My 600lb Lie

My 600lb Life is a television show that documents the lives of people who are morbidly obese.  They are moving closer to death with every unhealthy meal they eat. However they can't stop consuming food because it is literally an addiction which has taken control of their lives. As a result, they become a danger to themselves and burden often times a burden to their families. 

          While you  may not have a food addiction that spirals out of control and causes you to be 600lbs, many of us of us have believed unhealthy lies. Lies that started off small enough, but now are close to 600lbs. The lie that we believed grew beyond our control and threatens our very ability to thrive throughout life. We stay stagnant and can't move out of our complacency because the lie has grown that large. "You're too ugly", "You'll never succeed", "you're doomed to repeat the mistakes of your father". Sometimes these lies start small enough but over time grow and begin to weigh us down. Sometimes those that cause us to believe lies do so with with well meaning intentions. (i.e. Your parents trying to motivate you - "why can't you be more like your sibling" leading you to believe that you yourself aren't good enough. A teacher demeaning you in front of the class causing you to think you're not smart) Lies like these can cripple us and make us immobile for the work that God has for us to do.

             One of my 600lb Lies is that I was too stupid, that I wasn't smart enough. Smart enough for what you ask? I don't know, anything really, just to succeed. I don't know how it started or what seed was planted. I don't think there was any traumatic event that took place. I think I was striving for A's in school and came to the conclusion that I was a solid B student as a result I never saw myself as A material. That resulted in me not speaking up and being as vocal at times. It caused me to question my ability to lead because I in my mind I didn't have what it took. At the time leader See how that can be a problem?? 

The funny thing about lies is they are often the direct antithesis of your purpose in God. To lead others, you have to be knowledgable. To preach you have to be able to research and dispense information in a way that brings clarity to the listener. Feeling intellectually inadequate directly influences both of those areas. On another note my thinking I was stupid and didn't have what it took would have surely caused me to either walk away from pastoring, or pastor with a facade of confidence that I never had. Which would have been lying. So you see believing a lie, often causes us to live a lie. Lies beget lies and the pounds continue to pack on. 

 I know it seems like a dark, dank spiral of defeat but believe me, there is hope. Through prayer, counseling, receiving the compliments of others,  and taking a good look at myself I realized that I was smart and capable. I didn't have to let that lie define me. I first had to realize the lie, identify it and one day at a time, deny myself the comfort of walking in that lie.

See the other thing about lies is sometimes lies are COMFORTABLE.  Often it takes more effort to walk in the truth. Maybe its because we've believed the lie a little longer.  In the 600lb Life show the person thats eating themselves to death, loves eating food. They love whats killing them and continue to feed it because eating healthy and working out takes WORK. I'd have to embrace truth. I am smart. I'd have to remind myself of that truth every. single. day. That isn't easy especially when the lie continues to rear its ugly head. 

Another observation I saw is that in the show the majority of the time everyone has a family member or loved one that gets food for them. Since they can't physically get up and go to the fast-food restaurant of their choice their loved ones often get them the food that is destroying them. The same applies to our lies. We have some people in our lives that love us, that maybe mean well, but are enabling us to walk in our lies. We need to stop this habit so that we can live healthy lives and lose our 600 lb Lie one day at a time. 

What about you?

What lies are you facing? What truth do you need to be exposed to? How many pounds is your lie and what are you feeding it to help it grow? 

These are challenging questions but ones that we must address if we are to lose the weight that lies cause us to carry.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” - John 8:31-32

These posts are meant to encourage, challenge, equip and inspire us to realize our regality in Christ.

-Roderick Caesar III