But it's just a candybar...
Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 5:02 pm
Looking at the unwrapped package... my mouth began to water.. I could almost taste the chocolate and almonds in my mouth already...
I had been such a very good girl... my Bible study was complete, I'd read four psalms, worked out at the gym, had great success teaching a preschooler to swim... completed my chores....
Yes indeed... I deserved that candybar...
So, why the "check" in my spirit? Could it have something to do with the candybar I'd had the day before and the one the day before that?
Just WHY did I want them anyway? I know that they make me gain weight and the sugar is unhealthy. As a matter of fact I had made a decision to limit my sugar intake... oh yes, i had actually told God I was going to make wise choices and sought his help... committed the plan to Him.
Oh... so maybe .. it's not just a candybar after all.... maybe now it is something more. So how can I discover just what it is that brings that clenching in my spirit as i gaze longingly at that candybar?
Mentally, I run down the list of fruits of the Holy Spirit to see what doesn't belong here... that almost always will turn up something.
Love ..joy... peace... patience... kindness... goodness... faithfulness... gentleness... self-control..
SELF CONTROL... oooh... well perhaps it does show lack of self control to eat a candy bar every day after committing to God to limit sugar and make healthy eating choices.
Wow, did I really tell God I wouldn't do that and then do it repeatedly? What is that other than outright REBELLION?
But still, for goodness sake... it's only a candybar.. right? I mean, it's not like I'm lusting after ... well you know there are a lot worse things for which I could be lusting.
hmmm... LUST
Oh Splash it's only a candybar... chill out.
But what I have learned about lust.. is that when it's fed.. it grows. So if i allow the lure of the candybar to turn me away from my vow to God... what will the next temptation be? If I resist the devil he will flee but if I give in this time he comes back all the more.
And then... I think of some of the counseling situations I find myself in.. and the sin seems so heinous... yet I see now.. it's the very same roots...
Rebelliousness, lack of self-control (selfishness), lust.... at what point does this become sin and stop being
... just a candybar?
I had been such a very good girl... my Bible study was complete, I'd read four psalms, worked out at the gym, had great success teaching a preschooler to swim... completed my chores....
Yes indeed... I deserved that candybar...
So, why the "check" in my spirit? Could it have something to do with the candybar I'd had the day before and the one the day before that?
Just WHY did I want them anyway? I know that they make me gain weight and the sugar is unhealthy. As a matter of fact I had made a decision to limit my sugar intake... oh yes, i had actually told God I was going to make wise choices and sought his help... committed the plan to Him.
Oh... so maybe .. it's not just a candybar after all.... maybe now it is something more. So how can I discover just what it is that brings that clenching in my spirit as i gaze longingly at that candybar?
Mentally, I run down the list of fruits of the Holy Spirit to see what doesn't belong here... that almost always will turn up something.
Love ..joy... peace... patience... kindness... goodness... faithfulness... gentleness... self-control..
SELF CONTROL... oooh... well perhaps it does show lack of self control to eat a candy bar every day after committing to God to limit sugar and make healthy eating choices.
Wow, did I really tell God I wouldn't do that and then do it repeatedly? What is that other than outright REBELLION?
But still, for goodness sake... it's only a candybar.. right? I mean, it's not like I'm lusting after ... well you know there are a lot worse things for which I could be lusting.
hmmm... LUST
Oh Splash it's only a candybar... chill out.
But what I have learned about lust.. is that when it's fed.. it grows. So if i allow the lure of the candybar to turn me away from my vow to God... what will the next temptation be? If I resist the devil he will flee but if I give in this time he comes back all the more.
And then... I think of some of the counseling situations I find myself in.. and the sin seems so heinous... yet I see now.. it's the very same roots...
Rebelliousness, lack of self-control (selfishness), lust.... at what point does this become sin and stop being
... just a candybar?