Weight Loss, God's WaySample

REASONS OR RESULTS:  EXCUSE MAKING

Scripture Reflection

“I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” ~ John 5:7 NIV

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

I can’t lose weight because I don’t have the time … I can’t afford it … I can’t afford a gym membership right now … My kids need me. Do any of these sound familiar? 

I took a course a few years ago and the facilitator made a powerful statement. He said, “In life, there are reasons and results—if you have a reason, then you did not get the result.” So which would you prefer, a good reason or a good result?

Excuse-making is one of the faulty patterns that keep us stuck. Excuses keep us from taking responsibility for our lives and our health. They rob us of our personal power and leave us feeling helpless to our circumstances. 

Excuses in and of themselves are just the symptoms of an underlying problem. One of the most important steps in releasing excess weight is to uproot excuse-making and begin dealing with the real issues behind the excuses you make. It’s impossible to change what you don’t acknowledge. 

There’s a sad story in the book of John about a man that allowed his infirmity to become his way of life for 38 years! The story outlines a lame man waiting at a healing pool that was believed to heal whoever was the first person to step into the water after it was stirred by an angel of the Lord (John 5:1-9). Although he may have had a legitimate excuse (like most of us) for not going after what he wanted, he blamed his situation on other people not helping him. He complained that other people were always jumping ahead of him and that’s why he could not receive his healing.

What reasons do you have for why you have not received a breakthrough in this area? As legitimate as our excuses may be, God wants us to take 100 percent responsibility for our actions and he has equipped us with the ability to do so.

Today’s Health Challenge

Make a list of all the excuses (even the legitimate ones) you use to justify why you are not at your ideal, healthy weight. 

Today’s Confession

Father, You’ve clothed me with strength and honor. You’ve empowered me to be strong and courageous. I reclaim my power in You by taking 100 percent responsibility for my thoughts and actions. I am blessed with the Holy Spirit to accomplish my weight loss goals. I will have a testimony in the name of Jesus.