Boundaries can be effective in protecting what is precious from outside negative influence.
Boundaries can also be practical means by which we keep what is valuable within…from venturing into areas that are “unsafe” or unwise.
Here are some important things to consider as we establish, struggle with, maintain our godly boundaries.
Below is a 5 minute audio file. Thoughts I had on this subject while driving to a tennis match! 🙂
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/83946599″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]What do you think? Have you made the standard of losing weight so important that when you give in to eating outside of your boundaries you feel like the whole goal is derailed? Or do you have a sense that God is building godly character in you no matter what happens with your weight…and is it worth it to you to press on? Do you see your mistakes as part of the path to growth in character? Are there any boundaries you have set for GOD? Do you need to welcome His involvement in some area of your life?
That is a good word Heidi! I’ve been in both places. Sometimes we want an excuse and grab the first opportunity when we get discouraged. But when we have that “single mind/focused mind” on the Lord then I find I can see this bump in the road as an opportunity to press in to Him and He will give me the victory!
So true!
This is so true, Heidi. I used to focus on weight loss all the time – and since I was an emotional eater, I would also eat to cope with the trial of just having broken my boundaries – which would put me into binge mode. One of the huge keys for me in breaking free from the power of food was to focus on the spiritual battle rather than the losing weight battle. Thanks for bringing us on your car ride with you! 🙂
Well, Barb, the initial idea was from you in your Appearance Eating study. Even though I have done your study before, God continues to drive home new truths to me. Thanks go to YOU! 🙂
He does to me too, Heidi. As I was listening to what you said on the tape, I was thinking of my current problems with writing and it was very helpful. Thank you!
Heidi – this is very helpful. Pretty sure I set some things “off limits” to God putting boundaries on….hmm, I definitely need to pray about this in my quiet time tomorrow. Is my focus on weight loss? Well, often yes, but much less than it used to be and I can catch myself getting hung up on it more quickly. I like the idea of this being about character training in godliness.
On the subject of weight loss, a co-worker (super skinny and young and tall) was going on about her paleo diet today and how good she feels on it. I started contemplating looking into it (this isn’t the first time she has talked about it – good thing I only work once a week!). But, then I went to my office and Truth Journaled and read scripture and my renewing goal and I was calm again (Zeph 3:17 was helpful – He quieted me with His love). The truth journaling was very helpful – thank you for that lesson
Hi, CMK. Isn’t it great to see our progress in the way we have been thinking? I am so glad to hear that you aren’t as weight-loss focused as you once were. That is awesome! And yay for you in Truth Journaling when you found yourself struggling with considering an approach that you aren’t feeling God leading you to. I love that you sensed God quieting you with His love. Don’t you just LOVE HIM so? 🙂
This was a great topic to think about. I get so fired up to do the goal setting, and I love starting a new study… ah, and now we’re three weeks into it… I really needed the reminder to go back DAILY to renew my mind about my boundaries. I love what you said about delighting in them and seeing them from God’s point of view. This is a critical time for me… when the “newness” starts to wear off. That’s one of the many things I LOVE about God. He’s never the new-new thing (I say that from the worldly marketing perspective). He’s the same yesterday, today and tomorrow!! And He is doing a NEW thing in me 🙂 Funny when I start to rely on my own efforts, it doesn’t feel as shiny and new. Sort of like my “new” (lower case n) vs. His “New” (capital N!) My truth vs. His Truth. Thanks for the food for thought, Heidi. The audios are great.
Hi, Mary. YES! This is the week when people start to drop like flies. The “newness” does seem to wear off for us. We lose our resolve and then we let the dieting mentality win…it says “You have ‘failed’, so you may as well quit.” This is a lie, of course. The rest of our lives we will be pursuing the Lord, growing closer to him, growing more Christlike, bit by bit…5 steps forward, 3 back, 2 forward, 3 back, 6 forward, 3 back and so on. But we keep at it. This is our call. I view “succeeding” as “learning to do the struggle well.” We want to persevere! I love what you said about God being the same yesterday today and forevermore, but he IS doing a NEW thing in me! He is! He promises to complete what he began, too. Thanks for your encouragement, my friend! How’s that tennis game? 🙂
Wow…have I placed boundaries on God? Well I sure wouldn’t be surprised to find out I had, it’s a lot easier for me to set rules for others than myself! My truth journaling is looking sad and depressive, apparently I’m a sucker for the lies. Trying hard to stay true to 0-5 eating, night times are the hardest!
Hi, Lesley. Isn’t it wonderful though to be able to renew our minds? To wash away the lies we believe and replace them with truth? Have you seen the video about night-time eating? Here is the link for that: http://youtu.be/vS2cCKIBoL8 I hope it helps!
Love reading all the comments, and all the blogs and videos. I love that you are inviting us in to come along on your journey. It’s such an inspiration. I have a somewhat off-topic question for the group. Do you have days where you are more hungry, almost bottomless pit hungry? Today, I was out for a walk and I started getting shaky and off-balance. I realized I was hungry. So, when I returned, I ate my salad, then I was still hungry, so I went back to rhe refrigerator and had a piece of pizza, finally I was still hungry and I thought Lord, what can I eat to “take this edge off” and I had a handful of almonds, finally I am becoming satisfied. This seems like a lot of food. I’m wondering if it is what I am eating. I think when I have sugary foods, I suffer this drop more. I’m also breastfeeding, so I think my milk production and hormonal changes weigh into it.
N. YES! I feel like this is one of the ways that God calls us to be sure we are depending on him instead of turning 0 to 5 into a diet of some sort…where we get used to the same amount of food being the right amount for 0 to 5. I don’t know if that makes more sense. I do think you answered your question, but would welcome other responses. If you eat food with different nutrients in them, they will sustain you differently. Breastfeeding will *definitely* affect things like this and YES! Hormonal changes, too! Nicely done, listening to your body and not letting fear have its way!
Thanks for this post, Heidi – it really resonated with me. I tell myself and God that I want to give all to Him, but then there’s this area of my life – eating (there are probably others too,) that I want to hang on to. Food and eating are my default methods for handling any kind of emotion, and I get quite nervous at the thought of giving that up. I laughed when I read what Barb wrote about eating to recover from the trial of breaking my boundaries. I do that too! Wow, this is where I stop and thank God for being so loving and forgiving, and maybe having a sense of humor about this all as well. Sometimes it feels impossible to change my deeply entrenched eating habits, but just this morning in my regular devotional reading, Jesus told the disciples “Anything is possible with God!”
AMEN, Cindy!