Love to Eat, Hate to Eat: ROUND 2

So if you have been following my blog (or talking to me in person) you know how much I love Elyse Fitzpatrick and that I'm reading her book "Love to Eat, Hate to Eat." I am just pass the half waypoint and I have been learning that what I focus on whether eating (or anything else of this world) can become an idol if not centered on Christ.I use to think about food all the time. While eating breakfast I'm thinking about whats for lunch, then dinner. If baby fell asleep after a crying spell I would think what can I eat to make me feel better. My life has always been lose weight, gain weight, lose weight, gain weight.  I was tired of just going through the motions of dieting to reach a certain size, to then hit the goal and go right back to the old eating habits. I needed a heart change, I needed Christ. Thats when I came across this book. God has used Elyse to show me my idolatry with food. The only way to replace my old thoughts were to replace them with new thoughts. As Thomas Chalmers says in the Explusive Power of a New Affection, "Misplaced Affections Need to be Replaced by the Far Greater Power of the Affection of the Gospel." I need to fill my mind daily with Gods word all day long, through the bible, sermons, worship songs, and Christian books. This is the only way I can stay focused on Christ and not let my mind wander aimlessly. While reading Love to Eat, Hate to Eat,  I realized that I have not been glorifying God in what I was eating and mainly how much I was eating. My lack of portion control shown that I lacked self discipline and indulged my flesh . My desire is to honor God in all that I do, not becoming dominated by anything in the flesh (1 cor 6:12 esv) slowly I can see Gods word changing me. Yesterday we celebrated my hubbies birthday and I knew we were going to have pizza and cake (my favs). I asked God to help me fight the temptation to over eat. It was the first time in my life I ate only one slice of pizza and a small piece of cake afterwards. And you know what I did not feel hungry later and I was able to praise God because of Christ's strength,my flesh did not dominate me during the celebration. A great resource that has helped me to make war with gluttony is this acrostic that Elyse outlines in the book (I will share below). She encourages anyone who wants to become disciplined in eating to memorize it and the verses that go along with each word. My goal is to have all of it memorized in the near future. As I go over the scriptures daily I find that not only do they speak to the sin of gluttony but all sin. So even if you don't struggle with food issues (over-eating, anorexia,buleima,etc) I strongly urge you to memorize the acronym and see how it relates to the sin you struggle with the most. Only a real heart change can conquer sin, a heart completely taken over by Jesus Christ and the power of the gospel. So if you see me in person ask me how I'm doing,keep me accountable on this journey of memorization and beating my body into submission. Check out the acronym below and I will leave a link to a downloadable/printable version you can save on your phone or put up in your house to remind you daily what Gods word says. 

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV)

D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E-D E-ating

Doubt- Do I doubt for any reason that I can eat this food without sinning?He who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23)

Idolatry- Will eating this food demonstrate a heart of idolatry (pleasure/power)?You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3)

Stumble- If I eat this food, will it cause some weaker Christian to stumble?It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles (Romans 14:21)

Covet- Am I eating this food because I saw someone else with it and I’m coveting?You shall not covet… anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20:17)

Inroad- If I eat this food, will it create an inroad for sin in my life? (For example, can I take just one portion or will I binge on this food?)Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lusts (Romans 13:14)

Praise- Can I eat this food with thanks and gratitude?Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude (1 Timothy 4:4)

Life- Would eating this food harm my life or health in any way?You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13)Illustrate- Am I modeling good eating habits for others?Show yourself an example of those who believe (1 Timothy 4:12)

No- Am I able to say no to this food, even if I know that I can eat it without sin?I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27)

Emotions- Does the desire to eat this food flow out of any sinful emotion?If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it (Genesis 4:7)

Distract- Will preparing or eating this food distract me from something more profitable?Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few are really necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10:41-42)

Enslaved- Will eating this food bring me under any kind of bondage?All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything (1 Corinthians 6:12)In my eating and drinking, am I glorifying God?

Here's the link to the download

http://chasingafterdear.com/2013/10/04/d-i-s-c-i-p-l-i-n-e-d-e-ating-printable-adapted-from-elyse-fitzpatricks-love-to-eat-hate-to-eat/