Love self....

Reading a devotional recently had me reflecting....am I honouring God with the way I think of myself?  My answer was simple, no.  God created me in his image, he loves me, he sent his Son to die for me, I accepted him as Lord and Saviour, I am his Child, so if I despise myself I am in effect saying I am not worthy yet he accepts me for who I am!!!

In thinking it through I realised my self loathing was not honourable to God, but it didn't stop the thoughts.   What I need to do is work to change my body, become healthy and fit.  Which of course is the journey I have now embarked upon.  The changes wont happen overnight but I have an assurance from God that they will happen and in the meantime, I need to try and think happy/positive thoughts about myself.

Whilst visiting at the hairdressers today I realised how bad my self loathing is - I found it difficult to sit down in front of the mirror ( a requirement at the hairdressers).  I will overcome this by achieving my health and fitness goals and trust God.  The devotion below spoke to me.

"Scripture shows us how important it is to think healthy, positive thoughts about ourselves. You cannot love life if you're always thinking negative thoughts. If you struggle with this, I encourage you to make up your mind to work toward changing your way of thinking. I've found the best way to become a positive thinker is to ask God for a lot of help, and to ask for it often.

That's really the hardest part of being set free from negativism: admitting that it's a problem and asking God for help. But once you do that, you can overcome it because according to the Bible, you're a new person in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). 

Many people are afraid to hope because they've been hurt so much in life. Their philosophy is: "If I don't expect anything good to happen, I won't be disappointed if it doesn't." 

That's how I used to think. I had encountered so much disappointment and I was afraid to be positive. When I began to study the Word and trust God to restore me, I realized my negative thoughts had to go. 

We need to practice positive thoughts in every situation. If you're going through a difficult time, expect that God will work things out for your good. As a Christian, it's time for you to fight for your thoughts, because your mind won't automatically come into agreement with God's plans. 

I encourage you to spend time examining His Word and comparing it to your thought life. Give God time to help you put your thoughts in line with His. He showed me how to be a more positive person, and He'll show you how to be one too. "

My plan going forward is to work towards having more positive thoughts about myself and to build my confidence in this matter.  Having set some goals I believe that as I tick them off, I will become more proud of who I am.

My short-term goals are:-

• Rejoin USQ gym and attend 3 x week;
• Do my regular run each morning;
• Give up coke zero - this is very hard!!!
• Eat clean by being organised;
• Do colour run in May/June;
• Do 15km walk/run  - Kokoda challenge.

All these will culminate in my second major goal -  running the Gold Coast 10km in early July!!!

Knowing how I felt when I completed the 4km on Sunday, motivates and excites me.  Achieving these goals will have me well on the way toward my long-term goal of health and fitness, serving God!

I am feeling more confident in my ability to achieve these goals I just have to get into action!!!