Spiritual Detox: Reject and Replace

Our detox program could be summed up with this statement: God wants to rid us of what He has not given to us. He wants to take out what He did not put in.

So, how does that happen?

Watch Spiritual Detox with Kim Crabill

Hello everyone and welcome back to Strengthen Your Walk. I’m Kim Crabill.

There’s an ancient tale that describes a conversation between a child and an artist. The artist is busily sculpting a lion out of pure marble when the child asks, “How do you do that?” The artist reflects for a moment and responds, “I look deeply into the marble until the lion reveals itself, and I chip away everything that is not the lion.”

What a poetic way to think about what we are doing in our detox. We are looking deeply into God’s Word and by that we are seeing ourselves as God sees us … not only as we are presently, but as we are potentially. And we are allowing Him to cleanse us of anything that He did not see as He was creating us. How powerful is that!

Detoxing isn’t something we must do … it’s a spiritual option. It’s something our heart begins to long to do … not to earn God’s love (it’s there whether we detox or not) but to become holy because of our great love for Him!

Today we add two more R principles to ur Seven R Detox plan. Here’s what we have so far:

1. Read and study God’s Word, so we begin to …
2. Recognize where we want to detox.
3. Repent like David and Hezekiah. We can ask and expect to receive God’s forgiveness according to 1 John 1:9, which reads, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness!”

But we can’t stop there … this is where we begin to see exciting effects of our detox as we

Reject and Replace

4. Reject. Say NO to the behavior/attitudes to which you repented. We don’t want to go back to those. And the best way not to go back is to have something to replace them with!

5. Replace. Have a plan! Replace what you are rejecting with an intention. Remember our counseling tip: let your mind lead you to where you want to go. Don’t think about what you’re rejecting, think about its replacement.

Confession here: I smoked cigarettes in college. I had an eating disorder and so I used smoking as a way to diminish my appetite. When I decided to stop, I had to think of a replacement. Can you guess what it was? Yes, coffee! Here’s my thinking: My addiction would say, “I want a cigarette”but my response would be, “No, I want a coffee.”

Let your mind take you to where you want to go. Here are some practical examples of rejecting and replacing:

• Reject getting into an argument and replace with walking away.
• Reject joining the negative talk around the family dinner table and replace with a plan to gently change the subject.
• Reject finding fault with your spouse/mother/friend and replace by making a mental list of all their good qualities.
• Reject being irritated by your co-worker’s constant complaints and replace by asking if there’s anything you can do to ease his pain.

Little things, my friend, can be transformed to create a healthy, happier, and, yes, a holy heart!

Until next time, let’s begin to practice ways we can reject unholy behaviors and replace them with ways to be more Christlike. Be realistic; be specific, and remember, we are seeking progress and not perfection.

Allowing God to take out of us what He did not put in us will surely Strengthen Our Walk.

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