Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. EPHESIANS 5:19
I meet many women and men who have lost a lot of weight on the First Place 4 Health program. When I ask them how much weight they have lost, I get the same answer close to 100 percent of the time. The person will say, “I have lost weight, but that’s not the most important thing that has happened to me. The spiritual impact has changed my life.” Another statement I frequently hear is, “God has changed me from the inside out.”
Even though most people join the First Place 4 Health program to lose weight, they find that the weight is a secondary problem that can only be addressed after the spiritual components are learned. When I joined the program in 1981, I had never set aside a daily time of Bible reading, Bible study or prayer. I memorized many Scripture verses as a child, but without a Bible concordance, I could not locate them. Because the program is made up of bite-sized pieces of what it looks like to become a mature believer, we find that as we do these things on a daily basis the Lord truly changes us from the inside out.
I have learned that the more I saturate my mind with the Word of God and Christian music, the more God can use me to encourage others. The other night it was almost midnight when my plane landed in Houston, coming home from a First Place 4 Health event. I prayed as I walked to my car that God would keep me safe and protect me. As soon as I got into my car, I turned the radio to a Christian radio station and sang with the radio the entire hour’s drive home. Before I knew it, I was home and totally at peace in Him.
Action Item: Just for today, spend time with the Lord in prayer and Bible study. Eat only healthy foods and make time to exercise. Call or email a friend with encouragement. At the end of the day, you will have had a successful First Place 4 Health day. Do the same thing for an entire week and you will have success when you step on the scale to weigh.
Carole Lewis, First Place 4 Health National Director Emeritus
Houston, Texas