Fasting Fences and Dirty Water

So how are you doing? I am not going to lie, I have had a few challenges that have triggered some emotion. When I began this round of weight loss, I was in a fast with my church. It seemed a bit easier to deal with eating during my fast. The fast helps to create boundaries. Especially when fasting with others. There's an accountability that helps.

One of the scriptures I meditate on is Romans 12:2 about renewing the mind. My husband did a series once on this passage which opened up our eyes to another twist on this scripture. It begins with "Do not be conformed to THIS WORLD..." The key words being "this world." In the church, we've been taught that the world is "out there" and it's all the morally bad stuff, which yes, this is true. In the Beth Barone study on Pure Love, she calls the worlds way "dirty water." For example if you took a fish and had to choose whether it could exist in dirty water or outside of the fish bowl, the answer would be in the dirty water. Fish can't exist without water, right? We can't remove ourselves from the chaos of this world so rather than change, we conform to it. It's easier, but most often there are consequences that become apart of who we are. But the twist in this scripture is this world being "our world" the one that we create to justify ourselves. For example, I'll use my own experience. There are people in my life who have challenged my abilities to do things and now I lack confidence in certain areas. Rather than work through it and prove to myself I am able, I have settled believing that's just me. Therefore, I give myself permission to be ignorant rather than believe that in Christ I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Take some time today to take some inventory. What things in your life have created the world you live in to justify some of your behaviors and habits? Be careful not to be disappointed in yourself either. That can be a trigger as well. Instead, journal and pray and invite God to be a part of your process of changing this behavior. He will show you, I promise!