If you want to know how to lose weight I will tell you. It works for everyone, it’s free, and you can start today and yet you won’t believe me, you won’t like it and you probably won’t do it. But wait! I’ll make my claim even bigger. This one thing can actually solve every problem you have. Let me tell you a story about how this has played out in my life (if you know me there is always a story)…

When I was at my heaviest I tried all the things. I bought diet plans. I bought exercise subscriptions. I even thought about buying a hypnosis app from an add I saw, but that simultaneously scared me and seemed stupid. I talked to friends and crowdsourced on social media. Lots of people who looked like models wanted to sell me solutions and while I wished I looked like they did the possibility seemed very remote. For starters, I’m just way too short, don’t really like make up and wear ponytails 99.9% of days.

Occasionally I lost a few pounds but it never lasted with any of the things I tried. Honestly, I got tired of doing the stuff because it took time and effort which added more stress that I needed to fix by eating unhealthy things. Yes, I am a diet failure with not enough willpower… what ever that is.

By the time I decided I had to do something I looked like this. And while there is nothing “wrong” with looking like this it was an outward representation of someone who was not living a healthy lifestyle. Frustrated and out of ideas I finally did what I should have done from the beginning.

I submitted. I submitted to the truth that there are rules to follow to make the human body work best. Rules that I did not create. Rules that don’t care about how I feel about them. Rules that I can’t invalidate by not wanting to follow them. And this – quite honestly – stinks because I really would like to have more control over the universe than this. Now I know… the fact that we are not the ultimate authority of our own life doesn’t settle well. This is the human condition though, and isn’t life just one big journey of learning this. Yielding over more and more things. There are lots of verses about this in the Bible, because submission is actually an amazing secret to success!

In ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ Paul says: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

‭‭In Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ Solomon says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

In ‭‭Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭42‬ Jesus says: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

In ‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬, he says: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Submission is a pretty foreign concept in 2025 though. We don’t like to do it. Ever. And it seems to go against everything our country was founded on. We are strong independent people who create our own destiny and only follow rules that align with our unique view point on the world. This resonates with us even more when we want something that’s not a good idea. So living in this mindset climate, what does submission look like? How would you do it even if by some miracle you wanted to?

Decide that doing (what you want) is less important than (doing what you know is right).

No one wants to do this, but truthfully it is as easy as it is hard. Why? Because we all actually know what is right. We do! Roasted chicken and a baked potato with only a tiny bit of butter is a better choice than fettuccini and garlic bread. Getting up when your alarm goes off is better than hitting snooze. Putting the dishes in the dishwasher is better than leaving them in the sink. Letting a car merge in front of you is better than giving them a glare and boxing them out. We don’t struggle with the intellectual decision making that determines what we should do. We really don’t.

Which is why submitting is the answer. We must submit to the fact that what is right is more important than what we feel like doing. The original Latin word for submit was “submittere“, which literally means: sub = under and mittere = put. We need to put our want under something else. That something is truth. That something is reality. That something is God’s best plan for our life. That something is often contrary to what we want at any given moment.

But getting back to how I lost weight… When I wanted fettuccini, I still ate chicken because I submitted to the truth that chicken produces a healthier body. When I was stressed I didn’t eat chips, because I submitted to the truth that stress is better mitigated other ways. I started submitting to the truth that I couldn’t change how the rules of good health worked just because I wasn’t feeling like following them. Submitting lead me to look like this…

There is nothing fun about submission. There is no flashy add promising quick results. There is no hashtag to follow leading you to an amazing social network. There is nothing to sell to make money. And there is no formula to tell everyone what to do. There is only one thing that you need to do: decide that doing (what you want) is less important than (doing what you know is right).

It will work for every problem you have. Every time. Because choosing what is right leads to peace over anxiety, faith over fear, hard work over laziness, health over overindulgence and security over debt. We all know deep down what to do. We have to submit to the knowledge that our wants aren’t actually the most important deciding factor. That we don’t get to determine truth. That we are not, in fact, the ultimate authority of our own life.

Do you want to lose weight? You can try lots of things, or you can just submit and do what is right. Your feelings make good guides but terrible masters. Don’t settle for less than who you can become, not by taking more control, but by submitting.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