Sometimes I just can’t slow down long enough to journal about lies I am struggling with. I have learned over time of using Barb Raveling’s techniques and her app how to use her approach “on the fly!” This recording is a REAL LIVE example of me struggling with a temptation today and how I handled it…
Just so you know how it ended. It is now about an hour an 10 minutes after I recorded that in my car and I am home. No milkshake. YAY! I obeyed God thanks to accountability with you all. 🙂 Obedience feels good. I am not hungry yet!
Below is a video that I made to help people understand what it means to renew the mind…what it is, how to go about doing it and why!
I hope it helps you.
Thanks again to Barb Raveling for her help in understanding how to practically apply the wisdom of Romans 12:2!
Summary:
Renewing the Mind is, simply, thinking God’s thoughts after him.
First, choose a renewing of the mind goal. Why? Because it is our thinking that causes us to act. If we want to act differently and see different fruit in our lives, we need to start where actions are birthed–in our thoughts! What do you want to think differently about? The scale? Your body? Food? Your marriage? Your job? Probably, for our study coming up, you will want to select something that has to do with food, eating or weight, but it is your choice. Maybe you are an emotional eater, so you need to think differently about processing emotions. Maybe you don’t feel like you trust God. You might want to renew your mind about God’s character. So first thing, you want to pick a renewing of your mind goal.
Secondly, select times of the day when you will proactively choose to think God’s thoughts about whatever it is. First thing in the morning is a good idea for most of us since it might set the tone for the entire day. If you struggle in your marriage, you might also want to plan a renewing of your mind session for just before you see your spouse. If it is about food, you might need a mini-renewing of your mind session before you eat each time you eat! Let’s dive in and do this for all we are worth. Give it just a few weeks of diligence and hard work and you will be amazed at how you are impacted! You can also renew your mind in the middle of giving in to behaviors that are counter to your godly goal or after you have given in. It is best to plan a time before that happens, of course! But even if you “blow it,” you can renew your mind about whatever it is after the fact and it will help!
Thirdly, select strategies for actually thinking God’s thoughts after him. In this video, I share some ideas for that, but it is by no means comprehensive. You can use Barb Raveling’s I Deserve a Donut app. You can read scripture or review memorized verses. The bible is clearly where God shows us his thoughts, so it is a safe place to land to find things to think about for renewing your mind. If you want to be more specific, you can do what I have done. On an index card, piece of paper, on a file in your laptop or your cell phone or iDevice :-), you can create a file or jot down a list of TRUTHS about whatever it is that you want to think differently about. Then, each of the times that you renew your mind, you would read those things…preferably out loud. Pray over them and ask God to work them deeply into the soil of your heart and mind.
Also, in the video I say one of the things I like about 0 to 5 eating is that it is easy. Then I talk about Barb’s app and mention that 0 to 5 eating is hard. What I mean by that, is when I am tempted to stray away from it, THEN it is hard. That is when I need to stop myself from whining about how “hard” it is. It is always going to be hard to obey. But the principles are easy, simple, and doable!
I hope this helps clarify what renewing the mind is! 🙂
My accountability partner has been teaching me the value of renewing my mind about food and eating. This is helping me tremendously to get back on track. I haven’t been at peace with food and my body for a couple of years (if I *ever* was, really!).
I had a season of exercising a lot and I “justified” eating outside of my boundaries, just like I would back in the dieting days! “I have worked out long and hard! I can ‘afford’ to eat this!”
Recently, I wondered about returning to 1-2 hours of intense cardio each day (in addition to the tennis I play almost daily). I also wondered about getting a bathroom scale again… “Just to motivate me!” I have to be honest with you…these are thoughts–temptations for me, really–that would short-cut what I need to learn. I need to learn to think differently. When I think differently, I will act differently.
My mind has to be renewed. How I view food, it’s purpose and place in my life, how I view boundaries…whether I will have them and which ones, etc…etc… All of this has to be determined, committed to.
This evening I am meeting my sister who is coming from out of town. Our meetings are typically somewhat intense as we have to make decisions and have conversations about our mother’s care. Add to this fact, this morning, my husband left town, beginning a long season of travel, which changes the dynamic in our home considerably given my 19-year-old son and I struggle in our communication. Bob typically runs interference for me with Daniel. So I find myself a bit keyed up (something else I need to renew my mind about!).
Soon, my daughter and I will leave to meet my sister for dinner at a buffet–“Fresh Choice.” I want to be proactive right now and plan to be very specific about what I will eat and how I will look at food given the abundance provided there coupled with the emotions I feel.
With the help of my accountability partner, I have learned how to ask myself questions and how to answer them, evaluating what I REALLY want. Affirming the TRUTH has made a huge difference for me. I am committed to doing this at least once each day regardless of if I have struggled with my eating or not. Practically, this is training me to think differently. But it *is* a slow process.
