Breaking Free from MY addiction

I had to do a lot of personal introspection as I thought about my own addictions this week.  I kind of laughed off some of my addictions this morning - blogging, email, television.  I justify them as downtime, ministry and the like.  Some of that is valid.  One addiction I cant justify however and I must overcome is a food addiction.  I could rationalize that I dont weigh 300 pounds so Im probably OK.  Over the past couple of years I have dropped about 20 pounds by making small adjustments and I could just stop here and say thats about all I can do.

But the truth is I am still too heavy and its because I am addicted to food.  Weight is not my problem - food is.  I eat to feel good, I eat when I am bored, when I watch TV, to have fun etc.  And when I eat - I eat too fast - and too much - and the wrong things.  I love food!  I love good food.  I love bad food.  I love lots of food.  I really need to weigh in under 200lb and ideally I would be less than 190.  I haven't seen that since college.  But its time to get it under control.

This is not just a physical problem like I taught this morning.  It is a spiritual issue and I have to deal with it.  The bible says you cannot serve two masters. Food has me mastered.  I should eat to live - not live to eat.  Confessing this - to my church - to myself - to my family - to my blog readers is risky - because I have struggled with this my entire life - and there is a good chance I will fail miserably.  But I am going to try to make some lifestyle changes.

I am not going on diet to lose weight.  Dieting is temporary - and I need to make a permanent change.   It starts with changing my mind.  My body is a temple - and I no longer want to be a mega-church.  I want to honor God with the way that I eat - and I want to be healthy so that I can enjoy my grandkids who will be here tomorrow.  Pray for me as I try and get this under control.  I have stopped a lot of addictions (drugs, alcohol, tobacco, porn) cold turkey and never looked back.  Food is different.  You can't stop eating (for long.)  I know my enemies - my flesh and the devil - will attack hard and there will be a hundred reasons I wont want to do this.  But I have to.  I owe it to God, to my family, to my church and to myself.  Satan has no power over me - there is no weapon formed against me that can prosper - and I can do all things through Christ - even this.

Maybe you have an addiction you struggle with that I can pray for you about.  Let me know here or in private and I will pray for you as you pray for me.

I'll keep you posted on my progress - and if you would like to join me in this shoot me a line and we'll keep each other accountable.

Comments

[Jason]

I'm in brother. My weight has gotten to the point that I am unconfortable. I love to eat, heck, one of my favorite channels on TV is food network.

[Heather L.]

Hey Dave!
Wow! Of all the days to miss it had to be this one. But, I TOTALLY dig working in the Zone!!! Anyway, much like you I've battled some major addictions and have walked away without ever looking back at them. But over the years I have replaced them with food. What you wrote in your blog today really hit home with me. You can bet that I'll be listening to the podcast from todays sermon. I am praying for you, Dave! Please pray for me in this area too!

[Bryan McKnight]

I feel your pain! Mine is also a lazy issue which very well could be a spiritual issue. My wife and I started to work out again last week, so we are trying. The Holy Spirit and I broke the tobacco addiction last year, I have put off the weight, food, lack of exercise thing until now. Good post...thanks for the encouragement.

BTW...we have one graduating on Thursday as well. Boo Hoo's and all that stuff will be flying this week.

Peace

[Darrell Jordan]

Ran across your blog from Anne Jacksons and just downloaded you sermon from Sunday. Can't wait to listen to it on my way to work in the morning. I also struggle with weight and in fact my Dr. told me last month that I should consider researching weight loss surgery.

dj