Taking as He Did, This Sinful World, as it is, Not as I Would Have It.

“For most people, Jesus’s kind of humbleness is unfathomable.  Here is God’s Son, humiliated on a cross for something He didn’t do. If we desire to be like Jesus, His simple yet profound prayer proves how essential complete humility is to a fulfilling spiritual life.  Yet when we’ve resented people, situation, and institutions for their role in our current food struggles, ‘taking this sinful world as it is’ is a huge attitude shift.  For too long, we have turned to food do soother our disappointment and anxiety.

To gain true serenity, we must accept what it happening outside of us, even when it is not as we would have it.  Jesus’s prayer testifies to this truth.

As we progress in Lose it For Life, we will learn the importance of surrendering our will and food to God.  The same must be done regarding our will for the world and people around us.  An attitude of forgiveness must replace the attitude of control and judgment.  As we continue on this path, we find that the less resentment we hold, the fewer triggers to overeat we encounter.

Today, Lord, I trade in my resentment toward the outside world and replace it with Your ultimate humility.  Help me surrender my will for those around me to You. “  When they got to the place called Skull Hill,they crucified him…Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”  Luke 23

Question:  What is something that you are surrendering to God today?

Accepting Hardship as the Pathway to Peace

“It’s natural to want our lives to run smoothly-no disappointments, no heartaches, no rejections, and no hurt feelings.  But that’s just isn’t life!  The verse doesn’t say ‘if we encounter trials,’ it says ‘when (we) encounter trials’!

Both this scripture and the Serenity Prayer speak to accepting these trials and difficulties with joy-they are a means to becoming ‘perfect and complete.’ So, accepting hardship is the ‘pathway to peace.’  The scripture even takes this on step further, saying that we are not only to accept hardship, but we are to ‘consider it all joy.’

Our struggles with compulsive eating and weight problems may have made us very sensitive and easily hurt by the comments of others.  Perhaps we have been teased mercilessly as children, shamed and ridiculed as adults.  It is difficult to accept this type of hardship, let alone count is as ‘all joy.’

But when we begin to have the ‘courage to change the things we can,’ we also start to accept the hardships  Neither acceptance nor joy means we have to like the hardships, but by accepting them we begin to grow in character and stamina, and that, in turn, leads us to peace.

Today, Lord, may I accept hardship as the pathway to peace.” Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:2-4

Question:  Today, will you make a choice to accept a hardship as the pathway to peace?

Enjoying One Moment at a Time

“We have been given a tremendous gift:  recovery from compulsive eating.  Compulsive eating has lead us into dark places that have always before been a mystery.  But now we can enjoy life!  We can let go of concerns about our weight and appearance and just live today.

Having our flexible routine of recovery commitments (food plan, exercise plan, prayer, buddy contact) allows us the freedom to let go each day and enjoy each moment.  We can notice the sky, the flowers, the sunsets, the sunrises, the beauty of the earth, and the beauty of people in our life.  We can enjoy taking care of ourselves as we would a new friend.  There is excitement in learning more, experiencing more, enjoying more.

Living in gratitude of this recovery gift, we keep our spiritual condition refreshed and grounded,thus giving us the freedom to truly enjoy life.

Today, Lord, may I enjoy this day You’ve given me!” Be happy and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually; be unceasing in prayer;thank (God) in everything (no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God and you in Christ Jesus.  – I Thessalonians 5:16-18 Quote from Lose It For Life Day by Day by Stephen Arterburn.

Question: What is something that you are grateful for today?