If you do what is right, [won't] you be accepted? But if you don't do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. Genesis 4:7 NIV Bible
Although this particular passages doesn't totally have to do with the topic of this blog post, it does tie in. I was overweight for a big portion of my life. The more I felt insecure about my weight, the more I overate. In doing this, I felt even more insecure, so I overcompensated for it in counterproductive ways! I used to try to be the nicest, friendliest person, willing to do favors for anyone I knew and some I didn't know very well.
I thought that they would be so impressed with me for all I did for them, they would see through my overweight and find out what a wonderful person I really was. I thrived on what I call the "Good Debbie's." That's my ways of saying that I ate up all the compliments people gave me, just like eating up chocolates. Neither of which were very good for me! I eventually found that by overcompensating to hide my overweight from excessive overeating, I started getting taken advantage of. I found that I thrived on the 'Good Debbie's" so much, that I was willing to overlook this. But after a point, the Lord showed me that's not what He wanted for me.
I heard from someone that in order to be walked on, you have to first lay down like a door mat. The Lord used this comment to lead me to prayerful contemplation about what I was doing with my friends, with others, and complete strangers. The Lord had it on my heart, that I was of value, not because of what I did for others, but because I was a child of God, regardless of my weight. The more I prayed about this, the more He showed me many ways that I had set up situations, that led to people treating me this way. With turning this inadequacy over to Christ's very capable hands, I started having more healthy friendships and relationships, and no longer needed to rely on overcompensating. I just needed to rely on the Lord!
