New Year; New Me. You see it all over social media; people making resolutions and goals to change their lifestyle habits in the new year. People challenge themselves to lose weight, exercise more, and eat healthier. Many claim that the gyms are most crowded in the first part of January as people are committed to keeping their goals. Slowly, though, the commitments start to fade and the gym becomes a place for the regular attenders once again.
Many times you don’t have to step on the scale to feel heavy. It may not be the physical pounds that are weighing you down, but just a general heaviness of your spirit and soul. You feel weighed down by the worries of this world. You feel dragged down by the expectations of others and the pursuit of perfection. You feel the load of trying to be all things for all people at work, home, and social life.
“Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne” Hebrews 12:1-2
What are some weights that slow us down and affect our race? Some weights are specific to us as individuals, but a lot of them are very similar for all of us. Selfishness, not taking care of ourselves, sin, worrying about what other people think, and surrounding ourselves with negative influences are just a few.
How can we strip off every weight that slows us down?
1. Choose friends who are running a similar race. We need people in our lives who are striving toward similar goals spiritually and will be there to help us along our journey. We cannot surround ourselves constantly with negative influences and expect to run our best race. The wrong runners beside us can get us off course and slow us down.
2. Evaluate the activities and things that dominate our time. Just like a physical runner couldn’t spend all their time eating junk food and bingeing on Netflix, spiritually we cannot waste our time on things that don’t matter, as well. Our diet is much more than what we eat. Our diet consists of the things we watch, read, and listen to. What activities or types of entertainment are you surrounding yourself with and do they lighten your load or cause more anxiety, depression, comparison, and drama? Choose to
eliminate certain activities for a while and see how it affects your mental and spiritual state.
3. Ask forgiveness for sin and ask for help in conquering it. Ask God to reveal areas in your life where you are in sin and ask for forgiveness in those areas. Then start living in the freedom of repentance. If it is a sin that you have struggled with for a long time, consider asking an accountability partner to help keep you on track.
4. Do your best to have tunnel vision. We should be keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion. Worrying about what other people think regarding our race can add stress and weight to our life. Our ultimate goal is to run for one person, Jesus. Our focus should be on Him and not on the drama surrounding us.
5. Give to others. As Christ is our example, He lived His life for other people. It is hard to feel weighed down when our focus is less on our circumstances and more on helping and blessing others. Use the race to give back to others and help them.
The world can be a heavy place. There is a lot that can weigh us down. It is important that we focus on ways to release some of the weight so that we can run our best race. We need to do our best to strip off the weights that hinder our impact for Christ. This spiritual race is not a sprint, but a marathon for life. Lose some of your weight and see how much easier the race becomes!
Written by Amy Carrico
Author of Making the Moments Matter Blog
Last Updated on January 16, 2024
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