Free from Accusation!!!!

This summer when I was on bed rest for 10 weeks with a fungus in my lungs I would read my Bible frequently and for some reason I literally couldn’t get out of the book of Colossians. Has that ever happened to you? I’ve always been a “3 chapters a day, and 5 on Sunday” type of girl which was engrained in me while at Christ for the Nations Institute by the co-founder we affectionately called “Mom” Lindsey. For whatever reason I was glued to this book and read it over and over again this summer until I had practically memorized it which is for me uncharacteristic and shocking!  At that point I didn’t realize that God was priming my heart to get ready for this journey.

I have said many times that this blog is about my journey to getting healthy physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Many of my posts focus on one or a combination of those areas of transformation. Spiritually I have gone back to basics in many ways as I explore who God created me to be and how my personal relationship with Christ affects my relationship with myself.  Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 through 20 reflect the solid foundation from which my faith is built upon. It begins with creation and ends with that sacrifice of God’s one and only son Jesus Christ on the cross. Check it out below…

Colossians 1: 15-20 (NIV)

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Awesome! I get excited every time I read that! This next part literally keeps rocking my world.

21-23 (NIV)

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Both science and the Bible are in agreement that the mind is a very powerful mechanism and it is where ALL action begins. Even though I know Christ’s shed blood on the cross paid the penalty for my past, present, and future sins I continued to live alienated from God in my mind under the curse of accusation, particularly in this one area. Here’s how Dictionary.com defines the word accusation.

ac·cu·sa·tion
noun
1. a charge of wrongdoing; imputation of guilt or blame.
2. the specific offense charged: The accusation is murder.
3. the act of accusing or state of being accused.

Let me give you some personal examples of the types of accusations that have gone on in my mind:
-“You ate too much of ……AGAIN”
-“You’ll never be able to lose this weight”
-“You are out of control”
-“You are a hypocrite”
-“You are a failure”

I am learning as I read Colossians that in order for my spiritual health to grow my mind needs to get in check with the truth of God’s word. His word states (Jen paraphrase of vs.22) that as a believer in Christ I have been brought back together (reconciled) to God and have been made spotless in God’s sight. It states that I no longer walk as one accused and destined to death but I am set FREE by Christ bloodshed for me on the cross. Christ is no longer accusing me as He has made me holy in His sight, but I continue to accuse myself in my mind. It is the bondage of these mental self accusations that have kept me in a cycle of obesity and from allowing Christ into this area of my life. Self accusations have kept me going around and around from weight loss plans to binge eating and never accomplishing a healthy lifestyle. I do NOT have to continue to live under the guilt, shame, and the deception of self accusation because I am set Free in Christ.

WOW! Do you know how freeing it is to have that revelation? WOW! This revelation has opened the door for me to begin forgiving myself for all the years that I have not taken care of my body. If the creator of the universe has forgiven me than how can I continue to beat myself up day after day for every little mistake? It gives me hope for the future and strength to break out of this cycle of obesity. This revelation also strengthens my positive self talk when negative thoughts and self accusations pop up which they do often. I repeat to myself the phrase “You are free from accusation!”
Oh thank you Jesus for your freedom!