The Biggest Loser

My husband and I watch NBC’s The Biggest Loser faithfully! I usually find inspiration as I watch the story of the participants lives unfold. Before the season is over, I have become a fan of one of them. I want that person to succeed. Recently, as we were watching the program, I said to my husband, “I don’t understand how someone could allow themselves to be that overweight… what happens to them?” His response made me think. He said to me that somewhere in their life they more than likely quit caring.

Most people I know, including myself, would never want to be crowned the “Biggest Loser”. Yet, on this program that is their only goal… the only way to win is to lose. Hebrews 12:1 states …“let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” Basically, we are to take the same approach with a similar discipline in our spiritual life. We should strive to lose so we can win.

The word “weight” in this verse is anything that is a burden/encumbrance in our life. In other words, whatever it is that is useless, or anything that is a hindrance. There are false belief systems and attitudes that will weigh us down spiritually. Bitterness, resentment, anger, stubbornness, or an unhealthy relationship or other strongholds that entangle can keep us from the Truth that will make us free. Weights can be put on and weights can be taken off. It is our choice!

On the television program, I have two favorite segments: the Challenge and Last Chance Workout. For some of us, everyday is a challenge. Whether you have lost a child and the grief is unbearable and you know that getting out of bed to face another day is your challenge, or you are fighting a disease that you are determined to beat, or you are trying to overcome the bitterness and grief of a divorce. Those are life altering challenges. Other daily challenges may not be as difficult yet they present different types of struggles. The Challenge on the TV show will usually challenge at least one person’s fear and maybe another person’s endurance, but it challenges all the contestants in the area of strength.

Last Chance Workout is brutal! It is amazing that after a week of strenuous exercise the participants have the energy and motivation to work off more calories. Why? They fear the scale. They know that they will walk up the stairs and stand before the trainers, other contestants and all of America. The only thing that truly tells what they have done will be the number on the scale. Everything they do is for a number.

I want to encourage you to ponder what you have read. What is weighing you down? What “weight” do you need to lose? What is the challenge you are facing and do you need a last chance workout spiritually? What do you strive for?