I, like many of you, tried to start eating healthy on January 1st. Unfortunately, I, also like many of you, failed miserably! Why? I failed because…well I asked God to help me and then I went to search for his answer in the Bible. Wouldn’t you know it! The very first verse I turned to was… Man shall not live by bread alone. I’ve got proof! I need my fried foods and sweets! It’s Matthew 4:4! Ever so quickly, I arose from his holy word and began to happily eat whatever I wanted. I hadn’t stopped eating junk until today! Now, if this sounds silly to you, you are one smart cookie! However, that’s what people do all the time…yes, even Christians! We pick out phrases or verses from the Bible (out of context) that permit us to do what we’d like to do without feeling guilty. Note: I didn’t really use the verse as an excuse. I just used it as an example.
From a lifetime of fighting weight and sin, I have come to understand that people don’t change unless they want the results of that change more than they want the sin. You’re so right, if you guessed that I have decided to find out (beginning ALL OVER again today), if I truly want the result of being healthy more than I want the sweets, potatoes, and all of the other lovely fried foods. I have to continually ask myself:
Do I want to practice gluttony and reap the consequences?
Do I want to be able to enjoy my children and grandchildren?
Do I want to live a more active lifestyle?
Do I want to feel good about myself?
Do I want to spend the rest of my life eating garbage and wishing I was thin when I could take care of the problem now in order to reap the benefits soon?
Do I want the change more than I want the sin?
Since I’m in a “cleaning out mood,” I decided to clean out some other things in my life. If I’m gonna shine, I want to shine bright without any smudges on my bulb! How about you? Do you have other things that need to be cleaned up and out as well? Let’s review some things in our lives that may need our immediate attention.
Our Mind
Think about the lady that pulled out in front of YOU and gave YOU the middle finger because YOU didn’t slow down soon enough for her. Do you feel anger toward her, even though it’s been a month and she’s long forgotten you? How about the boss that didn’t take their job seriously and blamed everything on the workers when things went wrong? Have you forgiven them? Heaven forbid, but have you forgiven the snobby person who made you feel like bubblegum on the bottom of her tennis shoe in high school? I’m sure there are many more people that could be mentioned… the cheater, the thief, or the two-face. Once and for all, let’s clean them out of our minds right now! Our mind keeps pulling these people back up into our memory bank. Not only do they take away quality time and space, but they continually fill us with unnecessary anger.
Starting right now, take a piece of paper or go to the notepad in your phone and make a list of all the people who have hurt, offended, wrongly accused, or left you. After the list is made, pray that God will help you forgive those people. Pray for a change in their lives and if they aren’t a Christian, pray that they will be saved. Finally, pray that God will remove them from your mind as an enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:44
I probably should mention that the next verse starts out that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
Wow! That is sooooo refreshing! I feel cleaner already! How about you?
I want to give you time to think and pray about this activity. Therefore, I will continue with the cleanup process with my next blog.
Friends, let’s pray for each other continually!
