Break Free From Overeating: Your Plan for a Healthy Relationship With FoodSample

Welcome to the first step on your journey toward a healthier relationship with food! During this 5-day plan, you will begin to recognize the root causes of your overeating and learn how to gain control with God's help. On the final day, I'll share some practical tips you can apply to break free from overeating.

Food is a gift from God, and it is good: it fuels us, brings us together in community, and is here for us to enjoy. However, food is not intended to be something we should overindulge in, make an idol, or turn to for the satisfaction only God can offer.

God loves you so much and He knows that no amount of food will ever satisfy what your heart longs for. God calls gluttony (excess in eating) a sin. Part of the challenge with turning away from this sin is that our society has normalized overeating. Overeating has become what some call a "respectable sin" but it is a sin nonetheless. It is important to recognize society's harmful message about food and to turn to God if we want to be set free.

Freedom begins by understanding the root cause of your overeating. One of the most common reasons people overeat is due to emotional hunger. Signs of falling into this pattern include eating when you’re stressed, lonely, seeking comfort, looking to be rewarded, or wanting to forget a past trauma. It's okay to feel these things, but you have to realize that emotional hunger can’t be satisfied with food. It can only be fulfilled with God.

Many overeaters struggle because they’ve made food an idol. Pastor Tim Keller defined an idol as “anything you rest your heart in more than God or love more than God. Idols are not necessarily bad things, but they are things you look to for what only God can give you.” Has food become your idol?

Make sure to watch the videos included for each day to learn additional insight. Today’s video includes a deeper understanding of what commonly leads to overeating and what emotions or situations may trigger for us. Awareness is the first step toward change.