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Letting Go, Letting God

Letting Go, Letting God

Once AGAIN I looked in the mirror and realized I had put on a lot of extra weight. Once AGAIN I don’t feel as mentally focused and physically vibrant as I did when I weighed 50 lbs less. Once AGAIN I am making a decision to eat a healthier diet. I use the word AGAIN because that seems to be my life theme when it comes to my love and addiction to food. A home cooked meal, a stop at the convenience store, and a visit to a restaurant are on my mind during the course of every day. While writing this article the thought of a good slice of pumpkin pie flies through my mind...AGAIN. “What a miserable wretch I am.”

We have all been in this situation AGAIN and AGAIN. It may be eating or another bad habit, but it could also be a more dangerous habit or a particular sin. It could be a bad habit or a sin that not only impacts ourselves but the world around us. It might even be interrupting the quality and quantity of your service to God’s glory and kingdom. Let’s go back to my over-eating example.

When I was 17 I chose to express a believing FAITH in Christ. At that age I understood my personal need to accept God’s grace and began to live for Him. However, long before the age 17 I had begun a struggle with food. Some of this struggle was inherited (nature), and some from how I was raised (nurture). As an adult, this continued struggle with food is my own selfish desire to indulge myself whenever and however I want.

After decades of this constant battle I have recently come under the conviction that this indulgence is “pleasing of self” showing up in my life. God has revealed this in my life through his word and the Holy Spirit. I have come to realize that because God is for me and wants me to be used for his glory I will need to approach my desire for food as what it is. It is an interruption in the plan God really has for me. It is an interruption of both the quality and quantity of time I have on earth to help bring glory to Him.

I am sharing this publicly because I cannot continue to fight this battle through human means. I need you. I need fellow believers to pray that God helps me overcome this struggle. I need for fellow believers to hold me accountable as I resist the temptations that show up each day. I need God’s forgiveness, his strength, as well as other believers in my sphere to help me move another step closer to God’s design for my life in Him.

What about you? Are you living God’s best plan for your life or is there a habit or sin that keeps tangling your feet as you attempt to serve Him? Let’s remember that as we walk with him he will continually reveal a better and better path that we can choose to be our best for his kingdom.

“So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:6-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Eric Bowman

 

Eric Bowman ovalEric is our associate pastor, working with outreach and youth ministry as well as adult discipleship and growth. Eric retired from a 28-year career in public education as a high school band director in 2019 and is now living his lifelong dream as a pastor. Eric and his wife, Diana, continue to live in Henry County where they have been lifetime residents. They "raised" three children and are now making their best attempt at "raising" themselves.


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