I haven’t said much about my weight loss, but since mid-February, I’ve lost 25 pounds as a result of Christine Trimpe’s 21 Day SugarFreed Bootcamp. I feel better than I have in many years and I’m growing in my pursuit of the fruit of Spirit: self-control. I was looking back at some of my notes and had a stunning ah-hah moment as I reviewed some of the action steps we took …

1.    Draw a line in the sand.
2.    Avoid tempting situations.
3.    Ask for help.
4.    Reframe our choices.
5.    Admit all secret eating.
6.    Be accountable.
7.    Learn to say NO.
8.    Plan ahead.

These are just a sampling of the boundaries I set as I learned how emotional eating can sabotage and lead me into sinful behavior. There are just so many scriptures that can be applied to how we take (or don’t take) care of our temple, and the crazy thing is they relate to a host of other bad decisions or addictions we can easily fall into.

The thing that I am seeing is that food, drugs, alcohol and other addictions all contain deception. We believe the lie that the thing we crave will satisfy us, then we deceive ourselves that it’s ok. And then, we deceive others by hiding it. Ummmmm … WOW.

Just a few days ago, I read this passage in Proverbs 4 and was astounded at what I saw.

“My (child), pay attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not lose sight of them; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body. Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech. Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.” Proverbs 4:20-27 BSB (Berean Study Bible)

Take a look at the action steps we are to take:

1.    Pay attention to His words,
2.    Incline our ear to His sayings,
3.    Keep them (His words) in sight,
4.    Keep them in our heart,
5.    Guard our heart with all diligence,
6.    Put away deception,
7.    Keep our lips from perverse speech,
8.    Look and gaze forward, straight ahead,
9.    Make a level path forward,
10. Do not swerve right or left,
11. Turn our feet away from evil.

The benefits of taking these action steps are:

• Life to those who find them,
• Health to your whole body,
• Springs of life flowing,
• All your ways will be sure.

We are to put away deception…

The Hebrew root means fraudulent, deceitful speech. Digging deeper we see that fraudulent = acting with or having the intent to deceive. Deceitful – given to deceiving – FULL OF DECEIT.

We are to keep our lips from perverse speech…

The Hebrew root here shows perverseness as deviation, crookedness.

Deviation being the departure from a standard or norm, while crooked is not straight, askew/awry, not straight-forward / dishonest.

To put away deception means to RESIST THE DEVIL who is the father of lies. But the only way we can PUT AWAY DECEPTION – the lies of the evil one that we embrace and then deliver to others, is to immerse ourselves in the WORD – in context – and keep those words in our heart – daily – not just once a week or twice a year. We have to pay attention and see everything from a godly perspective not a worldly one.

To keep our lips from lying, we have to be so full of His Word that anything but honesty becomes despicable to us. The Hebrew word for keep is to REMOVE, put far away. That is ACTION we must take. It won’t be done for us! If it is despicable, we don’t want it anywhere near us!

So here is the action flow…

Pay attention –> incline –> keep in sight –> keep in our heart –> guard our heart –> say NO to deceit   REFUSE perverse speech –> then we’ll find life, health, and stability.

To take this in as I reflect on my weight loss journey, and now have a loved one whose drug addiction has been exposed along with all the lies that have been hiding it for two years makes the same point … anything we want more than God is going to take us captive … food or drugs or wine or whatever it is! God is waiting for us to surrender all our idols and allow Him to fill us with His Spirit which will satisfy and sanctify us as we walk in TRUTH.

What have you struggled with in the past that you tried to hide, and then God lovingly exposed it? How did you respond?

Thanks for spending some time with me today!
Athena

p.s. In case you’re interested, here’s a link to Christine’s 21 Day Bootcamp – I highly recommend it! This link will give you an idea of her heart for you in this spiritual, emotional, and physical journey!

https://christinetrimpe.com/SugarFreed-Me-Bootcamp/