There’s a word that Christians rarely use in conversation. I’ve never heard it in a sermon or song, never read it in a devo. It’s a word that makes us uncomfortable, offended. It just isn’t polite for Christians to discuss.

The word?

Fat.

Don’t worry, this isn’t a “beat you over the head for eating that donut” blog. It isn’t a plea for advice on how to lose weight, either. It’s a confession.

I am thinking about the “F” word right now because my clothes are getting uncomfortably tight. I either need to lose weight or buy clothes in the next size up (neither my budget nor my pride will allow for the latter!). 

What I DON’T need is a diet. God has convicted me time and time again that food isn’t the problem. Me eating the food is the problem. My go-to stress reliever is far too often a brownie or bowl of popcorn than it is His presence. This summer, I have dealt with the stress of a new house, a new job, and a new church with the same old habit: drowning my sorrows in empty calories.

After almost 25 years of walking with the Lord, I have learned this: My relationship with God is the single most important factor in every aspect of my life, including weight management. Finding the “right diet” doesn’t help because those just make me focus even more on food: what I can’t eat, what I should eat, what’s for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner…I am consumed with thoughts of food. That is just as sinful as overeating. My mind is not on things above, but on earthly things.

My prayer this morning was that I hunger and thirst for righteousness. That I turn to God when I am feeling lonely or stressed or sad or happy or nervous…When I am filled with His presence, food becomes what God meant for it to be: a good gift for me to enjoy. Not a god for me to worship or a demon I need to fear.

“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” Heb. 13:9 (emphasis mine)