Have You Been Deceived About Your Health?

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.

-1 Peter 5:8-9a

     Satan wants to deceive you about your battle with your health.  John 8:44 says that Satan is the father of lies.  He will lie to you about your body, about your diet, and about your health.  He is the master illusionist that causes us to think something is real when it is not.  The scale may say one thing, but we may believe we are bigger or smaller than we really are.  Satan delights in killing our body image so that we get stuck in a cycle of self-hate, self-loathing, and self-defeat.   Satan specializes in illusions that produce false or misleading impressions of reality.  

     Satan can cunningly make you think and believe you aren't really who God says that you are.  God says you are loved lavishly (1 John 3:1), that you are a child of God (Galatians 3:26), and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14).  Satan will try to convince you that you are ugly, fat, worthless, and shameful.  If you let your guard down, Satan will steal your grip on reality, kill your healthy self-image, and destroy your hope that you can change and make progress with your health.  His goal is that you would feel so hopeless and defeated that you would simply give up and eat however you want to eat without restraint.  He wants you to feel that you are stuck so deeply in a pit of despair that you will never get out.  On the other hand, God wants you to have life and life to the fullest!  Choose today that you will not stay in that pit!  Choose to put on the armor of God every day, and don't give in to spiritual apathy or defeat.

       If we become lax spiritually, the enemy will try to convince us that our bad habit of overeating is no big deal when in reality, it is whittling away at your very soul and possibly shortening your life expectancy.  He might even convince you that overeating isn't a sin at all since it doesn't hurt other people, but you won't find any Scripture to back that mindset.  Satan delights to deceive us into thinking that sins like sexual immorality or murder are really bad, but that it's not that big of a deal to give in to gluttony (overeating), idolatry (loving food more than we love God), or a lack of self-control or self-discipline in regards to health and eating.  This is why we need to take every thought captive and hold it up to the Word of God to discern whether it is from God and in alignment with His Word.

    Don’t underestimate the enemy’s ability to disguise himself and deceive you about the danger of overeating and putting food first before God.  Do not lean on your own understanding: do not trust yourself.  Don't believe Satan’s lies about you: instead, trust in God.  Walk in a manner worthy of your calling as you depend on God’s strength.  Ephesians 5:13 says, “But everything exposed by the light becomes visible.” Scriptural truth is your best way of defending yourself against the lies of the enemy about food addiction.  When you look at what God’s Word says about your health, you will learn to tell the difference between right and almost right.  Bind yourself in the Word of God by being determined to study and apply it to your life.  John 8:32 says that the truth will set you free!  Let's make the decision to take everything (such as stray thoughts or dieting decisions) before the truth of God’s Word before choosing to accept it as God’s truth.  For example, when you are tempted to binge eat cookies and ice cream like eating is a hobby, you hear God whisper that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), that we should walk in self-discipline in the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and that we should honor God with even the choices we make about what we eat and drink (1 Corinthians 10:31).     

     God has gone before you and planned good works for you to do, so be willing to ask God what He has prepared for you so that you can walk in it.  Truth is God’s opinion on any matter, and we need to learn His voice so that we are in touch with His will.  God’s Word is your compass that guides you on the right path for your health.  Remain in constant contact with the control tower if you want to ensure a safe landing by pledging your allegiance to God’s truth and praying for a holy courage to fight this weight loss battle in God’s strength, not by your own self-determination.