This verse...sheesh! It's stuck in my head & heart all week. That's a good thing since this has been the first week of the Made to Crave online Bible study through Proverbs31! :) This really hasn't been as tough as I was expecting...key words being "so far". I know I will have my days as we all do. It has helped keeping my cravings under God's control & keeping them in perspective to the bigger picture of God's plan for me. Food has controlled & ruled over me for waaaaaayyyy too long!
One way the Holy Spirit has helped me through this journey of discovering God through my food/weight struggles is with this verse. I've faced cookies, Nutty Bars, high fructose, chips, & candy this week...every time I would say to myself (even out loud, if needed), "Sure I can have it, but is it beneficial?" And every time I said, "No, it's not" & walked away. Will this happen EVERY time in the future? No. But if I can say no 90-95% of the time by reminding myself of this verse, then that shows me the progress I need to see! :)
Now, this verse isn't talking just about food. It's talking about anything you or I crave or desire & indulge in MORE than God. Indulging in non-beneficial things causes not only me to stumble, but others watching me to stumble too! Is everything bad?? No, no, no. "And God looked at what He made & said, 'It is good.'" The problem is when I go in excess with the good...which turns it to bad for me. Anything in excess is sin...just sayin.
So, I ask...what have you been indulging (or allowing/entertaining/spoiling/pampering) in that is causing you to go backward rather than forward? What do you take way too much pleasure in that is hurting your relationship with God? What is that one thing(s) that when you think of having to give it up, you cringe?? Mine was food...& now I continue my journey of working through it. ;)
One final thought...
Philippians 4:8
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
This is AWESOME! First, thank you for sharing! Second -- what a great way to battle the "should I" questions -- IS IT BENEFICIAL TO ME? I had that temptation today, a vendor brought lunch for our office, after being here less than 2 weeks, I felt I should at least partake, to not show myself "snooty" -- I prayed through the craving, and moved on to the healthy lunch I brought, and I feel so good about my decision! Now I have 2 steps to follow when I am craving or tempted -- 1) is it beneficial to me? and 2) PRAYER!
ReplyDelete@ Lori-Ann: Thanks for commenting! No problem sharing as if we are to get anywhere in this life, we have to be real with God & with each other. ;) I know for me, this has helped greatly, especially after reading Chapter 2 about praying instead of craving. Whew! Great stuff! :)
DeleteThis is wonderful Jenn! My struggle too has been with food & like you I've been stopping so ask if this is beneficial to me. I think it is great that you know we aren't going to be perfect & we will mess up sometimes cuz after all we are human. We have to be prepared when that happens so we can get right back up & get back on track! I love Phil4:8!
ReplyDelete@Tonya Mccoy: Most definitely...thing is, this time is different b/c God is leading. Too many times before I'd take this on as if I expected God to lead, but really led myself. And failed. And failed. Failed again. Ugh. There is hope this time around! :)
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