Right now, I am going to do this with the buffet and how I feel today. I thought I would give you a glimpse into this process, in case you might find it helpful. So here it is, happening in “real time!”
Lord, I am dreading what is ahead today. I am definitely dreading taking my Mom to the doctor tomorrow. In fact, I have dreaded these two days for a while. I feel so helpless. I know, Lord, that the buffet dinner tonight will offer a whole lot of options for “numbing” myself to the feelings I don’t want to feel. I reject that, Lord. Instead of viewing the buffet as an opportunity to do what I want, I choose to take captive my thoughts about food and eating. My body was purchased by the precious blood of Jesus and it isn’t mine to do with as I please. My body belongs to the Lord. I want to feed it only when it needs fuel and I want to feed it an appropriate amount that it needs.
Lord, I want to apply myself to following the 8 Keys to Conscious Eating, even in the middle of a restaurant with my sister and daughter present.Lord. I know I may FEEL like I *want* to eat more, but what do I really want? Lord, I want to eat in a way that is in line with 1 Corinthians 10:31…to glorify you in my eating! I choose to rejoice in eating appropriately, within God-given boundaries. I choose NOT to look to food to meet needs in my heart that can only be met through fellowship with the Lover of my Soul. Is the sacrifice really too great? Is it really too high a price to pay to lay down a second brownie or another piece of french bread? Isn’t experiencing joy in my eating experience with NO regret afterward worth NOT overeating? I get to eat whatever I want within the physical boundaries of hunger and satisfaction! No diets ever again! That is a gift! Lord, I don’t want to abuse that gift by stuffing more food in than I need.
Lord, I don’t need very much food at this buffet. I know that even arriving really hungry (which I will definitely be as I am hungry now!), it won’t take much more than a fistful-sized amount of food to satisfy me. I need to slow down and really take note of the wonderful tastes and textures and delight in how efficient my body is! Lord, thank you that I don’t need much food!
Lord, another thought that is a lie that pops in at buffets is that in order to get my money’s worth, I need to eat a lot of food. That is so silly! I am not paying for this meal so that I can harden my heart, stuff my face, and boast that I have a good cost-to-quantity ratio! That is ridiculous! I want to pay the full buffet price for a wonderful bowl of the chicken pozole I love (with cheese), a piece of french bread (slathered in butter) and a brownie muffin. That will probably be enough to satisfy me and it is well worth the cost since I enjoy the flavors so much and don’t have a soup recipe that I love nearly as much.
Lord, I do have the emotions to contend with, but if I stuff food to numb my feelings, I will not only have to face the emotions again afterwards, but also disappointment in myself and feeling yucky physically for overeating. Lord, the benefit to eating more than I need is slight…it isn’t even a benefit. It is that I get to taste the food longer. Well, duh! If I eat half as much food twice as slow, I get to taste the food just as long without overeating! It makes no sense to overeat. Lord, I trust this to you.
Thank you that THESE are the truths. The lies have NO place in my mind. I choose to take captive my thoughts and make them obedient to you. I LOVE how I feel inside when I make THIS sacrifice. When I lay down my wants for the greater joy of following you. Thank you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
“Of all the disasters that can befall mankind hunger is the worst.”
– Friar Tuck, Robin Hood TV Series from late 1950s
I posted the above quote, hoping to stimulate some conversation. I guess context would have been helpful.
Let’s back up a bit. My family and I are total NERDs. We are backwards and sheltered and all of that good stuff that keeps us enjoying one another’s company, hugging a lot even though the kids are 15 and 17, and generally one another’s best friends and worst enemies. We enjoy spending evenings and weekends together and when one of us has an outing or other social event that takes us away from home, there is a distinct “something is missing” sort of feeling. Of course, as the kids have gotten older, we encourage that more and more so they won’t totally be social outcasts. 🙂
Some of the things we enjoy doing in the evenings we spend together include silly games (“Attack of Killer Bunnies,” which is a very complicated card game!) and watching movies (Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3-D is what we were doing when the picture to the right was taken!) old old TV shows now available on DVD…like I Love Lucy, Hogan’s Heroes or Get Smart, or, most recently, The Adventures of Robin Hood, which is a “vintage” TV series, filmed in the 1950s in the UK for US television. Truly, the first two seasons were acting and script-writing at its finest!
In Robin Hood, Friar Tuck is a rather rotund character who bows for food and ale nearly as much as he does for the virtues encouraged by God in Holy Writ. Often, levity is provided for the viewer by the good Father struggling between joining comrades or “lads” in the next task and tale, or being waylaid due to the tantalizing teasing of various culinary delights provided at ale house, castle, or chef in Sherwood Forest.
