5 Steps to Freedom From Your Food Addiction
Delectable foods tantalize our appetites everywhere we turn. Indulging in high-sugar foods leads to craving more until a person becomes addicted. If you are addicted, you can’t rely on self-control. You need to understand the spiritual aspects of consuming foods in a manner you do not desire. This article focuses on how to gain freedom from food addiction.
Recognizing an Addiction
How can you tell when you have an addiction? You can recognize it when you have an overpowering desire that you surrender to over and over again. Paul struggled with a similar issue as indicated in Romans 7:15: “For what I am doing, I do not understand, for I do not practice what I will to do, but I do the very thing I hate.”
Can you relate to Paul? Do you indulge in inappropriate eating habits that you know needs to change? If yes, do you think it is a stronghold, emotional issue with food, spiritual bondage or lack of understanding about which foods negatively impact your health? We will explore all of these issues in this series of healthy living articles, but this article (the third in our series) will address the spiritual aspect of an addiction.
If you think your food addiction has a spiritual connection because you feel helpless to control the way you eat, the following five-step plan may free you.
5-Step Plan for Freedom From Food Addiction
- Name what controls you.
Name the thing controlling you—food addiction, eating disorder or food stronghold, and declare (out loud) Jesus Christ is your Lord in its place!
Stand up to the issue that brings bondage into your life by saying, “__________ (insert your addiction), you won’t lord over me nor entice me anymore. Jesus is my Lord!” A person obtains spiritual power and authority through Christ. Declare that the spiritual powers of darkness will not have lordship over your life. They will not rule you, govern your behavior, capture your thought life, nor lead you into temptation and sin because “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Get ready, for you are capable of evicting the addiction from your life. If you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit lives within you, and the Spirit is stronger than Satan. Day after day, declare out loud that Jesus reigns as the Lord of your life—not the food addiction.
- Submit yourself entirely to God.
There is a secret to resisting the devil—you must first submit yourself to God. “Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). If you binge, ask God to forgive you and help you not to overeat again. Don’t fret over a stumble. Get up and try again using this five-step plan.
- Use the name of Jesus.
In the book of Acts, the apostles healed and worked miracles in the name of Jesus. Use Jesus’s name as Peter did in Acts 3:6: “Then Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Using the name of Jesus is key because then you operate under His authority. Declare Jesus is Lord over your life, not the food addiction, and use Jesus’ name. Say to your addiction, “In the name of Jesus, you won’t oppress me anymore. I bind your power in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
- Use the Word of God.
Search the Bible for a verse that is the opposite of your addiction. Write the verse you choose on an index card and memorize it. Every time you are tempted, state the specific Scripture out loud.
- Praise God and practice gratitude.
When you praise God and thank him for his blessings, any form of spiritual darkness will flee.
Put the right things in your spirit. Listen to praise music; read the Bible and pray; memorize Scripture; attend church, Sunday school or a Bible study. Also, start doing more to help others. Performing acts of service fills your heart with honorable feelings.
Every day, write down three things that you are grateful for. When you embrace a mind-set of gratitude, dopamine releases in your brain. Dopamine, the feel-good neurohormone, releases when you eat sugar and wheat. Instead of getting the positive feeling from poor eating, get it from journaling gratefulness. Beat your addiction by declaring Bible verses. Stomp it into the ground by singing praises to God.
In the last article, we addressed how a person becomes addicted to food. Today we explored how to gain freedom from food addiction. In the next article, we will discuss a physical component of craving sugar and carbs—candida. {eoa}
Susan Neal, RN, MBA, MHS is a certified health and wellness coach with the American Association of Christian Counselors. She has published three books, including the Selah award winner, 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates. Susan blogs and provides healthy menus, recipes and corresponding grocery lists at HealthyLivingSeriesBlog.com. You can find her books on Amazon or at her website, ChristianYoga.com.
