S07E005, Comfortable in Your Own Skin, Endurance

Download - Listen - Transcription

This week, Steven and Nathan are talking about comparison and outward appearance as they encourage us to be comfortable in our own skin.

Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!

#GoDeeper

This week’s GoDeeper is packed full of scripture. Steven begins by pointing out that everyone at some point in their life struggles with outward appearance. He quotes 2 Corinthians 10:12 which says we shouldn’t compare one another. He confesses that he has been struggling with this very thing recently as a result of being ill.

He reminds us that God judges a person by what is going on in their heart, quoting 1 Samuel 16:7. Steven concludes that we should focus on pleasing God.

#GoDo

Nathan and Steven talk about running in circles, stressing the importance of repentance once again.

They discuss how to break free from those vicious circles, and they consider whether or not God will always forgive us when make mistakes.

Check out this week’s episode to find out how to avoid ‘Running in Circles’ in your Faith and Fitness.

Steven and Nathan

Listen
 

Download

Transcript

[00:00:00] Nathan: Would you say you feel comfortable in your own skin? I know a lot of us aren't all the time, and that's only natural. This is Endurance, Where Faith and Fitness Meet. And this week, we're talking about just that. Being comfortable in your own skin. How important is that, really? How do we achieve it, and what does the Bible have to say about it?

[00:00:31] Nathan: Steven's going to be talking about this in depth in Go Deeper. And of course, he and I will discuss it further in the last segment. 

[00:00:46] Steven: Here we are for Endurance, Go Deeper. As we Go Deeper into this week's topic. We're looking at being comfortable in your own skin. So, something that I'm pretty sure everyone at some point in their life struggles with, the idea of comparing yourself to others, or [00:01:00] focusing too much on outward appearance. So, what does the Bible say about that, and how does that tie in with faith and fitness?

[00:01:09] Steven: So we're mostly talking about fitness and how we look physically, so muscles and all the rest of it, being in good shape. But we're also talking about social status acquired through money, academics, and how people are perceived, perceived as better than themselves or lesser than themselves and how we shouldn't compare.

[00:01:29] Steven: So if we go straight onto that, shouldn't compare. 2 Corinthians 10, 12 says this. For we don't dare classify or compare ourselves with someone, with some who commend themselves. But in measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves to themselves, they lack understanding. The basic gist of that is we shouldn't compare ourselves.

[00:01:51] Steven: It's wrong to compare, because at the end of the day, we don't know all the details. Only God does. So, I've been struggling a lot with this recently, [00:02:00] of comparing myself to others, or not being satisfied with how I look physically, because I've been a bit ill, and I've lost a bit of weight, lost some fitness, lost some muscle, and it's been a bit hard, it's been a bit rough.

[00:02:14] Steven: But, what God looks at is the heart, and that's the key here. We shouldn't be comparing ourselves to others. Ultimately, I've been ill, so that's why I've lost a bit of muscle, and God sees that. He doesn't, we can sometimes compare ourselves to like, celebrities and all the rest of it, but celebrities have got millions of pounds, they haven't got things like, they have their own problems, but they don't stress about normal people's problems, and therefore they can build up all this muscle and look really good, and they're actually paid to do so, they have trainers that come alongside them.

[00:02:45] Steven: I was reading about one actor for a particular film, was pushed so hard to make sure that they were muscular and fit and had very little body fat and how hard they were pushed for that. But it's for a film, it's for, purely for appearances. And they were paid to do [00:03:00] that. And so it's not helpful to compare ourselves to that.

[00:03:02] Steven: It's not helpful to compare ourselves to anyone, because we don't know the full facts. Or even if we think we do, we don't know them as well as God does.

[00:03:17] Steven: We shouldn't be focusing on outward appearance anyway. Because, as it says in 1 Samuel 16, 7. This is after choosing, choosing King David. All his older brothers came forward.

[00:03:32] Steven: And this is what the Lord said. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. This is about another person, not King David. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart. 

[00:03:45] Steven: So we shouldn't be looking at outward appearances anyway. We should be looking to the heart, well we can't really see it. We should be trusting God's judgment and not judging people unfairly with little knowledge. We shouldn't be jumping to conclusions, that's to say. [00:04:00] We shouldn't be focusing on outward appearance, because it's not as important as what goes on in the heart.

[00:04:05] Steven: And only God can see that, really. So we shouldn't be focusing on our own outward appearance. 

[00:04:13] Steven: We should be striving to please God.

[00:04:22] Steven: It's as simple as that. We should be striving to please God. I said there were loads of Scriptures for this one, there really is. So this is Galatians 6, 4 and 5. Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. But we are each responsible for our own conduct. 

[00:04:44] Steven: And I think I want to conclude with that Scripture. Pay careful attention to what God has asked you to do. Seek to please Him. Don't compare yourself to anyone else, what they're achieving or not achieving, or how they look physically. Just focus on what God has asked you to do, and what you're [00:05:00] supposed to do in your life.

