Hopefully, you have been bold enough to pray Psalms 139:23-24 and have spent some time with God, receiving his glorious, life changing, chain breaking correction. If you have, satan* is not happy about it and probably came at you with all kinds of accusations, guilt and shame. It is a tired, old tactic that he has used from the beginning. Any time the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, for the purpose of delivering us from it, satan jumps at the chance to condemn and accuse. He does not want us to fully understand the implications of grace and forgiveness. He certainly does not want us to walk in them in every area of our lives!

(* Using a lower case “s” when referring to satan is not a typo. I just like to do that as an intentional way to diminish and mock him. He does not deserve a capital letter!)

Revelation 12:9-10, “This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.”

God has many names, based on who He is and what He does, and so does satan. He is a very real enemy. Here, John calls him the “accuser”. It’s who he is and what he does, but by grace, through Jesus, we are not guilty. We are the righteousness of God, in Christ Jesus! (2 Cor. 5:21) The enemy can accuse us all day long, but if we know the truth, we remain free. Often though, we take on satan’s role and begin to accuse ourselves. We literally do satan’s job for him, becoming our own judge, jury and jailer. We help the enemy to steal, kill and destroy in our lives.

John 8:42-47, “42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

In Exodus 20:7, we read the fifth of the ten commandments, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

Most people read this as only meaning not to use God’s name when cursing. It is quite common for people to use the name of “Jesus” in a profane way, by making his name into an expletive. However, on a more profound level, there is a far more egregious way we take his name in vain. I know this seems like a left turn in our conversation, but bear with me for a moment as we dig a little deeper here.

Vain – adj., producing no result; useless, having no meaning or likelihood of fulfillment

synonyms: futile, useless, pointless, to no purpose, hopeless, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, impotent, unavailing, to no avail, fruitless, profitless, unrewarding, unproductive, unsuccessful, failed, abortive, for nothing; thwarted, frustrated

When we become Christians, we literally take the name of Jesus Christ, but have we taken His name in vain? Do any of the synonyms above reflect your Christian life? Those are not the results Jesus died to give us. John 10:10 says, “The thief’s [satan’s] purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Let’s look at the antonyms of vain: functional, usable, fruitful, effective, effectual, potent, productive, successful, valuable, precious, priceless, cherished, esteemed, prized, treasured, worthy.

Those antonyms of vain are all things that we are to be through, and in, Christ. If we have received Jesus and “taken His name”, we can not let the enemy neutralize us through his lies and strongholds, or we are very much taking Jesus’ name in vain. What He did for us, on the cross, is in vain if we do not receive Him and walk in what He provided. He already paid the price for every sin. He already bore every sickness in His own body. He made peace for us. Stop trying to pay the price yourself. Walk in the grace, peace, love, health, righteousness, holiness and freedom that He bought for you!:

2 Peter 1:2-9, “May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.[insert your unchecked desires here] In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.”

Psalms 32:1-5, “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

Psalms 103:8-13, “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuseus, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.”

Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

In the natural, when we lose weight, we get new clothes, and in the Spirit, it is the same.

Isaiah 61:3, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” (KJV)

Isaiah 61:10, “I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.”

Psalm 30:11-12.”You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!”

Colossians 3:12-14, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

Holding on to guilt, grief, shame, pain, unforgiveness, unworthiness, failure, condemnation, regret, and any other thing that the enemy uses to keep us in bondage, makes us so spiritually heavy that the clothing God has for us does not fit right. Until we are ready to let go of all of the spiritual weight, the garment of praise does not fit right. The robe of righteousness does not fit right. We can’t be clothed in mercy, kindness, patience and love if we can’t offer those things to ourselves. We aren’t even able to experience the fullness of salvation when we try to carry the weight of all of these other things! We must cast off the spiritual weight so our new clothes fit! Let go of the spirit of heaviness and wear the garment of praise! God wants us to shed every weight.

Do you get the monumental, life changing, implication of this? I am praying, as I write this, that the Holy Spirit will give you understanding, and God’s perfect love will cast out all fear. Unlike physical weight, the spiritual can be dropped in an instant – in the moment that we fully comprehend God’s love, forgiveness and grace – when we keep our eyes on Jesus! I pray that for everyone reading this. When we receive forgiveness, we can begin to walk in righteousness, because of who He is, rather than trying to earn it through what we have done. The spirit of heaviness is gone and in it’s place, praise. When that weight of condemnation is gone, we can begin to walk in what Jesus died to give to us.

