For me, the ritual was always the same. I’d tap the scale and carefully climb on. With bated breath – I would wait. Then, I would repeat the process a second time to make sure everything was “accurate”.

The dictionary defines an idol as anything in the natural world that is given sacred value and power. My weight, that elusive number staring back at me on the scale would determine my mood, my joy or lack of joy, my worth – what it said about me held sacred value and power in my life. What is said about me would affect how I dressed, how I interacted with my family, what I ate, how I felt about myself, about God, about my life.

My weight was controlling me; I was not in control of my weight. Ironically, that number was often the heaviest, weightiest part of my whole day. Through time in prayer and by His abundant grace, God revealed to me that my weight had become a seductive and very powerful idol in my life. It had stolen my joy, or affirmed my worth. It had not just been an addiction, it had become a matter of sin – idolatry in my life in a very real, and very damaging way. The number on the scale held so much value that it really had complete power over me. The Lord revealed this to me because He wanted me free.

If this scenario sounds familiar to you, be encouraged! He wants you free too! He desires a radical return to Him. It is impossible to serve two gods and, for me, my weight had become a god in my life (“This is what the Lord Almighty says; I am the First and the Last; there is no other God.” Isaiah 44:6). To free me from the bondage of this sin, God asked me to totally abandon weighing myself – totally! He impressed upon me the need to throw the scale away and be done with it. What freedom (It is for freedom that Christ set us free!)!

Instantly, I could feel the heavy burden lifting, and I was freer to focus on Him than I’d ever been. That act of obedience allowed me to have correct motives for healthy eating and exercise. The Lord confirmed to me that the number on the scale is nothing more than that – a number, a piece of information. It is not a measure of my worth. It is not a sign of success or failure. It does nothing to add to, confirm, or deny my holiness. It does not represent my beauty nor does it increase my goodness.

If the scale holds sacred value in your life or is a source of addiction for you, I want to encourage you today that the Lord has more truthful measures for you. There is no fault in desiring or working toward a healthy body, but friends, remember, the beauty in you is not measured by pounds, it’s measured by the glory of the One who shines through you!

Prayer for Today: “Lord, thank you that you love us enough to keep us from trying to serve two Gods. Thank you for rescuing us from a heart divided. Thank you for beginning the process of tearing down idols – lies – that we’ve clung to as truth. Lord, we release the idol of weight to you and humbly ask that you would put weight in its proper place in our lives. We ask that weight become nothing more in our lives than what it truly is, a number, and a piece of information – nothing more. In Jesus name we pray that it no longer hold scared value and power in our lives. Holy Spirit we ask you to help us keep sacred that which is sacred and to run from lies. Lord, no longer will we give the number on the scale sacred value and we release its power over our lives. In Jesus name, Amen!”