The Biggest Loser: Week 2-4

Workout

In my mind two things stand out when I think of “The Biggest Loser”:
1.) The encouragement the show gives people… even those who aren’t overweight.
2.) The passion the contestants have to shed weight and work towards being healthy.

We’ll focus on number 2…

There is no denying that the most visible example of the contestants passion comes from the workout. You can see it in their faces, their sweat, their emotions – these people are seriously passionate about what they are doing. The workout is agonizing, strenuous and demanding. It separates the men from the boys [and the women from the girls if you’re a stickler for politically correctness].

If you’ve seen the show you know what I mean. From what is shown on T.V., these folks are worked hard, but there is a method to the madness. If you’ve noticed, they are constantly being given directions… “five more reps”, “push with all your strength”, “ride hard for three more minutes”, etc… you get the idea. They are given directions to keep them on track so they can stay on course. The trainers know that they have to keep encouraging the contestants with these directions so they will stay focused and not lose sight of the bigger picture. In short, they are telling them what is required for a healthy, physically fit lifestyle.

The similarities between body-fat and sin-fat are too obvious to ignore, and while a physical workout promotes the burning of body fat, a spiritual workout promotes the burning of sin fat.

During Jesus’ time on earth, He was constantly being pushed into a corner to prove himself. The religious leaders of the day were relentlessly coming at Him insisting He explain His motives, and Jesus consistently proved Himself right.

The disciple Matthew records one of these raids. He tells it like this:

34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:34-40, NIV)

In essence, the Pharisee’s (the religious leaders of the day) were saying, “So, tell us Jesus… what’s the best way to work off sin-fat?” To which Jesus responded, “Love. Love God with everything you’ve got and love everyone else as much as you love yourself. Do this and everything else will fall in place.” In short, Jesus is telling them what is required for a healthy, spiritually fit lifestyle.

To be fair and remain consistent, we need to examine the two responses Jesus gives. First, He says that in order to stay spiritually fit and burn sin-fat we need to love God with our everything – not just bits and pieces. The NIV translators affirm heart, soul and mind, and in all actuality there isn’t anything left after that. If we devote our heart and mind to something, then that’s not everything. If we give up our mind and soul to a cause, our heart could still lead our passions. No, in order to truly love God we’ve got to give Him our everything. This should be our reaction to God. Theologian A.W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” So, do you think of God as oppression or as love? It’s hard to embrace oppression, but love is easily received. The writer of I John 4:8 explains, “God is love.” Therefore, to know who God is is to know what love is. Thus, our response to God should be that of love – a love that encompasses everything and conquers all things… every aspect of who we are – heart, soul and mind. Everything.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He also says we should love our neighbors as ourselves. This statement is much deeper than it sounds. On the surface it sounds like Jesus is dealing only with our response to our neighbors, but in all actuality He is dealing with how we view ourselves as well. I translate neighbor to be the people we come in contact with – the people we’ve known and the people we are just now meeting. Sometimes our neighbors are our best friends; sometimes our neighbors are our worst enemies – in either case God commands us to love them. Unlike God, our neighbors are not love, but God is love. Some people may argue that they don’t love themselves and in turn don’t love anyone else. However, it is my belief that Jesus mentioned the command to love God first for a huge reason… because God is love. If we love God with our everything then we have to love ourselves, because God is love and we are giving into love with everything we have. If we love others as we love ourselves, then we are showing them the best example we can give of God’s love. Again, the author of I John explains, “19We love each other as a result of his (God) loving us first” (I John 4:19, NLT). Because God loved us first we have been given the instruction to love other people – no matter what.

Even when they are rude.

Even when we don’t get the raise we deserve.

Even when they buy our lunch.

Even when they don’t let us out in traffic.

Even when they are obnoxious.

Even when it was really our fault.

Even when they are arrogant.

Even when they are right.

Even when we need to forgive.

Even when they need to forgive.

Even when it’s a messy situation.

Even when they go behind our backs.

Even when we break a commitment.

Even when they break our trust.

Even when we think it can’t get any worse… and it does.

Even when etc. happens.

No
Matter
What.

God commands us to love others. And to disobey God is sin.

And our goal here is to work-off the sin-fat.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1, NIV, italics added)

So why did Jesus decide that love is the greatest commandment? Glad you asked… because love covers everything. A proud heart is eliminated by love. Lustful desires are removed by love. Envy, self-indulgence and resentment are all eradicated by a truly loving heart. True love covers everything. You cannot be jealous of your neighbors new car if your true, heartfelt love for your neighbor is genuine; similarly, you cannot be too proud to help another person if you honestly love that person with the love that God blesses you with. Love is the hinge on which every other direction hangs on. The author of I Corinthians explains, “13there are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love” (13:13, NLT).

Love is a workout for me. Some people seem to love so easily, but not me. For me, loving others is like spending a day in the gym, diligently working, sweating, burning fat, and training to understand more about the life God has planned for me. I don’t see this as a negative; I use it as a positive. When we work hard for what we want we appreciate things more. As I work out this love issue in my life I am reminded of just how much Christ loves me and wants me to strive to be like Him [Check out II Corinthians 5:21]. Our goal, our direction, our exercise is to love – love God with our everything and love everyone else the way that God wants us to love ourselves. My favorite verse as translated by The Message Bible is I Timothy 1:5:

5The whole point of what we're urging is simply love--love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God.

I think the Apostle Paul nailed it… our workout is to love – uncontaminated, unpolluted, and untainted; just pure, clean, simple… love.