ENGAGE AND APPLY

Three areas of unforgiveness

1. We haven’t received God’s forgiveness

2. We have not forgiven others

3. We have not forgiven ourselves

Have you taken God’s name in vain?

Are you walking in the forgiveness that Jesus died to give you?

Does your life bear fruit?

What have you not given to God?

What do you need to let go?

Are you holding on to any guilt, shame, regret, grief or unforgiveness?

Are you holding on to any sin?

How are those things keeping you in bondage?

Is the enemy accusing and condemning you? Are you?

Have you fully embraced the magnitude of God’s grace and forgiveness?

How do you release anything to which you are still clinging?

Are you ready to lose the spiritual weight and be clothed as God intended?

Spend some time in prayer, praise, and the Word, to allow God to work in all of these things.

Ephesians 3:14-20, ”14When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.17Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

20Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (NLT)

Knowledge of God and His love equals power. Being grounded in Him and knowing the vastness of His love for us gives us power and strength. We must stay plugged in for the power to flow. The power is never out; we simply get out of the power, or never walk into it in the first place.

Hebrews 1:3, “all of creation is upheld by the Word of His power”

Romans 11:36, “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.”

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Whatever brings Him glory is for our good!!

In order to hand this whole dieting thing over to God, we must be open to correction and learn to live by His Spirit, through the Word. Satan will fight hard against you as you begin to walk in this, but condemnation is not of God. Condemnation paralyzes and confuses, but God’s conviction and correction, though painful at times, lead us to freedom. When I first worked through all of what you are about to read, there were many tears and countless uncomfortable moments, but I promise you that the Word will accomplish what God intends in you. The Word itself promises that. Isaiah 55:11, “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

Where did He send His Word? In James, it says He sent it to us. It is planted in us and the Word has power!

James 1:21, “So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

3 John 1:2,”Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” NKJ

Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

Romans 8:12-13, “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”

Proverbs 3:11-12, “My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.”

Proverbs 12:1, “To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.”

Hebrews 12:11, “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

Psalm 94:12, “Joyful are those you discipline, Lord, those you teach with your instructions.”

Proverbs 10:17, “People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray.”

***Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

Do not be afraid of correction! Correction leads to freedom. It leads to peace.

How does God point out anything in us that offends Him? Once we ask Him to search us, we need to spend time with Him, through the Word, and wait for the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Be willing to be wrong. Be willing to yield to the Word and His Spirit so that you can be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”

James 1:13-15, “And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15These desiresgive birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world—the desires of the fleshand the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. “

Wrong desires are the root of sin.

Gluttony is a sin because it gives too high a priority to physical desires – desires of the flesh.

Proverbs 23:19-20, “My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. 20Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,

Gluttony is eating to excess. Gluttony is a lack of self-control.

2 Peter 1:3-9, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.5In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-controlwith patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

Philippians 3:17-21, “Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.”

Are you willing to be convicted and exposed in order to be free? Are you willing to present your body to Him? Are you willing to lay down your desires and pick up His? Do you really want to know His will and walk in that Truth?

2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

The Word does not only show us what is wrong in our lives, it also teaches us to do what is right. It prepares and equips us.

ENGAGE AND APPLY

Allow the Word to bring conviction. Are you bold enough to pray Psalm 139:23-24? “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Pray this daily. Listen. Receive. Respond.

Do you really want to know the truth? What might it cost you? Are you willing to address what God points out in order to be set free? Are you willing to be obedient to Truth?

We all know that gluttony is a sin, but do we believe it, or do we give ourselves a pass? Do we redefine it so it does not apply to us? Do we dismiss and justify sin in our lives, thereby keeping ourselves in bondage, sometimes even blaming God for it, asking why He made us this way, or questioning why He doesn’t just deliver us from it?

Hmmm, sin? How does that change how you approach the problem?

Have you been truthful about your relationship with food?

Are you prepared to ask yourself, what do I know to do, but refuse to do or feel unable to do?

Do you turn to food more often than you turn to God?

