N.B This post was first published on this blog in September 2021. If this is an area you struggle with, I hope this post will offer you some wisdom to help.
I really do think that slowly, subtly and SURELY, we have let food creep out of the kitchen and dining table, to now permeate every area of our lives. Basically, we have normalized being FOODIES, even jokingly.
While it may seem like a joke, or ‘no big deal’, satan has jumped in on our over glorification of food and has now made us gluttons, addicts, unable to sustain a fast, and basically enthroned ‘King Stomach’ over our lives.
It is no longer funny and if you would like to take food back to where it belongs and certainly not on any throne, keep on reading.
Deut 8 v 3 TLB
Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to both you and your ancestors. He did it to help you realize that food isn’t everything, and that real life comes by obeying every command of God.
MSG
He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don’t live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from God’s mouth.
Mathew 4 v 4 NLT
But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
AMPC
But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”
I generously quoted the Old and New Covenant above because I wanted us to see LITERALLY, the words of God and Jesus right here.
I emphasize literally because this is not one of the times Jesus said things metaphorically or parables, where interpretation can be nuanced.
It is CLEAR…
We can’t LIVE by BREAD alone.
We cannot and should not be foodies, and let food dominate our whole lives.
Which is what really upsets me. How we have allowed food just creep in everywhere, even in places that are just plain ridiculous, when you start to see clearly.
In this blog, I will be sharing 5 ways to get food out of the throne and into the corner where it humbly belongs.
1. Be MINDFUL about giving food special attention.
Repeat after me: I am SPECIAL. FOOD is NOT!!!
Truth is, we all NEED food, but it doesn’t need any special attention. Be mindful of places where you have made food always feature. For example, visiting or hanging out with a friend for 2 hours.
You don’t always have to hang out over food. You can have rich, healthy conversations that don’t involve food, and it is OK. The humans are the special beings there and can do magic together without food!!!
I can visit you and we talk about many things and even forget food and it is not a big deal.
Now I am not saying be RUDE, and a bad host, but I am just saying, let us stop making food the highlight of every meeting we have. Even if food is there or has to be there, don’t over glorify it.
I am constantly amazed when I have to see a friend or so and they are fuzzing about what to give me.
Honestly, just be MINDFUL. When food tries to take over, firmly let it know that that throne is TAKEN!!!
2. Don’t ALWAYS use food as bait or reward.
Oh this happens a lot with our kids. You want them to do something and we bait or reward them with food, usually junk. I know you think it is ‘normal’ and not a big deal, but you are letting food get enthroned slowly on that kid’s heart. Reduce the importance of food and find other healthy, rich rewards too.
This also goes for adults, where for every achievement, the first thing you think of is food, and usually unhealthy food. don’t associate every kind of win and celebration with food. It is really unhealthy. Challenge yourself to find more creative ways to reward yourself and your kids. Trust me, google is your best friend, and we also have the Holy Spirit.
3. FAST. Don’t let your body system be ALWAYS ON.
And this includes every kind of fast that deprives our bodies from eating, absorbing, digesting, metabolizing and excreting food., including spiritual fast, intermittent fast, detoxing, autophagy, skipping meals here and there, and more. That’s too much hard work for your body, if you are always eating. I mean, even you as a human are not always working, COME ON, even GOD, worked 6days and took one day off to rest and also commanded us to do the same (more in principle now, because the Shabbat principle is still relevant in the New Testament)
So please, get used to hours of not eating.
I know you think you need THREE square meals and THREE snacks in between, but you don’t. Two meals a day and regular longer periods of fasting are welcome too.
Give your body system the gift of SHABBAT!!!
4. Regulate, don’t over indulge.
Yes, we have celebratory days that involve food and all. Weddings, parties. Birthdays, etx. But honestly, regulate it, both in frequency and in quantity. Meaning every weekend can’t be party and excess food.
Some weekends, sit at home, or go fasting to the party if you have to go. Or if you must eat, don’t over do it. If you always have to eat because you are celebrating with people regularly, trust me, you are passing an even more enduring message to your body that it always needs food and soon you will realize even without parties and celebration, every 10mins, you find yourself strolling to the kitchen and fridge.
5. Normalize eating healthy. Be on a HEALTHY DIET for life.
I am finally closing out on squad coaching and would only be available to coach one on one, especially people who have a diet-related health challenge and we work through healing with food and prayers by the power of Jesus (and also those really ready to invest time, energy and resources into a healthier wholesome lifestyle). Why I am especially doing that is because this way, I can give better customized attention to individuals who are ready to do this 100percent.
One thing I noticed in my squad programs, that is group coaching, is that people usually come into it with the mindset of ‘this is A DIET just for 40 or Xdays’ after which they delve back into crappy eating and gain all the weight back. One on one affords me the chance to really help you see this lifestyle change FOR LIFE.
Saints, lets normalize healthy living.
Lets normalize fruits and vegetables
Lets normalize salads and smoothies
Lets normalize drinking water
It is NOT something we do when we want to lose weight.
This is HOW we live as BELIEVERS who realize that our bodies are only loaned us and so we cannot just be treating it anyhow.
Its not for fitness coaches and those with a career related to that.
It is FOR YOU and Me.
All of us.
I hope this helps us dethrone KING STOMACH, enthrone JESUS and let food be eaten for STRENGTH and not every time for PLEASURE
Eccl 10 v 17 TLB
Woe to the land whose king is a child and whose leaders are already drunk in the morning. Happy the land whose king is a nobleman and whose leaders work hard before they feast and drink, and then only to strengthen themselves for the tasks ahead!
To your WHOLENESS, Food and all
#JesusGirlsCoachE’