"I need to look a certain way before I can date or get married."
How it sounds in your head: No woman will want you looking like this. You need to get in shape first before you're worthy of pursuit or being pursued. Your body is keeping you from love and a future family.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
-- Jeremiah 29:11Enemy attack - tying relational blessing to physical performance and worthiness.
Dating apps are brutal and looks matter there. You see the guys getting attention and compare yourself. It feels like you're disqualified until you meet a certain standard.
Jacob met Rachel while he was a fugitive running for his life with NOTHING - no wealth, no status, no impressive credentials. He was a broke refugee, yet he won her heart and served seven years because love made him acceptable, not his circumstances.
I REFUSE the lie that I'm not ready for relationship until my body is perfect. IT IS WRITTEN that God has thoughts of peace toward me - plans for a future and a hope. My spouse is part of that FUTURE, not a reward for achieving a body standard. IT IS WRITTEN that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, accepted in the Beloved. The BARAK blessing includes relational fruitfulness. I am the head and not the tail - including in relationships.
Your Father isn't holding your future wife hostage until you get shredded - He's already orchestrating your love story based on HIS timing and HIS plan. He brought Eve to Adam without Adam earning it, and He's running toward you with GOOD GIFTS, not withholding them.