When it comes to achieving anything in our Christian walk there has to be total commitment.  A half-hearted approach will only produce half-hearted results. It is easy to begin well, with good intentions, and then to be side-tracked from our purpose.  This is, of course, what  happens to dieters time and time again.  We promise ourselves that this time it will be different but, surrounded by temptation, it is all too easy to cave in. We listen to our own thoughts which, at first, excuse us and then, when we have ‘done that which we know not to do’ accuse us unmercifully!

Fit For Life Forever is a programme to set us free from the curse of conventional dieting.  It brings God’s grace into the picture and transforms it totally; we are no longer driven by performance goals, but simply led by the Holy Spirit into a walk of grace whereby we may experience His overcoming power to set us free from the magnetism of food. This doesn’t happen overnight and we still make many mistakes, but the same grace that is there at our disposal to help us resist temptation is there to forgive and cleanse when we have taken our eyes off the ball.

God is working in us ‘to will and to do of His good purpose’ (Philippians 2:13) but we still have to work out that which God is working in!  In the same passage of Scripture Paul tells us to ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.’  This is our part.  How do we do this?

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul speaks of the Christian life as a race.  He wants to be a winner so he does three things:  he runs, he fights and he disciplines his body. If you want to achieve a healthy body (which means one which is not overweight or obese) then you will have to do the same: run, fight and be disciplined.  Let’s expand this a little…

Running the race: ‘Run it (the race) in such a way as you may obtain it’ (v 24) This means commitment; it means keeping your eyes on the goal; it means refusing to give up or slacken your pace.

Fight ‘not as one beating the air.’ (v26)  Know that you have an enemy, the Devil, whose aim it is to stop you achieving your goal and winning the race. He does this primarily through invading our thoughts.  As you seek to follow the Fit For Life Forever programme, he is going to do all he can to cause you to stumble.  We beat the air when we don’t have someone to punch! But we do have someone to punch – Satan – and we overcome him by using our shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, God’s Word.’  Jesus has already defeated him, but we have to enforce that victory, attacking his lies with the truth.  Do not be passive, or you will be a walk-over! Stand up and fight – for your health, for your God-given goals, for the fulfilment of God’s promises to you.

Discipline (how we hate the word, don’t we!) Paul writes: I discipline my body, bringing it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.’ (v27) Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand.  Freedom without responsibility is licence and will lead to unrestrained indulgence of our appetites, but with the Holy Spirit’s help, we must seek to bring our bodies under subjection.  But subjection to what?  Is it to a load of rules and regulations?  No! Is it to obsessive fear-based ‘advice’ churned out by experts and politicians every time we switch on the TV? No!  Is it to our own ‘grit your teeth and bear it’ resolutions? Again, no! The only thing you and I have to be in subjection to is the Word of God; delighting in it and allowing it to establish deep roots in our lives. We do this, not because we want to have a good figure, but because we have made it our aim to please God. It won’t always be easy or comfortable, but it does produce lasting fruit in our lives.

Did you trip up this Summer?  Did your holiday cause you trip up? Don’t give up! It isn't the end of the world. Pick yourself up; start running again; fight your enemy and bring that body under subjection!  God is on your side and in due season you will achieve your goal.