Your Surprising Secret to Overcoming Addiction’s Agonizing Grasp

By Marti Pieper Feb 28, 2019

This message is not for those who are comfortable in the rutted habits they find themselves in. It’s not for those who think they have everything figured out and don’t need any help. This message is for people who are desperate for God to set them free from bondage to sugar and food addiction.

It’s for You

It’s for those of you who have tried every diet, every program, every plan, every supposedly magic trick known to man and woman and still can’t say no to the foods that are killing you the more you over indulge in them.

It’s for those of you who have lost weight and gained it back plus more. It’s for those of you who no matter what you do, can’t lose more than a few pounds but have 100 or more to lose. It’s for you who are disgusted with yourselves. It’s even for you who are still in denial that you can ever lose the weight.

It’s for you who know God is the answer, but you can’t figure out how to find the key to let Him into your food life. It’s for you who really want to taste and see that the Lord is good but just can’t figure out how that works when all you do is eat whatever you want, whenever you want and however much you want.

Desperate for Transformation

It’s for those of you who are desperate for transformation, but you don’t want to change. You are in a habit loop that has become so ingrained that you have no idea how to begin to change. Still, you want so badly to lay down the weight that has so easily entangled you, but you don’t want to give up the foods you love more than life.

You want something to happen to make you change overnight without going through what you are sure will be an agonizing process of having the foods you love torn from your hands as you hang on for dear life.

I want you to know: I have been where you are. I was so trapped inside the 430 pounds of flesh that had become my body that I didn’t even know if the real me was still in there. And if it was still there, was it worth anything at all to God?

I Surrender Some

For years, I clung to being the ruler of my own life. However, God asks us to allow Him to be the King of our hearts. We sing, “I Surrender All,” but what our lives say is “I surrender almost everything except the comfort foods I love. Those are mine. Everything else is Yours, Jesus.” With Jesus, though, it’s all or nothing.

When God finally got hold of me and helped me understand that I am a sugar addict, I surrendered everything to Him. After I did that, I sought out a coach and a group to help me understand how to walk this journey. Along the way, I lost 250 pounds.

My core truth for my transformation journey comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 AMP. I’ve chosen the portions that speak the loudest to me. “God said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you … for [My] power is … completed and shows itself most effectively in your weakness.’ Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me]. … for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].”

Allowing God to be at the helm, it was far from an agonizing process. Once I surrendered to Him, losing 250 pounds was the easiest hard thing I’ve ever done. It can be the same for you. {eoa}

Teresa Shields Parker is a wife, mother, Christian weight loss coach, speaker and author of Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor, Sweet Freedom: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off with God’s Help and Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation. Get a free chapter of all her books, plus many other free resources on her blog at Teresa Shields Parker.com. Connect with her there or on her Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram.