Shaped by Grace Part 2 - Lose the Lies & Gain God's TruthSample

Embracing Weaknesses

Lose the lie: “I’m self-sufficient.”

The scale is my enemy. There, I said it. And for years, the mirror, clothing sizes, and man’s opinions, were enemies, too. Over the course of my life, I’ve battled with these inanimate objects like they have legit feelings, and sadly I succumbed to their convincing lies.

These obstacles twisted my perception. I internalized their negative messages and allowed these man-made tools to be weapons of self-hatred and self-harm. I fell into agreement with these idols and gave in to their constant self-condemnation. I suffered emotionally from selfishness, creating constant criticisms and suspicions in my mind. Eventually these, too, became idols.

We aren’t built to carry what Pinterest pins on us. The mirror, scale, and our dress size don’t get to size us up. Idols only detract from God’s image and sway our hearts away from God.

Our culture finds encouragement in self-help methods and focuses on a quick-fix mentality. It’s true there are many new diet plans released every year, plus social media blasts before-and-after pictures. And although some of them have some worthy merit, there are countless programs and pills offering empty promises. We must remember scales, diet plans, and mirrors are tools to help us along the way and to measure our progress, but idols can’t measure our self-worth.

We have become so skilled in living behind the mask of self-sufficiency. Don’t be easily persuaded by the various idols and distractions of the world. It’s natural to want to hide our junk and think we don’t need anyone’s help. And we all want to hide our junk from God! However, we must be wise when using worldly tools and self-help methods to measure our souls.

Gain God’s Truth: We are nothing without God. We were created to walk in communion with Him, not apart from Him. Idols separate us from a personal walk with the Lord, and the Bible warns us to not give our lives to them. God is our source for everything. God’s ways are complete and bring protection from all kinds of predators that will persuade us otherwise. As our identity is rooted in Christ, He becomes our standard of truth-filled help. And God's grace will sufficiently help us in our weaknesses where we can’t help ourselves.