Let the Lord and Leptin rule!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22

Verse Reflections:  Self Control!  The one fruit of the spirit that is frequently elusive for me.  God gave me a fairly gentle spirit full of love and joy and while I fail occasionally on all of these qualities, self- control is definitely the one I crave.  Listen carefully to the whisper of this verse.  God is telling us that if we abide in the Spirit of God, if we eat God foods, the healthy ones He created we WILL have self-control.  And I have to echo this loudly (I seldom whisper).  There is a magic hormone that our God and Lord has created called Leptin that lets our body know when we are full.  There have been times in my life I was convinced I had no Leptin production because the amounts of food I could eat could put away.  I promise I could rival any person you know.  My record was 18 hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts in one sitting and the list goes on.  However, since I started eating God foods I no longer crave food like I once did.  It is an amazing freedom that I have seldom experienced.  We get on the vicious cycle of eating sugary or high-carb foods that produce insulin.  Guess what?  Those foods block the production and sensation of Leptin.  So truly, we do not ever feel full.  I cannot describe to you the warm satisfaction and confidence I feel as I write this devotion.  I am finally free of this cycle that haunted me for decades.  The fruit of the spirit, God’s spirit, is following His directions to eat healthy foods.  Eating healthy foods allows us to feel full.  Feeling full eliminates the constant hunger and cravings that causes us to be unhealthy and overweight.  This one verse is the secret to living free, for accomplishing more than you ever dreamed you could accomplish.  You will have self-control maybe for the first time in your life.  Fatty foods, Omega-3 rich foods also help trigger the production of Leptin.  That is why when you have nuts, fish like salmon, avocado, seeds… you get full.  Go forth today and eat God foods.  It is a wonderful cycle of health and self-control.

Prayer:  Wow Father.  You have given us the answer, all the answers in this one verse.  If we follow Your spirit we will have self-control.  It is fascinating to me that science, the way our phenomenal bodies work back up this verse.  Give us the power, Your power to eat God foods today.  Thank You that You have created our bodies to have self-control, to feel full when we do this.  That being said, I have a lot of years of mental baggage that I need You to help me unpack.  Help me not to just mentally want those amazing foods I have associated with “deserving”, “relieving stress”, “rebelling” and other ridiculous emotions.  Allow me to shine inside with Your light of healthiness, excitement about doing something about this crazy hamster wheel I have lived on way too long.  Thank You for giving me all the tools that lead to self-control.  I ask You, I beg You to give me that power deep inside to start and continue this healthy way of eating Your foods today.  I love You and thank You for the answers that were always there.  I was just too stupid to know it.