Do you spend more time thinking and reading about food, dieting and weight loss than you do dwelling in and on the Word? Does it prevent you from doing what God called you to do? Does it keep you from being who He created you to be?

What could you accomplish if all of the money, time, energy, emotion, strength and attention could be shifted from this bondage of food and weight to doing things that matter to God, for His glory?

Have you hungered after God, thought about him and pursued him with the same intensity you have pursued food?

Do you experience more joy in food or in a binge than in fellowship with God?

Do you want to know the truth? Are you willing to do what is necessary to walk in it?

Do you need to repent?

Are you glorifying God in your body? What does that need to look like day to day?

John 15:5-11, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.5“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. (NLT) Us bearing fruit brings glory to God, but the fruit is good for us!

Whatever brings Him glory in our lives is for our benefit!

Kim

To begin to really understand this verse, let’s take a look at what it means to remain.

Remain (verb) – stay in the place that one has been occupying

Occupy

1. To fill up (time or space)

2. To dwell or reside in

3. To hold or fill (an office or position).

4. To engage or employ the attention or concentration of

To remain is to be constant. There are many things we remain in, but is Christ/the Word one of them? Are you constantly occupying the Word? Have you given place for Christ to fully occupy you? We are instructed to remain in Him and have His words remain in us. If you are tired of remaining in obesity, sickness, depression, strife, unforgiveness – any stronghold where you feel stuck – then start remaining in Him, by remaining in the Word. You cannot remain in the darkness of those strongholds and in His light at the same time.

John 1:1-5, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God,and the Word was God. 2He existed in the beginning with God. 3God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4The Word gave life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

Matthew 6:22-23, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

Luke 24:45-49, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

2 Timothy 1:7, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 4:3-5, “who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” (ESV)

Another why to consider is why would we bring something like our weight, or struggles with food, to God? Does God care about your struggles with weight and food?

The Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God that is alive and powerful, applicable to every area of our lives. Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” 2 Timothy 3:16 & 17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

John 8:31-32 “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (NLT)

1 John 2:27, “But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.”

We remain in fellowship with Christ by abiding in the Word. He is the Word made flesh. We can, and do, learn from others whom the Holy Spirit has already taught, but the Holy Spirit is the one who confirms and teaches truth as we stay in the Word and hear teaching on the Word. He is the one who expands our understanding. I pray that you will humble yourself and be yielded to whatever God desires to teach through what He is having me share.

Psalms 37:23 & 24, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” (NLT)

So, does God care about your struggles with weight and food? That single passage of Scripture already gives a resounding, “Yes!”, and a very powerful answer as to why we should look to God, not just for clarity in this weight loss journey, but in every single area of our lives. What a beautiful and meaningful picture we are given of a father preparing every step for His child, delighting in that child, and holding their hand as they follow the path that has already been established for them. He delights in every detail that He has planned for you. I have seen this play out in my own life over and over again and I often imagine God being delighted as He watches me experience and be aware of a detail that he so lovingly crafted for me.

1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

Again, does God care about your struggle with weight? That’s what the Word says – “all your worries and cares”. Here we have the perfect opportunity to do a little exercise that the Holy Spirit showed me, of putting our problem in the context of the Word. What I mean by that is to look for opportunities to put your problem right into the text, where it makes sense. Put yourself in the Word. In that verse, “you” are the understood subject. Replace “all your worries and cares” with your personal worries and cares. As an example, here’s how one of my past worries would look in the Word: “Kim, give [the battle with food and obesity to God], for he cares about you.” We are told to give all of our cares to him. In the King James version, that passage of Scripture reads, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” Jesus is the Word, so casting our cares on the Word is very literally casting our cares on Him.

Matthew 11:28-30, “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens [insert your burden here], and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Does your soul ever feel weary in this battle? Does dieting feel like a heavy burden? Bring it to Jesus. Let Him teach you about what matters – Him.

Psalms 34:17-19, “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from alltheir troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.”

I love how this verse comes to life as I put my problems in the context of the Word. “He rescues [me] from [dieting].” “He rescues [me] from [addiction].” “He rescues [me] from [depression].” “He rescues [me] from [sickness].” “He rescues [me] from [every bondage and stronghold].” I am one of His people, so when I call to Him for help, He does rescue me!

