Extreme Makeover: The You Edition

That was our theme for the weekend. Our speaker was Lorie Thomas. She was so great! I want to break down each session because I learned so much! I don't want to forget any of it.

Our key passage of scripture this weekend was Ephesians 4:17-32.

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶ “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸ Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Session 1: A Spiritual Makeover for My Habits
1. We must Replace our bad habits with good Life-Giving ones.
    --We have to be IN the truth (God's word) to be able to replace our bad habits with the Life-Giving  
    ones.
2. Remove our triggers.
    --Know what our triggers are and stay away from them or totally remove them!
3. Resist the devil and Pursue God!
   --Read your Bible, pray, gather with other believers, fast, ask for help, accept God's mercy and
    forgiveness when you fail

Session 2: Continuation from Session 1
During this session, we actually had to think about some of our bad habits that we want to replace with good, Life-Giving ones! We had to create what she called Stop, Instead, Remove statements.
Example:
Stop (insert bad habit here).
Instead (insert good, life-giving habit here).
Remove (insert known trigger(s) here).

Here are some I did:
Stop hitting the snooze button.
Instead get up and run.
Remove staying up late.

Stop worrying/thinking about the future.
Instead be thankful for today. Live for Jesus today. Thank Him for the future of good things that He will complete in me!
Remove doubt.

One thing she also really emphasized in this session was fantasies. She gave the example that she looked on Craig's List for apartments that she couldn't afford here in NYC. She began to dream and fantasize about getting that nice apartment that was way out of her budget. She explained how this began to affect her contentment, joy, and relationship with her husband. One girl shared how she fantasized about the perfect job so she could buy the perfect clothes and accessories. I had never heard it put quite like this before, but it spoke truth to me. It does begin to affect your contentment and joy with what God has provided for you. Her Stop, Instead, Remove statement was similar to this (I don't remember it word for word):
Stop fantasizing about apartments on Craig's List.
Instead be thankful for what God has provided me and blessed me with.
Remove Craig's List for one month.

She gave us this prayer to pray using our Stop, Instead, Remove statements:

Father, I commit to stop (insert bad habit here), and instead (insert life-giving habit here). I commit to remove (insert trigger here). Give me your very own strength to do this. May I become more like Jesus through this commitment and bring you glory.

Session 3: Brand New
We are brand new creations in Christ when we accept Him into our hearts. He makes us new! However, the enemy (Satan) tries to keep us from the brand new person we are. Satan wants us to keep those bad habits that we have and tries to keep us from replacing them with life-giving ones!
We must intentionally choose to fight against the enemy. We must engage in something good--this brings God glory! We must sing a new song--even when we don't "feel" it and even when it is hard.


This was a weekend full of truth from God's word. :)