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Yes, I am trying to give up sugar. I have done it before; as a matter of fact, I was able to completely get off of sugar and caffeine last November and stayed off of it for 3 months. I felt great! I am still off of the caffeine except for the chocolate I love so much. Why am I getting off of sugar? My main reason is for health reasons and I am totally enslaved to it. Doesn't Scripture talk about being enslaved to sin? I know that sugar in and of itself is not sin, but my pull to it is. I find myself thinking about it and finding ways to sneak away to enjoy it.......I say "enjoy", but I never find it as satisfying as the thought of it. I see this as more than a health/weight loss issue. It is really about denying myself. Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit. Yet I don't exhibit that fruit in my life. I long to! I feel that this sin has become such a part of my life that I have learned to justify my enslavement to it. Yet what does Romans say? I don't have to be enslaved to sin anymore! Christ has freed me from that! The victory has been won! So why do I continue to CHOOSE to sin with my self-indulgence? Why do I feel that I have the right to eat what I want, when I want to? Why do I continue in this acceptable sin in my life yet claim that I desire to walk in a manner worthy of the calling in which I have been called? James would tell me that it is because of the selfish war within myself. I am self-centered, self-absorbed, prideful. I need to learn to deny myself of the things that aren't in and of themselves sinful, but can be in the way I choose to submit to the temptation of them. The biggest trigger of this temptation for me is junk food. How can I teach my kids to eat good when I don't show them by example how to do it? What a hypocrite! I want them to eat "right", but don't do it for my own body which is the temple of God! I think that right eating would affect so many areas of our lives in a positive way........school, allergies, medical bills, energy, food bills, sleeping, concentration, skin troubles.....and the list could go on and on. Lord, help me to learn to deny myself one thing each and every day. Maybe, with Your help, if I practice this self-denial, it will become a habit. It has been said that if you do something for 30 days it becomes a habit. Could it apply to this? I don't want to try on my own strength because that is a prescription for failure. Lord, I want You to help me call upon Your strength, Your power. May You be my total satisfaction in life! May I desire nothing......not food, finances, relationships, fun......more than YOU! Help me not to give up what I want most (fruit of self-control) for what I want now (self-centered eating..........chocolate)! |
Go figure! Isn't that the way with sin? The thought and enticement of sin is much greater than the actual enjoyment of it. Yet there is a greater long-term enjoyment of obedience. Why doesn't that entice me? Comments
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