For those of us who have used the occasion of the end of the holiday season binge eating, the arrival of a new year, and the release of another Rocky movie to trim down to fighting weight, Justin Taylor offers a brief reflection from Ed Welch that reminds us that this is not just a cosmetic or health issue–it’s a spiritual issue.

…given that our enemy is subtle and crafty, a strategy is essential. This is just one of the ways that New Year’s resolutions get thrown onto the scrap heap. Having eaten too much over the holidays, we make a resolution to eat wisely. But our decision usually lasts no longer than dinner the next day.

…

The heart of any plan, of course, must be Jesus Christ. Self-control is like any other feature of wisdom in that it is learned by contemplating a person. Strategically, this is unprecedented. We would expect God to yell at us and tell us, again, to shape up, but God’s ways, being much better than our own, are rarely predictable. Rather than give us twelve steps on which to rely, he gives us a Person to know. As Jesus is known and exalted among us, you will notice that self-control becomes more obvious. The double cure for sin is the foundation for all change. That is, in the gospel, we have been released from both the condemnation and the power of sin. We have been freed “to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he rescued from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thess. 1:9, 10). (Read it all)

It is a good reminder to me that self control is a bigger deal than a number on a scale or a waist size. That is something I tend to totally miss until it slaps me in the face.