I just want to praise our Father in Heaven for a chance at salvation. Before this message, I was raised up in a fairly lifeless church. There was nothing there that made me want to be there, there was no draw, and no life.
As soon as I turned 18, I hit the world at full speed. I was off to college, indulging myself with more food, more sexual sins, drug use, alcohol abuse and all sorts of evil. This, of course, turned me into an even more bitter and calloused person than I already was. On top of this, I was SO deluded in my own selfish pride that I thought everyone else had the problem. I thought they should change and I should be accepted for who I was. I was always pushing the envelope with authority and grasping for someone's attention, but claiming to not really want it. Something seemed like it was always missing from life. I was also diagnosed as a manic-depressive. That just led into more self-focus, laziness, drug abuse, and general irresponsibility.
Now, I know that God is very real. I know that He has, thankfully, let me live to see another day - a day where He rules, where He is the focus, and where He is God. Changing this focus, this mindset, this attitude to serve God has rid me of all of the former sins and the evil that I once delighted in. I have lost a total of 257 pounds. I praise God for this truth. I praise God that it is SO available to us and may we never take that for granted.
Topics: Overweight, Substance Abuse