Lighter, Stronger, Braver in 2011 – Exclusive “How To”

This week’s People magazine is their “Half-My-Size” edition. It’s devoted to a topic on every American’s mind this time of year – weight loss.

I care about losing weight. Personally and professionally, the topic comes up on a daily basis. But, that’s not the weight loss that is the focus of my resolutions for 2011.

Other people, bracing for the credit card bills coming due in January, will be resolving to live on less in 2011. Money is always tight around our household so I resolve daily to live with less but that is, also, not reflected in my New Year’s resolutions for 2011.

Still, my resolutions are all about losing weight and living with less in 2011. Here they are:

1) I resolve to live with less of me and more of Jesus in 2011. I don’t have a self-image problem. I don’t hate myself or hold myself in low-esteem. Neither did John the Baptist. As you read scripture, he seems very secure in his identity. And yet, he had it right when he, speaking of Jesus, said this in John 3:30, “He must become greater, I must become less.” This is my prayer, that He becomes greater in my life and I can get myself out of His way so He can work. I’ve learned this actually frees me more to be exactly who I was designed to be.

2) I resolve to lose the weight of my bad attitude, impatience, and anger in the coming year. James writes this to the church in 1: 19-20: “19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Enough said.

3) I resolve to live with less quarreling and complaining in the year ahead. Is there any passage more challenging or more frequently ignored than Philippians 2:14-16: 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life.” This year, I would like to shine like the stars.

4) I resolve to lose the weight of false guilt and to reduce the time it takes me to confess real guilt in the coming year. Satan is the accuser of believers and would occupy us with false guilt in order to keep us from dealing with our actual problems and from experiencing the joy of our salvation. This year, I choose the joy! Revelation 12: 10-11 : Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Oh yeah, baby! Those are words to live by!

5) I resolve to live with less sarcasm and fewer harsh words in 2011. This will entail guarding my heart more than my mouth. Luke 6:45 says this: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” This year I will store good in my heart and expect it to affect my words.


6) I resolve to lose the weight of pride, arrogance and a puffy ego in the year to come. Paul warns us against pride in Galatians 6:3: “If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.” And the Psalmist says this: “In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” Psalm 10:4 I want my thoughts full of God this coming year. I must make room for Him so pride has to take a walk.

7) I resolve to live with less fear going forward. Three hundred and sixty six times in scripture, we are told to NOT be afraid. To live and to love without fear is my goal and should be the mark of every believer. Here is to all the fearless lovers in 2011!

8) I resolve to lose the weight of comparing myself to others. Back to Galatians 4 now where Paul continues by saying this: “4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else,” What a waste of time to compare my design with another’s. What is freeing is to live, whole-heartedly, God’s idea of me and to throw my energy into living the story He wrote for my life alone! This is challenging for me but, that’s okay, the Holy Spirit is tough.

9) I resolve to live with less fretting, worrying, and anxious thinking, and embrace joy in 2011. In Psalm 37, God repeatedly warns us not to fret: “do not fret—it leads only to evil.” Psalm 37:8b I am going to tattoo this on my soul in 2011. I bet that if I drop the worry and anxiety my bathroom scale will even notice the difference! Joy is not dependent on circumstance. Joy is a gift given to humanity by a loving God to see us through until we are home. I’m going to ride it like a hot air balloon this year.

10) I resolve to lose the weight of selfishness, self-centeredness, and spiritual myopia in the year to come. Philippians 2 sets before the believer the example of Jesus Christ and exhorts us this way: “3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Now THAT is counter cultural. THAT is an act of faith and an active faith. I saw this quote on a friend’s Facebook page today: “The proof of Christianity is how it walks in shoe leather.” (J Vernon McGee) I want to cultivate a walking faith this year and travel the world with it.

This then, is a weight loss plan I can live with. This is a way to live with less that excites me more than any other I have found. What is your plan for weight loss and lighter living in 2011?

Don’t miss the adventure, loved ones. It is here.

My prayer for you for New Year’s is for safe travels and great adventures! See you in 2011.