I was amazed. “How did he do it?” I thought. He had to have had some type of surgery. Maybe he was confused or simply embellishing. A change that dramatic in only twelve months was impossible. Or so I thought.
He struggled to say no. He struggled to reduce quantities. His friends encouraged his overconsumption. Some laughed. Some criticized. Some spoke behind his back. Others avoided the topic all together.
One friend spoke into his life, reminded him that he needed to change, and did so with the tone of a loving friend. He took it to heart. He changed his eating habits radically, exercised daily, and supplemented his diet wisely. He decided to master something that had mastered him.
For twelve months he worked hard. In twelve short months, he lost nearly one hundred pounds. Yes, you read that correctly. One-Hundred-Pounds. His blood pressure improved. His attitude changed. His energy levels were higher.
Today he’s a very healthy person and hopefully has many years ahead of him. He realized that if he didn’t begin making good decisions soon, he would essentially be allowing food to become the master over his life. He couldn’t serve two masters (Matthew 6:24): God and food. Food would inevitably ruin his ministry, destroy his health, and end his ministry.
I’m not saying that obesity is caused by unfaithfulness to God. Many people are genetically predisposed to obesity and will always struggle for many reasons. But in his case, he realized and has told me that his being overweight was directly tied to a pattern of poor decision making.
We all have areas of our lives though, that feel impossible to change. Deep in our souls, we struggle with change. We perceive the pain of change as greater than the pain of staying the same. We essentially serve two masters. We claim to serve God but insist on satisfying our own personal desires.
We demand our rights at the expense of others. We attribute fault to others as an excuse for our anger. We avoid conflict to protect ourselves when dealing with conflict in a Christian was would bring honor to God. We insist on the American dream rather than facilitating the dreams of others.
What things in your life feel like they are impossible to change? What aspects of your life are counter-cultural? Do you stick out in a good way?
I believe that the root of my sin is an insistence on getting my way. Virtually every time I sin I can trace it back to self-centeredness, misguided views of self, or an attempt to serve two masters: myself and God.
Perhaps you too have areas or an area of your life that you think is impossible to change. Maybe you’ve tried many times in the past. Take a gamble today by deciding that you’ll no longer serve two masters. You’ll coordinate a strategy to master whatever has been mastering you. You’ll enlist the help of friends, family, your spouse, your kids, your grandchildren. You’ll honestly evaluate yourself and the need for change. You’ll setup and empower others to enforce accountability structures for you. You’ll master the impossible and put God in His proper place as your only master.
