Today's topic of the freedom journey could be a subcategory of "Seeing your sin as God sees it and Confessing your sin to God".
My sin of gluttony was not a result of my childhood or my family. It’s not because I’m black, I’m a woman, or that I’m American. It’s not because I’m a pastor’s wife or that I’m a mom to a child with multiple disabilities. I can go on & on with my personal descriptions, titles, & issues. No matter how long my list would be, the true answer to why I was a slave to food was because of the sin in my heart. Basically I was similar to the children of Israel. Here’s what God told them -
"But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." (Psalm 81:11-13, 16)
I cannot blame my sin of gluttony on anyone else but myself. I chose not to listen to God’s voice, submit to Him, or walk in His ways regarding this area of my life. In other words, I turned from God “the fountain of living water and dug broken cisterns for myself that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
If you can relate, talk to God about this part of your life and confess to Him, be real & specific about it. I like what C.J. Mahaney said about confessing his sin of pride to God.
“So rather than just confessing to God that “I was proud in that situation” and appealing for His forgiveness, I learned to say instead, “Lord, in that moment, with that attitude and that action, I was contending for supremacy with You. That’s what it was all about. Forgive me.” (Humility: True Greatness p. 31-32).
Following Mahaney’s example, I wrote a statement pertaining to gluttony. Rather than confessing that, “I ate too much.” I say instead, “Lord, in that moment, with that action, I turned from You and instead turned to food. You alone can satisfy the longings of my soul. Forgive me.” So, as you drop all of the excuses that you may have for why you turn to food and not God, you are now free to go hard after Him and His truth.
The song - "You alone can satisfy" by Ross King is the theme song of my journey. I play it most mornings. Listen to it (the 9th song). Pay close attention to the words. After the song, as the Lord leads, say your own personal prayer to God.
2 comments:
This is very good!
I find myself often making the excuse that I cannot eat healthier because I am unable to get to the grocery store, that the next holiday is coming up so why bother...etc... basically blaming the circumstances in my life because THEY are preventing me from being obedient...or making it too hard so I give up.
I really liked your earlier post about examining our motives and looking at the fruit in our life, like our love for God, rather than making the actual weight loss in itself the goal. My heart needs to change before the outside does. So my focus should be on that.
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