Are you excited about this yet? When we show our struggles in the Word, they don’t seem so daunting. God hears us and helps us through everything, every time, if we call on Him, allow Him to take proper place in our lives, believe what He has said to us through His Word, and apply it where necessary.

Romans 12:1-2, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

There are many weird and quirky things about me. (Kim) For instance, I only wear red, black, white and gray, except on St. Patrick’s Day. I have crazy names and bizarre uses for common things. My couch has storage under every seat, so I have deemed it my “couch pantry”. I carry low carb, low calorie, low Point tortillas in my car, at all times, and they are now called “cartillas”. I lovingly refer to one of my dearest friends as “Bob” and the giant bean bag in my living room is the “jolly candy-like sack”!

People who are around me, for any period of time, eventually know these things about me. One thing that most everyone who knows me is privy to is my fondness for my “savor spoons”. I first started using these tiny spoons to get myself to slow down when eating any type of dessert. I have half a dozen of them at home and keep one in my purse to have on hand when on the go. I now use them for more than just the decadent foods. There could be a savor spoon in my hand at any meal, any time!

Over time, I have attributed much symbolism to the spoons. As I have begun to put more focus on God, and less on food, I have become more mindful of how blessed I am. When it comes down to it, what has been my biggest battle in life – food and weight loss – is merely a need to manage my blessings. I have more than enough of whatever foods I want, whenever I want and I was complaining because I must moderate my intake. When the reality hit me that I was complaining about being so blessed, these spoons became a reminder to me to be thankful. They are an anchor for me.

Over the past couple of years, I have gifted them to a few special people in my life. I wish I could put one in the hand of every person who battles their weight and relationship with food. Alas, I do not have the means to purchase spoons for the masses, but I can share my thoughts and the meanings associated with that tiny spoon, maybe inspiring you to get your own! They shall henceforth be called the “Spoon of Savoring”,or S.O.S., if you will, since they help to remind me of my blessings in moments when I need to be rescued from old ways of interacting with food. May it serve as a constant reminder to slow down and savor, because there’s always more!

The Weight Watchers* theme for the month of June was “Drop an Anchor”. The conversation was about exploring our “why”. In the context of workshops, we were looking for a single “why”. I shared mine and how it came about – “This Time is Different”. However, my “why” is deeper than that. It is the answer to the question, “Why is this time different?” That is my true “why”. The answer is found in the Word. As a Christian, my primary anchor is the Word, and my relationship with God through Jesus Christ. My ultimate “why” is found only in that context.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

This time is different because my “why” is to glorify God in my body and to eat and drink to the glory of God. When this became the foundation of my weight loss and wellness journey, things changed – I changed. When I got it into my heart and spirit that my body was not just mine, but was bought with a price – the precious blood of Jesus Christ – getting healthy became a different mission. Saying “no” to certain things and “yes” to others became a victory in a spiritual battle. I began to position myself in such a way that the fruit of the Spirit could grow – especially self control.

When I looked at this battle with weight through this new lens, things began to come into focus like never before. As I applied the Word, my mind was renewed and transformation occurred. (Romans 12:1-2) It has been slow, but it has been permanent change. Fear of going back to who I was or gaining all of the weight back has been vanquished, because God has walked me through this process – confronting me and convicting me of the sins of gluttony and sloth, all while empowering me to change and assuring me that I’m forgiven. That is the point of the Word!

2 Timothy 3:16 & 17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

God’s grace gives us the freedom to change. He will strengthen and encourage us in our journey, but we must take the steps. It is incumbent on us to respond to the Word and be obedient to it, not for God’s benefit, but for our own. He’s made provision for every need, but we have a part to play. Notice in 2 Timothy 3:17, the last word is “work”. We have work to do! God will not do it for us, but He will prepare us and equip us by His Word!

What would each day look like if you treated your body like it was bought with the blood of Jesus Christ?

How would you need to feed, move and rest your body to glorify God in it?

What would you need to change in regard to your eating and drinking in order to do it to the glory of God?

The answers to these questions, along with anchoring your “why” in Christ and the Word, will change your journey and your life!

*Weight Watchers is a trademark of Weight Watchers International. Weight Watchers does not endorse this site or the opinions expressed here.