The weight(s) you actually need

The Weight(s) of Glory (And Why We Keep Skipping Leg Day)
2.5 minutes read time

"I've watched these workout videos for hours. They haven't helped."

That line made me chuckle, but then I realized we do the exact same thing with Scripture.

I've heard it over and over when I've encouraged someone to let the Word become part of their life, to confess it, to consume it, knowing that you become what you pursue. Confessing the Scriptures and keeping them continually before our eyes promises transformation, yet many deny that it's true. "I've tried that," they say, "and everything is still the same."

There can be many reasons of course, but one reason is the Scriptures they're focused on are instructional,  not Scriptures that reveal the glory of Christ. Transformation is the result of fixating on the glory of God.

The word "glory", doxa in Greek, means opinion or intention. Are you exercising God's opinion? His Word clearly states it: you were worth it; He would die again for you if it were necessary; He knows you better than you know yourself and you still ravish His heart; His love elevates you to where He abides.

The word "glory" in Hebrew carries the sense of heaviness or weight. Are you lifting your glory weights? In other words, are we applying the overwhelming revelation of who we really are as blood-washed, innocent children of God? It's more precious than gold.

Gold is heavy, and the value of other metals was measured against the weight of gold. For something to have gold's value, it had to weigh the same. The heavier something was, the more valuable it was considered. So are you lifting the weight of His opinion?  His opinion weighs way more than the devil's opinion. The devil wants to keep us small, convinced we carry little value.  

This is the renewing of the mind: surrendering your opinions about yourself to the opinion of God.

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." — 2 Corinthians 3:18

This verse tells us it is the Spirit of the Lord who engineers the radical transformation we're seeking, moving us from feeling inferior into God's glorious masterpiece.

Romans 12:1–2 is a favorite passage for those who desperately want to be transformed but believe they must do the transforming.

We memorize the instruction:

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

But memorizing an instruction about transformation is not the same thing as beholding the glory that transforms us.

Romans 12 gives us direction. It points the way toward a life that demonstrates the will of God. It tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

But the instruction itself is not the glory.

The directions are: present your bodies as a living sacrifice, then renew the mind. But there is nothing in that scripture itself that renews the mind. Nothing in that particular passage tells us who God is or who we are in Him.

Learn to discern instruction from transforming revelation. Meditate on His glory. Look at it, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you more. The glory He reveals will change your thoughts. 

Transformation happens when the weight(s) of God's opinion becomes greater in our minds than the opinions we've carried about ourselves. Your thoughts will change your speech. Your speech will change your behavior. Your behavior will become a life filled with the spirit of an overcomer. We call this transformation.

It's important to remember: the Word of God became flesh, not a book. 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory...Joh 1:14

Don’t forget “leg day”!  Walk in His glory.