Let’s go ahead and confront the elephant in the room.
Overeating is sin.
and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to gluttony.
Do not crave his delicacies,
for that food is deceptive.
So many Christians stretch their self-righteous muscles when it comes to hot topics but fail to work a muscle at the gym. My brothers and sisters in Christ will pull out a laundry list of flaws in others while pulling up to a table laden with overindulgences. They tighten the list of rules needed to measure to their interpretation of being a Christian while loosening their belts to make room for an expanding girth.
And of these sinners saved by grace, I am the chief.
I am not trying to be preachy. Nope. That isn’t my style. My job as a Christian is to love all – just as they are – and point them toward God. It is His job to transform people. So, before you get upset, keep reading because I am going to give you a peek into my soul.
Throughout My Fat Story, the journey of my life, I have been aware that my sin of gluttony was just as evil as the sins taken before the Supreme Court… and yet, I continued to eat.
What a hypocrite!
About five weeks ago, I found myself seated in church, knowing that something had to change. This addiction to food was killing me, but I felt helpless to change myself and thought God had turned me over to my sin.
Our Pastor began talking about the Bible as the living, breathing Word of God and something so simple cracked through my hardened heart.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
What if losing weight has nothing to do with my ability to push away from the plate and everything to do with devouring God’s Word daily? Could it be? If I added one simple thing… reading from my Bible every morning… could I lose weight?
So, I tried it.
Within four weeks, I had lost ten pounds. Not just from reading my Bible. No. I was eating better and getting some exercise too. But it was somewhat easy because I found myself wanting to make better choices.
Crazy, but my house was also cleaner. I was getting more work done in less time. I didn’t yell at my kids as much.
You might be thinking that none of this is related. Yeah, I was beginning to think so too. That is when I stopped reading my Bible for a week, although not on purpose. It just wasn’t a priority. I didn’t think it would matter.
The first few days, I couldn’t really tell a difference. Then, without making the connection as to why, the temptation to eat started to rise. By the weekend, I was binging on pizza, wings, and chocolate.
Whoa! What happened? I had to give myself a good shake and figure out what had changed. I picked my brain to find the cause of my regression, and it dawned on me brighter than the hot light at Krispy Kreme.
I stopped reading my Bible.
Whether you see the connection or not, the truth is that when I don’t put Jesus first, I gain weight and lose my priorities. With Him in first place, I gain priorities and lose weight.
When I don’t put Jesus first, I gain weight and lose my priorities. With Him in first place, I gain priorities and lose weight. Click to Tweet
This causes me to ask you… what would change in your life if you added one thing to your day? If you added ten or twenty minutes of reading the Bible… would anything change? Aren’t you curious?
I decided to work my way through the Bible from front to back. Maybe you would rather start with middle or jump to the book of Matthew to read about the life of Jesus. Where ever you start, just start, and see what happens.
Keep me posted!
If you are willing to accept my challenge and read the Bible a little each day, please consider joining my Facebook group called Being Mom to keep me posted on whether or not anything changes for you.
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THANK YOU for pointing out what so many others want to deny… if you aren’t giving Him your time, your day just spirals! When something happens and I don’t get my morning time with God, my whole day just goes into a tailspin at some point! Thanks for sharing your life with us!!
I am going to start tomorrow morning and I will let you know of my progress!
Nancy
Hello,
I just found your blog looking for some free printables. I can relate to your conviction of keeping your body healthy! I used to teach a class at our church through a group called First Place. It is a Bible based weight loss program. The first Bible study is called, “Giving Christ First Place” and is an excellent Bible study. I just thought it would be something you would like to look into. God bless, and keep fighting the good fight.
Jodie
Thank you, Jodie. I think I have a devotional book from First Place but need to pull it out and get started again. Thank you for the encouragement. 🙂
Hey there Tabitha,
I stopped by today to finally poke around your site a bit. I remember a while back you joined a FB group I am in that was dealing with weight loss and such. I dropped out a while ago and I have not been doing so well again. I straightened myself out about 2 months ago lost a few lbs, then got off the wagon again.Over the past 2 weeks I have been doing pretty good. I have a long way to go, so I have a proposal for you. I know you are busy, but maybe we can get this going again? I know that I need all the accountability I can get and I have even been talking a little bit about it on the blog to get some accountability. If you are interested drop me a line.
Amy
I definitely need to TRY. My biggest fault is thinking that somehow, these healthy changes will be automatic and I will suddenly see weight drop. My endocrinologist was happy that I had lost some weight but I felt guilty know that I had lost even more but gained a little back.
Honestly, I am not sure what to do to stay motivated. The heat in my part of the South has made walking impossible. I’m just stuck.
Thank you for this today! I am desperate for some inspiration and motivation – God let your post on Pinterest slip onto my feed and viola! Awesome things to put into practice – Blessings!
Hey Tabitha! Thank you for this straight-from-the-heart post. It’s so amazing how much of an impact that being disciplined to staying in God’s word can have on the rest of our lives…. even our eating habits! I appreciated your words so much here that I included you and a link back to this post in my most recent article where I talked about the importance of a healthy body for the Christian woman. I pray that God will continue to bless you richly in this ministry.