It is during one such scene that the above quote was extracted. Friar Tuck, who is definitely not lacking a steady supply of food to sustain his ample girth, quips, “Of all the disasters that can befall mankind hunger is the worst” as he dives in to a feast provided by Robin’s men.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the good Friar ever had experienced hunger (save when he was on a holy fast, which does happen in the series on occasion). This was not in the context of lack of provision…children in Ethiopia with distended bellies, or tragic circumstances in Haiti. This was spoken by a clearly well-fed individual, who simply likes to avoid ever feeling hungry.
I wonder how many of us in the US can relate to this sentiment. In this “land of plenty,” most of us aren’t going to bed at night without plenty of food to sustain a healthy life. (Of course, this isn’t always true, but for the majority it is.)
Yet many people don’t ever want to experience the legitimate sensation of being hungry. If we do agree with Friar Tuck and avoid hunger at all costs, it is difficult to ever really know what we need to eat, when, and how much. In fact, much modern dietary advice has focused on telling us we shouldn’t ever allow ourselves to feel hungry and this and that are what we should eat and they even tell us when, as without their advice, we wouldn’t know when to eat.
If one has this particular view…that the worst disaster to befall mankind is to experience an empty stomach, I believe we strive against God and the way he made us. We also fail to learn His sufficiency and provision for us.
Contrast this to the following quote, from Dr. Rita Hancock at her blog:
Many of us are downright petrified of hunger, as though it might actually kill us to feel a teensy bit hungry for a while. But, to look at hunger as a song as a song of praise that God programmed into us is exactly what we need to reframe our thinking about hunger.
We need to retrain our thinking if we are going not just to release extra weight or to become healthier physically, but also spiritually and to stay that way. If we wait on the Lord to teach us to think differently about Him, about ourselves, about hunger, if we choose to reject the “Friar Tuck Mentality”–that hunger is an enemy, a disaster–and, instead, choose to think of it as a song of praise to God, then we are heading strongly along the right road.
Thank you, Lord for this truth and that you are in the business transforming us by the renewing of our minds and our thinking!
Today, I am going to share about something that has been weighing on my heart and is something difficult to admit. Because of recent reactions of mine to things going on in my life, I had to ask myself this painful question: “Why do I still get upset when things in my life don’t go my way, even though in my heart I know that I trust God to take care of me?” Where is the disconnect? God has proven Himself faithful, time and time again, yet I go into a tailspin when something goes wrong. I am afraid that even though I trust Him, there are still many areas in my life where I am trying to control things by my own power. I have proven time and time again that doing life by my own power never works.
I have always heard it said that the distance between the head and the heart is one of the longest. Sometimes the distance seems insurmountable when it comes from taking head knowledge and making it heart knowledge. When I think about my anxious feelings over the last few weeks, I realize in my heart, I totally trust God, but it is my head that is getting me into trouble. I am too strong minded. I think too long and too deeply about issues that I can’t control. Wow, I didn’t think it was possible, but my heart is good and it’s my head that needs help. This is why it is so important for me to find the time in my schedule for renewing my mind daily. Oh, how life gets in the way…or should I say I allow life to get in the way. I make excuses…I have a new job, I didn’t sleep well last night so I have to press the doze button, I have a family commitment…I need to…whatever. Whatever I allow to be in the way of my growth is an excuse, and those excuses cause my daily life to suffer.
I am a firm believer that we always have time for what is important to us. I have to ask myself if my boundaries are important to me or if I am going allow the “stuff” going on in my life to “give” me permission to break them. Are the changes that God has done in my heart and life worth the extra time it takes each day to renew my mind so that those changes stay and grow to even more miracles? It is very easy to fall back into previous reactions to life. It is easy to run back to food. It is easy to run back to losing myself in TV or books or quilting or anything else that takes me away. It’s easy, but praise God, it is no longer comfortable. I want to guard the growth I have experienced this past year. I don’t want to lose the gracious gifts I have received from my Loving Father. I want to praise Him for even the “stuff” that could drive me back to the way I was before. I want to praise Him for the good, the bad and the ugly. I am grateful that God wants to grow my faith by letting me struggle. He loves and cares for me that much.
I have a favorite section of Scripture that has helped me in the past during times of frustration and fear. It is Habakkuk 3:17-19. It says, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!” What this says to me is that even when things look and seem impossible to get through, even then, He is with me. No matter what I feel, see, perceive or experience that makes me believe that there is no way to move forward, the way is there and it is the road the Lord has laid out for me. I don’t have to figure it out and I don’t need to know what will happen tomorrow. I just have to put one foot in front of the other and follow Him.
It’s too late to make a resolution, and those are only made to break. What I will commit to is making a daily effort to renewing my mind. I will not do this perfectly, but no more excuses. Will you join me? I believe God has great spiritual growth in store for those in Thin Within/Hunger Within this year. Let’s commit together to use the tools we have at hand to grow closer to our Lord who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. No matter what happens, let’s draw close to our Source of all that we need.