[00:05:01] Steven: Unless you're an A-list celebrity in a great big film, you don't need to be ridiculously buff. Unless you're an athlete being paid and all the rest of it, you don't actually need to be all that fit or muscular. And those people have people alongside them to get them to that place. The sponsorship and money and all the rest of it.

[00:05:19] Steven: We shouldn't be comparing ourselves to that. Where God has us in our lives, that's what we should be focusing on. Pleasing him. Because apart from God, we can do nothing. That is being Comfortable in Your Own Skin.

[00:05:41] Nathan: Alright, so here we are for the last segment of Endurance. Time for a discussion about the subject. And I wanted to pick up on a few points you made. One of those was that we should let God judge. And that was a really important part of not comparing ourselves. We often like to say, we often say, you know, [00:06:00] don't compare yourself to others.

[00:06:01] Nathan: But what you, you made a really good point that we shouldn't compare because in essence, we're judging ourselves and we're judging others. And we should leave that up to God. 

[00:06:10] Steven: Yes, cause he is the judge. He is ultimately the judge. He's going to judge the world and he knows what goes on in people's hearts, and he knows what's actually going on around them.

[00:06:20] Steven: We don't know the full picture. We don't know where someone was at a year ago. God knows our own hearts better than we do, so let him be the judge. 

[00:06:29] Nathan: That's a good point, actually. We don't know everything that's going on. We may look at somebody and be jealous of their appearance, of their, I don't know, their physique, or whatever.

[00:06:40] Nathan: But oftentimes, when we look at them it could be that, that was a good day for them, you know? We don't know what else is going on around. Obviously, another way this happens. If you, if you do lots of push ups and things, right before a photo shoot, you can make yourself look a lot more buff than you really are, because obviously, all the [00:07:00] muscles are worked, you know?

[00:07:01] Steven: Yeah. 

[00:07:02] Nathan: So, you've got to consider that, comparing yourself to others just isn't helpful, because as, as you said, we don't know the full picture. And that brings me on to the next point. God looks at the outward appearance, sorry, the heart. Though we look at the outward appearance, and I think it's really important we know just that the heart is far more, far more important because our physical bodies will only last as long as we're on earth, but our hearts, our souls, our relationship with God, that's far more important.

[00:07:32] Nathan: That's the purpose of, of Endurance really, isn't it? Spiritual training, because that spiritual training promises benefits in this life and in the life to come. When we focus on our physical appearance too much, if we put it before our relationship with God if we put it before our spiritual training, that's never good is it?

[00:07:54] Nathan: And another point, you mentioned it's important We need to please God. 

[00:07:59] Steven: Yes.

[00:07:59] Nathan: And that's [00:08:00] really, that's really important. Pleasing God, of course, is, well, without faith, you cannot please God, and while our physical appearance may make us look good to others, God's more concerned with the heart. So, if we want to please God, if we want to obey Him and honour Him, we need to focus on our spiritual training.

[00:08:19] Steven: Absolutely. Pleasing God is what it all boils down to, isn't it, really? 

[00:08:23] Nathan: Yeah, at the end of the day, would you rather please somebody who's going to scroll past your photo on, on social media, or would you rather please the God who's going to judge you at the end of eternity? 

[00:08:36] Steven: Heavy. 

[00:08:36] Nathan: Heavy. Heavy stuff, man.

[00:08:37] Steven: Well, God obviously is going to judge us, but he's going to see a lot more, and He's more, what's the word, interested in us than someone like you say scrolling past. 

[00:08:48] Nathan: He loves us far more than anybody else. So, comparing ourselves to others, not only is it unhelpful and impractical, really, it's also quite bad, [00:09:00] because it's, it threatens our way of living in obedience to God.

[00:09:06] Steven: And quite pointless, really. 

[00:09:07] Nathan: Yeah, it is quite pointless, because when you compare yourself to others, well, why compare yourself to others? They're in a different situation, they're a different person, they have a different history, a different background. And so, what you need to do, really, is, as you say, we compare ourselves to ourselves, in a way.

[00:09:24] Nathan: There's a great point that Neil T. Anderson made. What you should be doing, was it, I forget what it was. If you're not more loving, more joyful, more peaceful, more patient, every, you know, than you were a year ago, then something's wrong. Because, as Christians, we should always be becoming more loving, more peaceful, more patient, more self controlled.

[00:09:47] Nathan: So, yeah, again, so spiritual training is of course more important than physical training. 

[00:09:53] Steven: Yep.

[00:09:53] Nathan: That's really the essence of this. And being comfortable in your own skin, well, focus more on pleasing God. It does say, [00:10:00] Jesus said, Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you, referring to all the things you need, so seek God first, and that's, that's really the key.

[00:10:09] Nathan: Seek God first, because, at the end of the day, your eternal life is far more important than your temporary life on earth. Mm, heavy stuff. Hope that's not too heavy for you, but it's, it's important to consider these things. And that's another episode of Endurance, Where Faith and Fitness Meet