I have to admit, I am pretty overweight. I want to lose weight but I was thinking if I die tomorrow, will God accept me fat even though I follow his commandments and am a good kid? I am 16 if you were wondering
Well gluttony is a sin, if that is what you are getting at. Most of what I read about gluttony is its link to other sins, and if you do follow the commandments, and you have faith and are following the path of salvation, of course He will accept you. Yes, God looks at the heart. Even if that is not clean, if it desires and seeks purity, even that can save a person.
But, I think you should exercise control of your desire for food, not necessarily your weight. It is gluttony, not the weight that is the problem.
Since you make it an issue, it seems it is an issue in your life. Get help, but remember if people don't accept you as you are, God does. But the thing is He easily accepts, but He hardly is satisfied with us the way we are. That is why He constantly gives grace to improve us.
Being a health professional, I hope you do sort your weight problem! But, sometimes I reckon God uses this to stop us from some of the extremes of shallowness of thin people.
there are many reasons people are fat. often it is greed. u know that's u if you grab the biggest piece of chicken/ falafel on the plate (delete according to season!) or quickly eat without seeing if everyone else has enough, or, if you eat alone, you eat everything you fancy without thinking if you are doing the best for your body (the temple of the Holy Spirit). but more people are fat because they are a bit depressed. u know this is u if sit in front on the telly eating a packet of biscuits and think 'what a fat ugly cow i am'. obviously the treatment is different, although you may have both problems and need to treat them both.
if u are a bit depressed, ask God to take you on a journey showing you His love. go to church often and always think 'how can i apply this Bible reading to my life?' pray often. think of what things go around all the time in your head and start to replace them with Godly thoughts. memorise a few Bible verses and say them in your head to replace the negative thoughts that go around. have Christian music in the background instead of love songs from the radio (which are always about beautifully thin perfect people finding endless romantic 'love') and meditate on how much Jesus loved you when He paid for your sin. remember He cares for you that much.
if u are greedy, think of the people who don't have so much food and ask God to find a way to help them. help out in a soup kitchen, give money to a good charity, buy someone at church a sandwich etc. always (not just during fasting seasons) check if other people have enough and be ready to donate the last fried potatoes on your plate or whatever you are eating to a passing friend. always pray before eating and remember you belong to God, and He needs you ready for service, not staying at home coz your car's broken and you are too unfit to walk the 2km from the bus stop to church.
what usually happens with fat people is that the depressed people try the treatment for greedy people, get more depressed and more fat! so do the right treatment (the above is just a guide to get you thinking, you can probably work out some of your own treatments) and above all discuss your problem with a spiritual advisor, like your priest for example.
most of us have much greater problems that are not so obvious by looking at the size of our waistline, so may God guide us all to become more like Him, and not judge others.
God does not accept you based on this stuff. God accepts you based on your relationship with HIM. PERIOD. Otherwise, Jesus was UNNECESSARY. Think about it.
As far as weight goes, I have struggled with my weight most of my life...I am far older than you are. What I can say is that when I was young, I used to PRAY for God to please--since miracles supposedly could occur!!--let me wake up THIN! LOL! Never happened...
You know how I changed things? By exercising. Regularly. In college, one of the things we learned was that in order to lose weight, you need to exercise at least 5 days a week and at least for 45 minutes each time--moderate to heavy intensity. A few years ago, I added weight training to the cardio I have always done. It helped me lose about 20 pounds that had crept onto me when my hormones went wacky.
The eating will sort itself out as you begin to feel better exercising. This is the key.
Don't beat yourself up for being who you are. Learn to love yourself, because if you are hating what and who you are, you will not care for yourself tenderly and with respect.
obviously god wants you to care more about your spiritual life and your relationship with him but at the same time you have to care for your body because it's the temple of god. everything you have belongs to him. although he may not care as much, you can't remain careless. just stay healthy but don't let yourself go and be lazy because god doesn't want you to be lazy. He wants to see you the best you can be, with Him especially.
Comments
haha god looks at your heart... just make sure that is all cleaned up and your ready to go :D
But, I think you should exercise control of your desire for food, not necessarily your weight. It is gluttony, not the weight that is the problem.
Since you make it an issue, it seems it is an issue in your life. Get help, but remember if people don't accept you as you are, God does. But the thing is He easily accepts, but He hardly is satisfied with us the way we are. That is why He constantly gives grace to improve us.
Being a health professional, I hope you do sort your weight problem! But, sometimes I reckon God uses this to stop us from some of the extremes of shallowness of thin people.
God bless.
but more people are fat because they are a bit depressed. u know this is u if sit in front on the telly eating a packet of biscuits and think 'what a fat ugly cow i am'.
obviously the treatment is different, although you may have both problems and need to treat them both.
if u are a bit depressed, ask God to take you on a journey showing you His love. go to church often and always think 'how can i apply this Bible reading to my life?' pray often. think of what things go around all the time in your head and start to replace them with Godly thoughts. memorise a few Bible verses and say them in your head to replace the negative thoughts that go around. have Christian music in the background instead of love songs from the radio (which are always about beautifully thin perfect people finding endless romantic 'love') and meditate on how much Jesus loved you when He paid for your sin. remember He cares for you that much.
if u are greedy, think of the people who don't have so much food and ask God to find a way to help them. help out in a soup kitchen, give money to a good charity, buy someone at church a sandwich etc. always (not just during fasting seasons) check if other people have enough and be ready to donate the last fried potatoes on your plate or whatever you are eating to a passing friend. always pray before eating and remember you belong to God, and He needs you ready for service, not staying at home coz your car's broken and you are too unfit to walk the 2km from the bus stop to church.
what usually happens with fat people is that the depressed people try the treatment for greedy people, get more depressed and more fat! so do the right treatment (the above is just a guide to get you thinking, you can probably work out some of your own treatments) and above all discuss your problem with a spiritual advisor, like your priest for example.
most of us have much greater problems that are not so obvious by looking at the size of our waistline, so may God guide us all to become more like Him, and not judge others.
[quote author=abanoub2000 link=topic=9237.msg114430#msg114430 date=1273925432]
.... Crap I'm not getting accepted either :D
haha god looks at your heart... just make sure that is all cleaned up and your ready to go :D
Clean heart = No cholesterol :D
As far as weight goes, I have struggled with my weight most of my life...I am far older than you are. What I can say is that when I was young, I used to PRAY for God to please--since miracles supposedly could occur!!--let me wake up THIN! LOL! Never happened...
You know how I changed things? By exercising. Regularly. In college, one of the things we learned was that in order to lose weight, you need to exercise at least 5 days a week and at least for 45 minutes each time--moderate to heavy intensity. A few years ago, I added weight training to the cardio I have always done. It helped me lose about 20 pounds that had crept onto me when my hormones went wacky.
The eating will sort itself out as you begin to feel better exercising. This is the key.
Don't beat yourself up for being who you are. Learn to love yourself, because if you are hating what and who you are, you will not care for yourself tenderly and with respect.