CHOCOLATE IS MY COMFORT AND DELIVERER

  I have started reading a new devotional, this combined with another devotional I am reading is really starting to bring things to light.  The main thing I need to remember that I can NOT do this on my own and I can't rely on myself to do it....The goal is NOT weight loss or looking better for selfish gain.  The goal is to live for Jesus, to show him I love him by loving myself...I am now on Day 4 of the devotional...will keep you updated as time goes on....

"THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:  Eating in its proper context is not the problem.  God gave us food for nourishment, strength, and even celebration.  But when pleasure becomes unrestrained, there's a problem.

  God made you wonderful. Psalm 139 says you are wonderfully and fearfully made.  You are beautiful and loved, no matter if you're a size 0 or 30.  You are beautiful just the way you are.  But God loves you so much that he doesn't want you to stay in a place of defeat.

  There was a time when I felt utterly defeated in the area of food and health.  I knew that I need to make changes not because of the number on the scale or what clothing size I was.  I knew it because of the battle that raged in my heart.  I craved, I desired, I thought about and arranged my life around food.  Yet I was a bible teacher.  I was a woman who loved Jesus.  Why couldn't I figure this out?  I had found victory in so many areas of my life, but this area alluded me.  I constantly asked, "Why shouldn't I indulge?"

  One day I looked up the definition of the word INDULDGE, which means "unrestrained action".  And for me, it was unrestrained eating.  You see, eating in its proper context is not the problem.  God gave us food for nourishment, strength, and even celebration.  But when pleasure becomes unrestrained, theres a problem.

  I had to get honest enough to admit that I relied on food more than I relied on God.  Chocolate was my comfort and deliverer.  Cookies were my reward.  Salty chips were my joy.  Food was what I turned to in times of stress, sadness, and even in times of happiness. I knew it was something God was challenging me to surrender to His control.  Really surrender.  Surrender to the point where I'd make radical changes for the sake of my spiritual health perhaps even more than my physical health.

  Part of my surrender was asking myself a different question, a really RAW question. May I ask you this same question?  Is it possible we love and rely on food more than we love and rely on God?  Now before you delete this, hear me out.  This question is crucial.  We have to see the purpose of our struggle with food as something more than getting to wear smaller sizes and receiving compliments.  Shallow desires produce shallow efforts.  These good things are nice, but not as appealing in the moment as a cinnamon roll, or those chips, or tha brownie.  

  The process of getting healthy has to be about more than just losing weight and focusing on ourselves.  It's not about adjusting our dietsand hoping for good physical results.  Its about recalibrating our souls so that we want to change for the right reasons.  I've realized that a healthy eating plan can be one of the most significant spiritual journeys I'd ever dared to take with God. As you join me for the next 20 days, I hope you soon say the same thing. "