By now, you know I’m all about encouraging you on your journey to obedience in Christ.  I tend to write feel-good inspirational posts about health and weight loss.  My goal is for you to walk away feeling encouraged and capable of living a full and free life in Christ. 

My motives remain the same.  But, the truth of what  I’m about to share might prove challenging to hear.

This week I spent time praying for God’s heart towards us, his children.  I have been praying specifically for His thoughts concerning diet, culture, and body image.   I believe God answered me.  And the weight of his reply produced a heaviness in my spirit. 

I will do my best to share his revelation with you, but I’ve attached a video capturing my initial thoughts.  I encourage you to watch the video (especially the 2^nd half).  I believe it contains more details than I’m able to articulate here. 

Here’s what I believe God wants us to know.  

Truth #1  God Is Sovereign!

Let’s tackle this one head-on.  If you follow Jesus and believe in the validity of the Bible, then let’s establish that God is God.  Period! 

He is the final authority for your life and mine.  That means he has absolute say in how we live, treat others, and interact in the world.  We, as believers, are tasked with the responsibility to speak the truth, both revealed and written.   God requires that we teach scripture without mixing our opinions with the truth of His word.  His word is powerful enough to stand on its own.  God also made it clear that this is non-negotiable.  If you feel like you are off the hook because you don’t teach, keep reading. 

He conveys that we as hearers also have a responsibility to fact-check what we are being taught against the truth of scripture.

By now, you are probably thinking, “Wait a minute Kim!” I didn’t sign up for all this extra mumbo jumbo! I thought this blog was about weight loss and finding food freedom.”

This blog is about weight loss and food freedom.  To have both, you need the following foundational truths. Let’s lay some foundation together!

Recently, the Father drew my attention to just how often we are inundated with other people’s opinions.  Professionals pronounce judgments and diagnoses over us constantly.  Friends and family members make sweeping statements about who we are and what we can and can’t do.  We are ingesting a steady stream of information without ever stopping to ask God if any of it true for us. 

I’m not implying you should never take sage advice grounded in truth.  But make sure your heart is seeking God’s input above all.  People have the power to speak good and evil over us.  People also have limited knowledge of what God wants to do in the lives of his children.   So bring what is being spoken over you to the throne of grace and let God have the final say.  Disease and sickness are a part of life, but that doesn’t negate God’s sovereignty over them.  Your career, relationships, eating and spending habits, and so much more should all be subject to God’s authority.  I wonder how many of us are walking around broken and discouraged by issues that we never asked God about.   

David recognized God’s sovereignty.   Listen to how he starts this Psalm, 

Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

It doesn’t matter whether a parent or Ph.D. says your opportunities are limited.  God has the final say! God wants us to remember he is Lord over EVERYTHING. 

Truth #2  Stop Dressing Sin Up

Do you remember in Matthew 16, when Jesus shares the kind of death he would die, and Peter scolded him? 

²¹ From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Peter thought his words were noble and good.  He was defending the Lord, after all.  The truth is,  what God thinks and how a man thinks are worlds apart (Isaiah 55:9).

Recently I was listening to one of my favorite faith-filled YouTubers.  They were talking about being body positive and embracing extra weight because big is beautiful after all.  They went on to say how it didn’t bother them to be classified as morbidly obese. They still had healthy romantic relationships, and food is too good to limit your life to dieting.

I had to hit pause after that comment!  Since when do we call gluttony beautiful?  Really?

I’m all for being grateful for the skin we are in. But, interchanging the terms Obesity and Body Positivity” is dangerous and wrong.  Body positivity is not abusing ourselves with food, omitting self-control then demanding the world call it beautiful. Let’s call it what God calls it, sin! Genuine body positivity acknowledges God as the creator and ruler of our flesh and being a  good steward over how we treat our bodies.

The Word of God takes a strong stance against the practice of gluttony.  Just in case you’ve never searched the term glutton,  I share my search results below. 

Proverbs 23:2

and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.

Proverbs 23:21

for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Proverbs 28:7

A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his Father.

Matthew 11:19

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

 Luke 7:34

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

Titus 1:12

One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”

Soapbox

I recognize this is a soapbox moment for me. It’s so hard to stand by and watch the world sell us sin wrapped with a bow.  This kind of thinking is not only toxic; it’s stealing the lives of people who need true healing.  Food addiction is a destroyer of lives.  No amount of politically correct terminology can change that. 

 But God can heal and set the captives free as long as we recognize we are trapped in sin and need a savior. 

2 Corinthians 7:10

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

My prayer is that your relationship with God would grow deep roots, and the power of his love would set you free from every lie!

By His Grace,

Kim J.