God Designed Me to be Fat [SHAPED BY FAITH]

As I am taking this journey from love of food to love of God, I am finding it very helpful to physically write out the lies that I have been telling myself all my life and replace them with the truth of scripture and prayerful revelation.  The very first of many lies that I had to address was “God designed me to be fat.”

Because I have always been a little overweight, even as a child and in my teenage years, and because I have always been a failure at diet and exercise plans, at some point I decided that my heaviness was God’s plan for me.  This was my most convenient excuse, but deep down I knew that it was a lie.  God designed my button nose and the shade of my eyes and my hitchhiker’s thumb, but my weight is the result of the amount of food that I choose to eat.  Period.

"When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." James 1:13-15

For so many years I habitually fell to the temptation to comfort myself, entertain myself, and pamper myself with food rather than with God.  Without a change, eventually this reliance on food to fill my heart will lead to my early death from heart disease or diabetes or cancer or a myriad of other illnesses that list obesity as a risk factor.  The truth is: God did not design me to be fat.  He designed me to enjoy small amounts of food so I can be healthy and energetic to serve His kingdom!  I know this to be true because I can see in my own experience that when I am patient to forgo food until I am truly hungry and then eat enough to graciously satisfy the hunger, I lose weight.  Praise God!