Self-Esteem??

I'm curious as to what your motives are for losing weight. Your real motives... not the ones you know are right, or which ones sound good. I had to ask myself this same question. I DO want to Glorify God in all that I do, but that isn't my only motivation for losing weight. I know that my health can be affected by poor eating and exercising habits, but honestly, health isn't even at the top of my list; it's there, but somewhere closer to the bottom. I want to look better... for my husband and for myself. I'm not trying to make myself attractive for anyone else, but not being repulsive would be nice ;) When I reached my goal weight a couple of years ago I noticed some of my true motives rearing their ugly head. Now that I could fit into a size FOUR (I love how that sounds) I felt a desire to wear all sorts of clothing that I hadn't been able to wear before. I bought a couple of tops and skirts that, after wearing once, I just had to get rid of. They weren't modest enough to give the attention to the LORD where it belongs. But why would I chose that in the first place?... A hidden desire to tell the world, "Look at me! I'm skinny!" Upon close examination of my feelings I can see where they stem from. You've heard it many times before, and I'm sure that most of you have used it yourself.... Self-Esteem. The term is thrown around so carelessly and it's even seen as something we should all strive to have. An overweight person will talk about having a 'low self-esteem'; teachers in public schools are told to treat their students in a way that will promote a 'high self-esteem'. But is this really what we should be trying to obtain as Christians?

The definition of Self-Esteem is: Pride in oneself; respect for or a favorable opinion of oneself; self-respect.

That doesn’t sound like what I want; how about you? PRIDE in oneself? God tells us in Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth, do I hate.” (emphasis mine). God HATES pride, and did you notice that arrogance, which is almost the same thing, is listed next? He listed it TWICE in the same verse. He’s really trying to get his point across here! Romans 3:10, as well as many other verses, tells us, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” How can we have a favorable opinion of ourselves when God himself is telling us we aren’t worthy of it? When I was looking for a good verse about self-respect I found this one… it is SO appropriate here, Proverbs 28:21, “To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.” Those of you watching your carbs will understand that one more! I’ve had my own moments where any self-respect I imagined myself to have would have gone out the window for a piece of bread!

I feel as though I'm 'preaching to the choir' here, because I'm sure you all know that pride is bad and that none of us are truly good. But sin can be a sneaky thing and Satan will take it whether it's intentional or not. Examine what your true goals are for losing weight. Are you worried about your level of 'self-esteem'? Accept the fact that NONE of us are good and keep your eyes on the Lord. Let's all make sure that we are doing everything to Glorify GOD!