Ginger Garrett and Steve Arterburn

How many times have you beaten yourself up for not having enough willpower? Willpower is all about forcing yourself to do the right thing. Willpower is white-knuckling it through the dessert buffet and pizza party (and then going home and wiping out the fridge in a fit of frustration). Willpower is a stiff-necked refusal to listen to what the body is saying, a determination to stick to the plan no matter what happens. That being said, here’s the secret weapon: Permanent weight loss takes willingness, not willpower.

Remember that old saying, ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way?’ They didn’t get it quite right when it comes to the weight loss question. You see, it should be: ‘Where there’s willingness, there’s weightlessness.’ In our context, weightlessness means that life is no longer defined by what we weigh. Weightlessness means you get up in the morning and your first two thoughts are not ‘I ate too much last night’ and ‘I’m too fat to wear anything cute.’ Weightlessness means when you walk into a room, you aren’t afraid people are judging you by your size, or laughing behind your back when you leave. It sounds pretty great, right?

Now on to defining what gets us there!

Willingness is having a soft, easy-to-mold spirit and heart that make you want to do the right thing. In the context of weight loss, to be willing means trying new measures and letting go of those which are more bad habits than anything else. It means surrendering control to God and adapting our plans to what He tells us. Most importantly, willingness means we’re ready to learn all the lessons God wants to teach us from this battle with the scale, the first of which is usually that we’re not to obsess over what the scale says!

The idea of surrendering doesn’t sound like the winning strategy in a battle, does it? But when it comes to the battle for weightlessness, surrendering our control to God is the first step. And really, how successful has it been to try and control your will power? Have you achieved the results you desire? ‘Nuff said!

Though surrender doesn’t come to us naturally, or happen automatically, we can make the decision to start surrendering right now!

Please pray with me:

Dear Lord, I surrender. Please show me who You are and what You desire for my life. Help me believe with my whole heart as this journey begins. I can trust You because Your way is so much better than mine. Help me realize whenever I am trying to control You, so that I can surrender and let You control my life. Fill me with Your love and give me what I need to choose Your way and not mine. In Jesus name, Amen.