Stop Bowing Down to the Scale
When it comes to the scale, I am like the Israelites who wandered for 40 years as they waited to go into the Promised Land. For 40 years, I had a tortured relationship with the scale and my weight. I longed to go into the Promised Land of Freedom!
One time at Weight Watchers, the leader asked us what we wanted. I raised my hand and said I wanted to be free. She didn’t know how to respond to that. I longed for freedom!
There was never a time that I couldn’t tell to the tenth degree what I weighed. That number weighed on my mind constantly. I was in bondage. And the enemy used my weight to beat me down and make me feel worthless.
Without realizing it, the scale was my idol. There were days that I bowed down to the scale at least three times a day. Stripped and aching, I would look to it to make me feel better.
And the joy of the scale was my strength–not the joy of the Lord. My sense of self-worth rode the roller coaster of what the scale told me.
Until three years ago.
God led me to put away my bathroom scale for an entire year. An entire year!
Not weighing every day brought me into a place of freedom and peace. It was life to me!
“For the mind set on the flesh [the scale] is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6
God led me to be accountable to Him–not the scale.
“So that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.” Romans 3:19
This was a huge victory for me. For an entire year, I put away the scale and walked in freedom from its hold over me.
I dreaded the end of the year when I would step onto the scale again. Would I lose? Would I gain? What would happen if I gained? Would I go back to my idols of the scale and diets?
I’m not going to tell what happened. Because that wasn’t the point. The point was the idol God was calling me to put away.
The point was to stop bowing down to the god of the bathroom scale.
The point was freedom. Sweet freedom!
About The Author
Christine Yount Jones
Author, wife, mother, grandmother, lover of God, student of the Word, fellow traveler in faith, and a broken child of God in need of His amazing grace.
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Tom Bump | 17th Feb 17
For me it wasn’t the scale it was the food that pushed me to watch the scale. I realized the food was my drug, my comfort, my release from the pressures of ministry. I was an emotional eater. food controlled me, not fueled me. I finally realized during some leadership mentoring I was in that I needed to change this course or I was going to end up either really sick or worse, dead. How would I serve the King of Kings if I was dead? I made a life changing decision that I would not be bound to a scale but I would not allow food to rule my life. I filled my life with God’s truth, God some medical help to lose over 70lbs so far and have about 40 more to go to hit my goal. It’s been a hard journey but now my food of choice is God’s word and I have a healthy accountability to eat healthier and recognize my unhealthy habits. I want to be a role model for others in ministry who struggle with their weight and their habits. I hope that like you, the scale/food never binds me again, but instead, fuels me to be the best me I can be for the glory of the one I serve!
Christine Yount Jones | 17th Feb 17
Tom, that’s so amazing! Thank you for sharing your journey! Praying that God will continue to lead you into the amazing freedom that only He can give! Blessings!
Sue Corbran | 17th Feb 17
Loving your posts. And yes, un-invent the bathroom scale – for it doesn’t show your value or your worth. It’s just a number that cause too much worry. I need to put mine back in hiding, for I get more discouraged than overjoyed when I step on it. Thanks for sharing your authenticity. And keep writing!
Christine Yount Jones | 20th Feb 17
Thanks for your encouragement, Sue! We’re in this together!
Vickie Thomas | 19th Feb 17
reading this, I have struggled with this for sooooo long. I even joined a program looking for freedom and soon realized that it had become an idol….and that tortured my very soul because knowing that I had to get the weight off and get healthy I have become obsessed and the ugliness of this cycle has spiraled out of control. I am soooo happy you have sharing your journey here… I have longed for freedom for sooo long!!!
Christine Yount Jones | 20th Feb 17
Vickie,
It’s so wonderful to be on this journey with you! The torture is from the enemy! And God has victory and freedom for us. Thank you for coming along on this journey. There’s so much more to life than what we’ve experienced with this struggle.
L Dyer | 21st Feb 17
Thank you Christine. Your words are going straight to my heart each time. Isn’t that the truth?! Twelve years ago, I wrote a story about my struggles in my Christian walk and compared it to the Israelites. It reminded me of the time in school when I participated in handstand contests and how I never learned how to roll properly. Time and time again I would do those handstands and then slam flat down on my back knocking the wind out of me.I felt it was the same with the Israelites. God was leading them into the Promised land, and they could almost taste the glory, but then they stumbled, wouldn’t listen, get distracted and they fell flat with a slam, time and time again. I feel that way with my weight journey too. I can look from the outside and say, “hey, you know you shouldn’t eat that.” and teeter, gobble that brownie, then I fall flat on my back, knocking the wind out of me with a deep feeling of shame for not learning from my mistakes. It’s a vicious cycle. Thank you for your words. I am truly enjoying the wisdom. ~Laurie D
Christine Yount Jones | 22nd Feb 17
Laurie, these are beautiful words and images. I’ve found a lot of hope, rebuke, and comfort in the Israelites’ journey and how I’m so much like them, too. Thanks for your wisdom!