I am about to share something that I don’t think I’ve ever shared outside of my weight loss program.
It’s about the connection I see in the Bible regarding the similarities between sexual sin and the lusts of the flesh that lead us to overeat. You see, in my observation, I see (and I believe most others would also see this) AN ABSOLUTE connection between people with drug addictions and people with food addictions. And that’s typically something MOST people willingly agree upon. And in this similarity, we’re all able to see how drugs, and then, even food, are a sin against the body. It harms the body and it, in both cases, leads to death. So, we’re able to EASILY see that sin against our bodies leads to death. But now I’m going to share how I see the connection to sexual temptation and sin and food temptation and sin. Just like a food and a drug light up our desire for the food or drug because of an impulse or addiction to the addictive properties of the ‘drug’ or food, the same is true with food and sex. Food and sex are both a lust of the flesh that begins with a suggestion which lends to an impulse which leads to a sin against our body.
Now trust me, this isn’t a fun topic. It’s not pretty and it certainly isn’t kid friendly. But I see the connection, and I’ve personally been made free by recognizing the power in the connection.
Using what I know and see in this connection, I’m able to see that if I can say no in my mind to the idea of another man, or the ideas that might be presented to me through a television commercial about how a man should look and what that means even to a married woman; I can have the same authority over my thoughts when a tempting food is suggested to my mind.
Both suggestions, sexual and food are lusts of the flesh, and both our sins against the body. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says that “God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.” So the question becomes, “How can you become holy in an unholy world and stop the cycle of cheating on your diet?” It’s easy to see HOW to do this when the topic is sexual sin. We can easily TURN THAT OFF, ignore that, walk away from it or even avoid it all together.
But how do you apply this to yourself with weight loss? And how does ‘what you eat’ even matter here? I mean let’s face it; we’re JUST talking about eating wrong foods. We’re not talking about adultery. True. But we are talking about sin. And God cannot be around sin. God is Holy. He made US to be holy and Jesus came to REMOVE our sin so that we can again be made Holy TO BE in God’s presence. Not just in heaven. But now. Do you really think that God excuses our sin if it’s just a McDonald’s cheeseburger? I think He sees sin as sin and the ways that it weakens us and keeps us stuck being mastered by the things of this world. And usually, if we practice sinning in one area; we begin to build a sin tolerance where we let it in, in other areas. We do, after all get good at whatever we practice. For me…I was a sin practitioner and I didn’t even know it. My desire to be thin was SO great that God wasn’t even on my radar with weight loss. Then… my desire to be thin nearly edged him out completely. I was consumed by flavor, taste, satiety and that led me to alcohol. Because whatever I consumed made ME FEEL good and or better, immediately. Until I needed more, and I found myself taking 2 anti-depressants daily. Which led to bigger fat pants. Can you see how I was practicing sin? A sin I couldn’t really even see at the time but that led to me getting so good at it until I was deeper in to it and struggling to find my way out. Until God. Until God woke me up, told me what sin was, showed me where it lived in my life and shined a light on his intention for my life. His intention is to make me HOLY. I now know that holiness is not a state of being that I can manufacture with hard work, good deeds, while walking in a constant fear of failure. No. Holiness cannot live in that world just like weight loss can’t live there. We’ve all tried to make weight loss happen by following a diet, but our sin nature, our lusts of the flesh, our cravings, get in the way. The same can be true for somebody with a struggle with sexual desire. I have to be honest with you, I feel so wrong even talking about this subject; just makes me feel icky…but I’m not a slave to my feelings. God wants this message out there. I feel like it needs to be said. So if God’s will is to make us holy, that CAN only happen in the process of living the Christian life. It starts by accepting what sin is according to James 4:17. And seeing how sin in one area affects our lives in all areas and keeps us from being holy. Let’s look back on the last time you cheated on your meal plan. You can look back and see the negative effects it had on your weight-loss journey. How it may have even led to the death of you SUCCESSFULLY losing weight. After all, the wages of sin is death. Yet if you were to imagine the same scenario where are you saw the temptation that led you to cheat on your meal plan, as sin, and you opted not to give in to it, you could see how it would’ve had positive effects. And could have caused you to stop the cycle of sin. And in that 2nd scenario, you can imagine the path to freedom that would’ve unfolded had you just stopped and saw the Cheating, the temptation as sin. 1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 tells us that when you seek Gods will, to be made holy, and you avoid even sexual sin. And when you do this, then you will control your body and live in holiness and in honor; not in lustful passion. Sexual desire and a desire for certain foods both elicit a hormonal response that makes it hard to control your actions. The only way to stop the power of a hormonal response is to stop sending energy to it. The energy that you send to it is from your thoughts. Your thoughts about the temptation; whatever it might be. Thoughts alone are not sin, obviously, but your body is one system. So, when you find yourself even entertaining the food thoughts, take them captive then! You’ll never stop the cycle if you don’t stop them at the thought. You’re going to be around temptation everywhere, you can’t control the circumstances of your life. Situations where you can smell the deep-fried food in this world, the commercials you see on TV or in movies, or all of the options listed on a menu at a restaurant. You can’t control your circumstances, but you do have control the minute the thought, or even the suggestion enters your mind. Because your thoughts lead to a feeling which HAS THE ABILITY to trigger a hormonal response, THAT, if left unchecked, can lead you to sin which could spiral you out of control. And it makes your reactions hard to control because of the hormonal response. And this CAN lead to the action of a sinful Indulgence. Do you see how this is a cousin to a sexual sin? 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 says God’s will is for you to be holy. To stay away from sin. And that THEN you will have control over your body and live in holiness and honor. It starts with realizing that your cravings are a lustful desire to eat something you shouldn’t eat at this point in time, which qualifies it as a sin to you, per James 4:17. If you truly want to learn how to take your thoughts captive, to make them obedient to God‘s word, and to step into being the master over your flesh, then you need to see that your control resides in your mind; with your thoughts. The minute the tempting thought enters your mind, that is when you have authority over it. Your ACTIVE control needs to happen when you see the sin walk into the room in the form of temptation. As soon as temptation enters your thought, see the sin in it and change direction. Pray. Speak the word to it or leave the situation. Then, you will find yourself living to be made holy, even in weight loss.
If you're a YouTuber, you can watch the incredibly awkward VIDEO version of this episode via my Youtube channel or via this link.
Prepare yourself, b/c I'm not some fancy YouTube. I just wasn't born with that ability. In my heart I am a writer...I write. Blogging fits my life so nicely. LOL. But, for some reason I video'd this version.
If you're more of a Podcaster-you can also listen to this episode via my podcast, "Even in Weight Loss with Sherrie Kapala"