Does it matter what others say?

22 November 2009

Heavenly Father, blessed be your name!  Jesus I honour You!  Holy Spirit, glory to You!  Please guide me through this article, so that I will only write as You guide me.  Amen!

During the last week I have experienced something that upset me greatly and I would like to share it with you.  I am a very proud person who believes in giving your all, going the extra mile, eating and living healthy.  Hence, I work hard and never compromise on the standard of things I do.  Furthermore, I follow a healthy diet and made a choice very early in my life to exercise at least 5 times a week.  I therefore always try my best to look my best and to have enough energy to take me through my busy schedule.  Now let me share with you that all my life I have had a very small bone structure and being tall, I always look slim and thin.  At school children use to tease me and make fun of my thin legs, but hey, at least I had legs.  After school, I fell pregnant with my eldest, and boy did I pick up weight, a full 14kg.  I struggled greatly to get rid of the extra weight and thought while so many complained about my weight in being too thin, I might as well keep the extra weight.  However, I was not eating healthy then and gained even more weight, ending up quite a few kilos over my normal weight.  Now during all of this my husband still said I was pretty and loved me all the same.  Then one day, another person very close to me told me that my hips were getting bigger.  Although hurt by this truth, I realised that things have gotten out of control and that I needed to do something.  I started reading up on healthy diets and found an exercise plan that worked for my body.  Since that day, I worked hard and brought my weight down to the desired weight for my bone structure.  Ever since, I have kept it there for more than 6 years and am so proud of myself.

Now where am I going with this true story?  Well, during this last week someone close to me again mentioned something about my weight.  What hurt me the most was that it was discussed with others around me but not with me.  Immediately the feelings from my childhood came up and I could not understand why people just can’t leave my body alone.  Why do they forever have something to say about me?  Well, I then had a choice to either sulk or tackle this thing by the horns.  I weighed myself the next morning and confirmed that my weight was still the same as always and decided to not any longer feel bad about what others say about me.  I eat healthy, live healthy and have lots of energy because I exercise.  So I simply put it behind me and moved on.

Dear reader, why am I telling you my story.  Well it is simple, I am sure that I am not the only one who hurts when people say something about me.  Maybe you have experience the same?  It might not have been weight and perhaps it was something about your work, your personality, your family etc.  The point I am trying to make is that it does not matter what others say about us.  What matters is what God says to us about us.  Now I am not saying that if you eat and live recklessly that you should just continue to live an unhealthy life.  Neither do I say that if you are rude or are not doing your work as expected of you, that you can just continue like that.  You see reader, there are times that people are being used by God to communicate something to us, maybe even to warn us.  Then, off course we should listen and not go on with following our own ways.  What I am saying is that we should listen carefully, think clearly, weigh up all the facts and then come to our conclusions.  If you need to change then change.  However, there are times when people care and say things out of love and concern and I understand that as well.  But, when you have looked at all the facts and find that all is well, then don’t allow other people’s viewpoints to influence your decisions or the way you live.

I hope what I have said makes sense to you.  Psalm 139 especially verses 13 – 16 will guide you in listening carefully, weighing up what has been said, bringing about change where change is needed as guided by God.  Dear reader, today I was guided to share my story because I believe that there is someone out there who must hear what God is saying today.  Remember it does not matter what others say, what matters is what God says!

With lots of love in Jesus Name

Princess K