Surrendering
The first step in any radical change is to do something different. I wanted to keep everything the same, but lose weight. And I really wanted to lose weight. I had a lot of passion about it. I knew all the reasons. I knew the practicality behind it. I’d be eager to go on a diet. I’d have great resolve for the first day. Then, I would fail.
Looking at the verses again, I saw it clearly. I had been looking in the wrong place. Acting in my own human strength, I will always be waffling. If I really understand the grace of God, I will understand His strength can’t operate when I’m acting self-sufficient, self-important, holier than even God.
This is when God says, “OK, I’ll wait until you really know you need and want Me.” When I’m at the end of my rope, when I’ve truly exhausted every resource and when it hits me hard enough for me to know all of this, God says, “OK, now you’re ready. Let’s go.”
Any weakness I have is only meant to draw me closer to God. He knows I am weak. It’s why He gives me grace. “For it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in Him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, not even our faith, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ. So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving” (Eph. 2:8-9, TPT).
Walking Out the Journey
When I began to walk out what I knew was His plan, I felt His grace-wind at my back propelling me forward to health and wholeness. It’s a place from which I can minister. It’s a place from which I can complete my assignment here on earth. It’s a place from which I can live.
This is an excerpt from my new book, Sweet Freedom: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off With God’s Help. The book goes deeper into the emotional and spiritual journey of freedom from addiction of which food addiction is one of the worst. Some of the things I share in Sweet Freedom I swore I would never tell another living person. It’s available right now for pre-order and will be live February 15, 2016. I can’t wait for you to read it. I’m also working on a study guide to help work through your own emotional issues, which will most likely relate to spiritual issues, holding you back from being all you can be. Be careful, though, if you read it, it will lead you to your keys to freedom.
Teresa Shields Parker is a wife, mother, business owner, life group leader, speaker and author of Sweet Freedom: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off With God’s Help, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor and Sweet Grace Study Guide: Practical Steps to Lose Weight and Overcome Sugar Addiction. Get a free chapter of her memoir on her blog at teresashieldsparker.com. Connect with her there or on her Facebook page.
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett 
