Resolve to Change

​Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a blessed holiday season. As you know, the beginning of the year is traditionally the time when people resolve to make big, and often, long overdue changes in their lives. However, most resolutions are scrapped within days of the new year. So what is the secret to making a New Year’s Resolution and sticking with it? Romans 12:2 says, “Be ye changed by the renewing of your mind," and then you will know the perfect will of God.  In other words, change always starts within us.  That means we have to first choose to do something different.  Unfortunately, human beings often change their minds again and revert to their old habits.  This is probably the way it has been for you in terms of weight loss and eating disorders up to this point.  You make up your mind, or rather resolve, to start a new diet and exercise regimen or refrain from disordered eating, but your resolution falters shortly after you begin, if you ever truly get started at all.
 
God's Word says, "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8).  If you are honest with yourself, you can admit this is true in terms of your weight loss efforts and entanglement with eating disorders.  Not only do you constantly change your mind about starting a new diet or going to inpatient treatment for an eating disorder, but you also vacillate between sticking with the plan, following the advice of your therapist, giving in to your cravings to eat unhealthy foods, and making excuses not to exercise.  The instability is further evident by the excess weight you carry, changes in how you view yourself, how you relate to others, and how your health is, or eventually will be, affected.  Nevertheless, God can and will provide the stability you need in this area of your life when you change your mind and adopt His perspective of your issue with weight and eating disorders.
 
The choice is yours as to whether or not you trust God and obey His Will.  Jesus said, "He who loves Me obeys My commands" (John 14:21).  When you read and obey His Word as it pertains to the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body, you discover His good and pleasing will for your life in regard to food and beverages.  Then you have the right to ask for the Holy Spirit's empowerment to succeed where you previously and repeatedly failed in the past.  That is a request God can honor because seeking Him and His righteousness first (Matthew 6:33) in all things proves you now have the correct motivation for losing weight and being free of eating disorders.  In other words, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).
 
If you’re ready to finally win the weight loss and eating disorder war through Christ, then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on iTunes, Spotify, the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!
 
Ann Wooten-Taylor, C.E.O.
EAW Ministries