I try to cram as much into my days as possible.  My life is full of checking off “to do” items from my list.  I also have social and family activities that fill my hours. My reasons for staying busy range from avoiding boredom to feeling cool that I am ultra busy.  My walk with God gets overlooked during these busy times.  Since my body cannot keep up this pace of life for long, I eventually have to stop. God desires me to seek Him instead of filling my time with useless activities.  In the past, I used this activity to keep me from overeating.  Psalm 46:10Read More →

Food was once my comfort and hope. I grabbed chips to ease stress and gobbled cookies to stuff anger.  Happier times were a reason to indulge, because food was the answer to everything.  Before God changed my heart and thinking about food, my life was centered around food. It has been difficult to let go of food as my comfort.  Sometimes I am tempted to reach for cookies instead of praying.  After a challenging day, I opened a bag of potato chips to snack on while I cooked dinner.  Stuffing chips down my body did nothing to calm my stress.  Deuteronomy 31:8 is, “The LordRead More →

Every time I mess up, I tell myself I am a failure.  I get tired of continuing to fail, so I resolve to do better next time.   As I have grown closer to God, I understand I am imperfect and will mess up. It feels good to let go of shame and to stop worrying about being perfect.  My beliefs about food have greatly changed.  Food is to  nourish my body and not to soothe  stress.  My stomach has shrunk so I no longer can eat as much food as I once ate.  Last week, I put the box of candy down as soon asRead More →

God’s strength leads me through my life.  Without Him, I am unable to accomplish ordinary tasks.  God helps me let go of negative emotions like anger, greed, and jealousy.  I am a mess without His guidance. Negative thoughts pop into my mind.  My gut instinct is to nurture anger and fear.  I fight the urge to focus on the negative in my life and dwell on “what if” it gets worse.  As I have become older and more spiritually mature, I hate the way negative thoughts feel.  Not only do I feel the anger and anxiety, I know I am out of step with God’sRead More →

Sometimes I chase my wants, forgetting other tasks I should do.   Most of the time my selfish wish is not fulfilled.  I focus on this desire, unable to stop thinking about how much I “need” it.  I start believing that nothing goes my way and I am unlucky.  Feeling defeated, my emotions drive me to food. Philippians 2:3 is, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others.  Be humble, thinking of others better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”  (Holy Bible, New Living Translation, 1996, 2004, 2007).  When I take the time to pray forRead More →

Anger is a natural human emotion.  I can have little annoyances build up until I explode with rage.  Other times, an unfair situation enrages me.  In this life, stuff is going to annoy me.  I have a choice in dealing with my angry feelings. Ephesians 4:26 is, “And ‘don’t sin by letting anger control you.’  Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”  (Holy Bible, New Living Translation, 1996, 2004, 2007).  I can allow anger to control me.  It consumes my entire being, drowning out reason.  My anger controls me when I choose to dwellRead More →

Forgiveness is more difficult when the wound is fresh.  I like to prevent myself from being hurt again, so I distance myself from pain.  However, I cannot cut everyone who has offended me out of my life.  Learning to coexist with people who might hurt me again is impossible without forgiveness. I forget to be patient with others and focus on their faults.   Colossians 3:13 is, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you had a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave  you.” (Holy Bible, New International Version, 2011).  When I cling to hurt feelings and don’t forgive, itRead More →

I will never be perfect.  I try my best, but occasionally eat more food than my body needs. In the past, I would beat myself up for slipping.  This caused me to continue down a path of overeating.  Even though God has taken away my desire to intentionally overeat, I still struggle with food. Matthew 5:48 is, “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  (Holy Bible, New Living Translation, 1996, 2004, 2007).  I did research the original Greek to discover that the word used for “perfect” both times in this verse is “teleios” , which means “perfect , mature, finished”.   GodRead More →

Anger drags me down.  If someone offends me, I rehash every detail.  “They deserve my fury and need to learn a lesson.”  My rage grows and I justify my position, continuing to list reasons why I am right.   I hate to admit when I am wrong.   By holding onto anger, I wrongly believe the offender suffers. The truth is other people do not know that I carry bitterness from their actions.  James 1:20 is, “Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.”  (Holy Bible, New Living Translation, 1996, 2004, 2007).   God desires for me to be righteous.  However, anger produces the polar oppositeRead More →

It was once hard for me to relax without constant snacking. Grazing while watching TV  is normal behavior.   Sitting down, whether to read or surf the internet meant snacking for me.  To avoid mindless eating, I used to keep busy.    When I started eating only when I was hungry, I got numerous tasks finished to avoid eating.  Since there are times I need to rest, I am learning the art of relaxing without food. I have to eat to live and will always be surrounded by food.   Using “I need to relax” as an excuse no longer works.  God is helping me overcome temptationsRead More →