Biggest Loser for Believers

I have a secret ritual to confess to that I have done every Tuesday night for over 5 years... I intently watch the Biggest Loser. My husband and my college roommates will tell you this usually involves me eating simultaneously. I guess something about watching people workout makes me want to get down with some food. As hungry as the show makes me, it's also undeniably inspirational.

These are people who have allowed themselves to be crippled, in the dark, and practically hopeless. Through miraculous transformation they are able to dance with a newfound hope that radiates throughout their bodies.

As a believer, the Biggest Loser reminds me of two truths:  

complete transformation is possible and your body is a temple. 

• "Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." -Philippians 3:19  

 Contestants on the Biggest Loser have allowed their god to be their stomach and have landed in a shameful pit of destruction.  And it is so easy for anyone to get here! Maybe not necessarily with food, but with all sorts of earthly things that we obsess over (alcohol, money, drugs, sex, power, etc.) Only through Christ and His power in us can control over these things be accomplished and true transformation of our "lowly bodies"  occur.

• "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received  from God? You are not your own, you were bought at price. Therefore, honor God with you body." -1 Corinthians 6: 19-20

While Paul precedes this verse in reference to sexuality, the bottom line is your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit! How amazing is that?? And clearly the greatest way to dishonor your temple is to treat it like junk. Ignoring your body or feeding it with constant crap are certainly ways you can disrespect the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Lord lives in your body, don't you want it to be pleasing to him?

In the end, my obsession with weigh-ins, Bob & Jillian, challenges, and the like isn't as terrible as my husband's groaning each Tuesday implies. While I may enjoy some ice cream while viewing, The Biggest Loser does remind me of my own personal transformation and the sacredness of my temple.