Day Thirteen: Replace a Habit

I have to admit, I have a horrible habit that I know I should have given up a long time ago: I am a habitual gum chewer. For multiple reasons, I have clung to this security blanket and refused to let go. When I'm nervous, I chew gum. When I'm bored, I chew gum. When I'm hungry, I chew gum (even when I'm about to sit down to a meal!). A lot of time it doesn't make sense. It doesn't do anything for me. It doesn't satisfy, fulfill, and it is definitely not cheap! It's one of those things that I knew I needed to give up, but the thought of actually parting with my chewy green friend was one I didn't even want to entertain. 

Today- I am doing more than entertaining. I am cutting the chains and throwing out the wrappers. 

You see, gum has become an idol, weird as that sounds. It represents so many things in my life: beauty, control, anxiety. I have used it for comfort and satisfaction rather than turning to the Ultimate Comforter and Satisfier. While my gum use is in no way physically life threatening, it is spiritually life threatening. Issues I would normally take to God are instantly solved with buying a pack of gum. Worries that add up in my mind are eased with the unwrapping of a gum wrapper, not the Word that brings truth. Money that could be spent on something useful and purposeful is ultimately thrown in the garbage. I know that is not the way I am supposed to live. 

So today I am making the change. The money I usually spend on gum is going to a worthy cause: a hungry child. A child that needs love, food, and comfort. A child that needs to know that they are accepted and loved as they are. A child that needs to know there is more to this life than their present state. A child that means so much more than a pack of gum. 

Every month I am sending that money I would have used to gain false satisfaction to bring true satisfaction to a child in need. I'm replacing the negative habit with a life-giving habit. 

Maybe gum chewing isn't the habit you need to break. Maybe giving to a needy child isn't the change you need to make today. Maybe today you just need to BUY that one meal you constantly skip. Maybe you need to change your unhealthy food habits for a healthy food habit. Maybe you need to take the money you use to meet the definition of beauty and put it to something useful. Maybe you need to take that money you planned on spending for a binge today and buy a meal or a pair of shoes for someone who really needs it.

Beauty is not about meeting the cultural ideals. It is not about meeting your needs; it is about meeting the needs of others, no matter what the cost. Beauty is not absorbed with self; it is utterly and completely absorbed with loving the unloved. Beauty is beneficial, never wasteful. 

Today is a day of loving a person more than an image. Will you make the change? 

Verse: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." (1 John 3:18)

If you haven't visited yet, make sure you stop by True Campaign for more information about living true to God and yourself. If you want to donate your time and money to a child in need, click on the True: Shift link. It's a great cause that reaffirms the truth about beauty.