Spiritual Lessons from Nutrisystem

You've seen the commercials on TV. " 'Mary' lost 57 pounds on Nutrisystem!" Then they show lots of before and after pictures of "Mary." She's so happy now that she's lost all that weight. Before, she was unhappy, unhealthy, people didn't like her, she didn't feel good about herself, and so on. But now she's happier than she's ever been, she's able to do things she never could do before, people think she's the life of the party. She loves the way she looks and feels now and she never wants to go back to the way she was before. One of the commercials even has the client talking about herself as a different person before she lost the weight, and saying, "You'll never see that person again" (referring to a picture of her before she lost weight).

Well let's go two completely different directions here.

First, I hate those commercials. I know it's not healthy to be overweight; but how shallow are we when we start thinking the way these commercials tell us to think. That woman on the commercial thinks she was a different person when she was fat? Really?? American culture frowns on prejudice and discrimination. Or does it? When it comes to race, gender, religion (other than Christianity), and (sadly) sexual orientation, we're told that prejudice and discrimination are abominable. But apparently it's OK to be prejudiced against fat people. You can make fun of them, you can make them pay extra for airline tickets, you can treat them like dirt--all because they are fat.

But all people are valuable in God's eyes (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Jesus died for everyone (John 3:16). Just like the children's song says, "Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight." It wouldn't make for very good poetry, but maybe we should add "skinny and fat" to that song somewhere. If losing a lot of weight makes someone a "new person" I'm not sure I would be interested in getting to know the "new person." What counts the most is what a person is like on the inside. It is the heart of a person that matters, and the person whose heart has been cleansed by Jesus' blood (Hebrews 9:13-14; 10:22) is acceptable in God's sight, and therefore ought to be acceptable in ours as well. If that person's heart is not right with God, God still loves him and we should, too. Jesus told us to preach the gospel to him (Mark 16:15-16). We do that because we love him; and we love him because God loves him.

Second, the Nutrisystem commercials illustrate a positive thing for us. Even though I don't like the way they present themselves, I do like the illustration their attitude provides. These people have seen a drastic change take place in their lives. That change is so great that they see themselves as different people now. They enjoy the change so much that they are determined never to go back to the way they were before.

Isn't this the way Christians ought to view the change that has taken place in their lives? Paul talked about putting off the "old man" and putting on the "new man" (Ephesians 4:22-24). In Christ, we truly are a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Do we have the same joy over the change that has taken place as the Nutrisystem clients seem to have over their change? Do we see the same drastic differences in lifestyle and direction as those people do? Are we as determined to maintain the change and never go back as those people are? We should be. Sin holds nothing for anyone, except death (Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:8). But in Christ we have all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). We have an abundant life (John 10:10). We have the hope of Heaven (John 14:6).

If we're talking about physical life, let's not be as shallow as some of the Nutrisystem success stories seem to be. Regardless of physical appearance, every person is precious in the sight of God and therefore ought to be precious to us as well. But if we're talking about spiritual life, let's try to develop the same passion for the new, better life we have in Christ, along with the same determination not to go back to the way we were before, like we see illustrated in those weight loss success stories.