The New You预览

Remember Whose You Are

Knowing whose you are shapes your understanding of identity and direction. Your character drove you to read this devotional. Something inside you is longing to live life at a higher level. Maybe you can feel stress, sickness, or anxiety tugging at your shirtsleeve, and you know it is leading you down a path that should be avoided at all costs.

What is needed to move intentionally toward wholeness? Discipline will determine how well you follow through with the small steps we suggest—the steps that will help you realign your overall health and wellness with God’s best plan for you. Applying what you learn is completely up to you. No one else can change your life for you. 

When you have all areas of your health under control, you are free to live life to the fullest. To get started, choose to embrace the following key commitments that are foundational to becoming the new you:

• surrender your health to God
• stop making excuses
• start taking small steps toward change

These commitments form the basis of your ability to build a life marked by complete health and wholeness. Here is a game-changing truth for you to consider: your body wasn’t created for your own gratification; it was created for God’s glory. First Corinthians 6:13 says, “[Our bodies] were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.” You probably intuitively understand that God made your body, but maybe you have never thought of it as being made for Him. The truth is that pursuing excellence in every area of our health is a way to honor God. Because our bodies are not our own, we need to talk to God about how we have treated our own. Be honest. Drop the excuses. 

Excuses are nothing but a by-product of wrong focus. They come from concentrating on the obstacles to a healthy lifestyle rather than on the benefits of good health. Instead of dwelling on how hard changing your bad habits will be, shift your attention to all the ways being healthy will transform your life for the better. When you have a big enough why, the how won’t seem so intimidating.

Is there an excuse from your past that you are ready to verbalize so that you can leave it behind once and for all? Say it out loud and ask God to give you new words of hope and compassion for your health.