Break Free and Live in TruthSample

INTRODUCTION:

Hi! I’m Rae Lynn DeAngelis, founder and executive director of Living in Truth Ministries. My greatest passion is to encourage women through the promises of God—biblical truth. Why? Because the promises of God literally saved my life!

Although I grew up in the church and was blessed with a loving family, I still found myself struggling with low self-esteem and poor body-image, even at a young age. Negative thoughts took root and sent me down a path of self-abuse.

I was convinced true love and acceptance hinged on my achievement of a certain standard of excellence with my appearance. In my pursuit of external perfection, I stumbled upon the concept of purging as a weight-management technique. This marked the beginning of my downward spiral with an eating disorder. Weeks turned into months and months turned into years. Before I knew it, twenty-five years had clicked by. Never could I have imagined I would be held captive so long.

I was in bondage to the number on the scale. If my weight was down, it was a good day. If my weight was up, it was a horrible day. I just wanted to be loved no matter what the scale said.

I tried to break free many times, but my resolve never lasted long. I will stop tomorrow, I promised myself. But tomorrow without bulimia never came. No one knew the lie I was living, and I did everything I could to keep the secret. Deep down, I knew that what I was doing was wrong, but my fear of gaining weight was too great. I resolved that my eating disorder was something I would have to live with for the rest of my life.

Thankfully, that’s not the end of my story.

Long before I realized it, Jesus set my feet on a path towards healing. He placed people and circumstances in my life to draw me closer to Him. He showed me that my eating disorder was getting in the way of my relationship with Him and others. It was time to come clean and time to deal with this monster called bulimia.

God showed me that my value and worth do not come from the numbers on a scale or the people around me. My true value comes from the fact that I am a daughter of the King, and I am precious in His sight. Today, my years of bondage are covered over by years of freedom—19 and counting!

Immediately after God set me free, He began bringing beauty from my ashes. He provided speaking and writing opportunities that allowed me to share what God had done in my life. One of those opportunities led me to share my story on Christian radio.

During the interview, I talked about the importance of replacing worldly lies with biblical truth when trying to overcome strongholds in your life. I suggested that if anyone was trying to break free from struggles with food or body-image, they should get involved in a Bible-based support group.

After the interview aired, people started calling into the radio station, wanting to know where they could find such a group. To be honest, I had just assumed they were out there. But after much research, I realized there was nothing like that in the area where I lived. Knowing how important faith-based support was in my own recovery, I felt a burden on my heart, and sensed God was asking me to do something about it.

In 2008, Living in Truth Ministries was born. Today we are a non-profit organization that helps women embrace their unique identity and see themselves through God’s eyes. Our programs, resources, and materials help women learn, grow, and live in God’s truth.

This plan, based on my personal healing journey, highlights important steps to help you break free and live in truth. Each day’s reading includes the following:

• Life-Application
• Personal Reflection
• Prayer
• Scriptures for Renewing the Mind

Let’s get started!