That Your Weaknesses May Become Strengths

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27)

I suppose I should mention here that this quote comes from a set of scriptures called "The Book Of Mormon".  And since I know you are going to ask: Yes I am Mormon, Yes I read and believe in the Book of Mormon, Yes I also read and believe in The Bible, No I do not believe that all Non-Mormons are going to Hell, and Yes I believe in Jesus Christ and that he is our Savior and our Redeemer.  Now that we have that out of the way we can get onto the point.

 At its heart, isn't this the root of what we are trying to achieve?  Here we are, overweight, lethargic, addicted to food, emotional eaters, and lacking self control.  Take away all the fancy names, all the fancy programs and what do you have left?  We have a weakness, and that weakness is food.  It is something we struggle with, something that has been causing us distress, discomfort, discouragement.  It is one of our (okay: MY) greatest weaknesses.  And what exactly is this journey all about?  It's about learning to eat healthy, become more active, and break our food addiction.  In essence it's about turning our weakness into a strength.  Look at anyone who has succeeded in this journey, and more specifically those who have succeeded in maintenance.  They are able to control with mastery their food intake, their exercise, food preparation and planning, they can navigate the buffet table, the holiday desserts, and the party trays with finesse.  Their weakness has become one of their greatest strengths.

That is what I think about when I think about self mastery around food.  It is hard now, it is hard to resist the extra food, it is hard to make and then eat healthier food when what you are craving is a pizza, or burgers and fries, or whatever it is you are craving.  It's HARD!  But the more you work on it, the less you give in the easier it becomes, your desires may start to change, your palate may start to change, your thoughts may start to change, and whether you rely on God or not to help you change, your weakness, slowly, over time can and will be turned into your strength as you allow your spirit to control your body instead of your body to control your spirit.  By admitting your weakness and becoming willing to work, becoming teachable, becoming open to suggestions and change you are humbling yourself.  If you believe you can change, if you believe in a better future for yourself then you have faith.  I know I can beat this.  I know there will be setback, missteps, and pitfalls.  Goodness knows I have had hundreds of them already.  But I keep picking myself, try to learn something, try to change, and move on facing forward.  

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