BEYOND EMOTIONAL EATING - Spiritual Steps to Gain Victory Over FoodSample

BEYOND EMOTIONAL EATING - How to Have Spiritual Victory Over Food

DAY 1: CONFESS

“Hi, I’m Danna and I’m a foodaholic.” I never actually said those words out loud in a public setting. Yet, I imagined doing so in the years I struggled to overcome my emotional eating and then out-of-control bulimia as a young woman.

Most people – even the thin – engage in emotional eating at times. It’s eating for any reason beyond pure physiological hunger for the physical pleasure it brings. Who hasn’t done that? Often, the trigger involves a negative emotion such as stress or loneliness. But sometimes, we eat simply because it tastes so good! Is that a sin? Probably not. Until it is.

My emotional eating journey grew into such frequent compulsive overeating that I began purging to avoid excessive weight gain. I felt so out of control that I sometimes wished my issue was with alcohol or pills because it seemed those would be easier to permanently remove from my life. But food? Food is essential for survival. Daily life and celebrations revolve around it. From family meals to holiday banquets, food is always at the center.

In the Bible, we see many examples of eating and feasting in a positive light. When the prodigal son finally returned home to the father, a feast was thrown in celebration. Jesus performed his first miracle – turning water into wine – at a wedding feast. Christ tells us, “I stand at the door and knock”, inviting us to open the door so he can come in and eat with us.

God created us to celebrate and enjoy food beyond simply nourishing our bodies.
That’s why he gave us taste buds! Yet for some of us, that beautiful gift of taste and the enjoyment it brings has become an enemy as well. We’ve allowed ourselves to seek food first when faced with a wide variety of emotions and circumstances.

We eat when we’re happy. We eat when we’re sad. We eat when we’re stressed and busy. We eat when we’re bored. When food becomes our comfort and consumes our thoughts, or causes us to feel out of control, it has likely become our idol.

Our relationship with food has been developing since the day we were born. Consider this: God created breast milk to be slightly sweet. Our taste buds have been delightfully tickled from the moment of our first meal. Most of us associate food with love and comfort because they have been beautifully intertwined. So, where do we begin to unravel our unhealthy relationship with food and rebuild it into one that promotes health and balance? How do we enjoy God’s delicious gift of taste in a way that brings him glory?

The first step: Confession
Confess what? Our unhealthy (dare we say sinful) relationship with food. It’s sinful if it’s hurting us physically, emotionally, or spiritually. We need God’s power to equip us to overcome. This begins with seeking his forgiveness. He does not shame or condemn us. He loves us.

It will take time to change the habit of running to food for the wrong reasons. God wants us to run to him instead. Try to see each temptation as an opportunity to seek the Lord and his comfort and strength. Give yourself grace for the journey and focus on progress rather than perfection.

If you continue to confess, repent, and gradually learn how to run to God for strength and comfort, you’ll one day introduce yourself like this: “Hi, I’m a fully recovered emotional eater. Come, taste, and see that the Lord is good – because He is so much more satisfying than food!”