals are attained, fear still insists that the clock is ticking on when you will slide backwards into your old habits. For many people, this constant barrage of attacks is enough to make them give up before beginning, acquiesce to defeat shortly after starting, or slip one unhealthy meal at a time back into old habits they were conquering or had successfully conquered. Do not let fear defeat you again! The lifestyle you are desperately holding on to is not worth comparing to the glory which will be revealed in you if you do not quit (Romans 8:18). Furthermore, God promises to give you victory over your enemies, including the evil spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). You are going to get to the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life. Although fear may be one of the giants dwelling in the land, it is already defeated in the Name of Jesus if you will "be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6). If you are ready to face and overcome your health and fitness fears through Christ and finally obtain permanent and sustained victory over obesity and eating disorders, purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com. In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God. Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ. Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips. Tune in to our syndicated radio show on Spotify, iTunes, the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends. Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!
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Ann Wooten Taylor
Ann is an attorney who has been licensed to practice law in the State of Arkansas since 2004, practicing in the areas of child abuse and neglect, special education, and unemployment insurance law. Mrs. Taylor is also the C.E.O. of Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries and a Christian author. Her first non-fiction, Christian book entitled, "Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook" was published and released by Life to Legacy Publishing in 2015. Her second book, the "Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher's Edition" was published and released in December 2016. Archives
January 2019
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