Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how the Lord God has positively influenced my overeating, this doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse. Debbie

COE Support Note:

If you REALLY want to read how Christ helped me throughout this weight loss and even when I was tempted, you should read some of the 100's of previous posts on https://christianovereaterssupport.blogspot.com/

I Let the Kettle Corn Get Me Off Track

 This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. John 15: 12

Well, this post isn't so much about loving others as Christ has loved me, it's about loving myself as Christ has loved me. If I'm being totally honest with you, I was going put The Kettle Corn Got Me Off Track for the title of this post.

Then, Christ, who redirects me when I start to get led astray by things like Kettle Corn that dangle in front of me, gave me a reality check. The thought that was in my mind right after I had typed that title, which is often how God works in my life, was: "Did the Kettle Corn get me off track or did I get me off track?" So when God's giving you a nudge to totally honesty, you shouldn't resist, so I changed the post title to what is true. I Let the Kettle Corn Get Me Off Track.

Now, Kettle Corn isn't something that is a comfort food from my childhood. Actually, I hadn't eaten it until about nine years ago when it was offered to me. In the past, I had declined Kettle Corn when it was offered to me, because I know sugar isn't good for me, because I'm Hypoglycemic and it affects my blood sugar and moods. That time, I figured that just a taste wouldn't hurt. Now, I really like the stuff, but try not to buy it often. (It sounds like I'm talking about drugs, doesn't it? Sugar affects me like a drug, because I get cranky and it affects my decisions and behavior when my blood sugar drops after the affects of the sugar are wearing off.)

What led to this latest episode with Kettle Corn. I saw a big on sale in a discount store and decided to buy it, because it's a different brand than I had tried before. Most of the brands don't taste the same as Kettle Corn, so I felt it was my Junior Detective duty to try this one out to see how it rated.

It was pretty good, some of the best commercially packaged Kettle Corn I've eaten. I was surprised to find out that it didn't have much fat or sugar, but I ended up eating 2/3 of the bag. That's dipping into behaviors I used to have when I was a compulsive overeater for so many years, until Christ healed me of that.

Fortunately for me, Christ doesn't give up on me easily and brought me back to my senses. He points me in the right direction, with new resolve to not buy the additional bags of Kettle Corn I had contemplated buying for guests-sure it would be for guests! I need to remember to love myself like Christ loved me!  This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. John 15: 12

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

It Was Only a Joke

This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. John 15: 12 

I was in a situation where someone who was overweight broke something by accident. It was the second time in a month or so that this is happened. The person in charge made a negative comment to her, but she said it in a joking manner.

After that situation, I remembered how I felt when I was 80+ pounds overweight. I remember how every negative thing people said to me, whether joking or not, hurt to my very soul. I remember letting those negative comments tell me who I was and then I would eat and eat, punishing myself for not being perfect. 

I wanted to reach out to the person who the comment was directed to, but was afraid that if I did so, it would draw even more attention to her. I don't know if she felt badly about the situation. She may have a better sense of self and not have taken the comment personally, but it triggered lots of feelings from my past, especially when I was a chubby child growing up. 

When these things happened in my past, I hated myself and I hated the person who made the comments to me. This Bible verse tells me that I'm supposed to love others as Jesus loves me. Jesus forgives me when I say mean, rude or hateful things, so I need to let go of the past and forgive those who said rude things to me. I pray that the person involved earlier has the Peace Which Passes All Understanding that only Christ can give and doesn't let negative comments, including those said in jest, tell her who she is, because she is truly a child of God.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Jesus Makes Us All Feel Like We're His Favorite

Now thee was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. John 14:23

I remember reading an email a couple of different times when it got passed around on the internet. It was about a person who was talking with her siblings after their mother died and each of them had thought they were their mother's favorite. At the time, I thought it was wonderful this mother had been able to let each of her children feel so special that they thought they were her favorite!

Well, this passage written by the Apostle John is much more significant than that. A few months ago, I started thinking about this and realized that Jesus went to great lengths to treat each of His disciples as if they were His favorite! Jesus loved Peter very much, as well."And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:16-18

Even though Jesus, being God's Son, knew ahead of time that Judas would betray Him, Jesus treated him with respect. I've eaten over friendships that have gone awry, and vowed not to have any more to do with them. If I had known my friend was going to betray me like Jesus did, I might not have been as kind as Jesus was.

So, what's this tell us? For one, as Christians, we are supposed to try our best to be examples of how Jesus works in our lives. So, what's that mean to me? Well, instead of eating over friendships that go awry, I need to be prayerful and make sure that my interactions with these people are respectful and not at all demeaning. I shouldn't talk behind their backs, sharing with others the despicable things they have said or done. I should realize that I am truly blessed to have a Savior who makes me feel so loved that I feel like I'm His favorite! In return, I have to realize that the person I'm mad at is also a child of God, as well, and I should treat them as such!

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Why Me?-

Romans 9: 15 For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

I was a nice person, but my first marriage was not a good one. Why me??? I kept thinking that I must have done something to cause the problems in this relationship, being all too eager to take on all the responsibility. Why me??? I would lie in bed at night praying for God to resolve this, to make our marriage better...but He didn't. Why me???

I tried harder and harder to make things work, to the point of loss of self-respect. Surely, there's something that I could do to make this work out... but there wasn't. Why me??? It was during these times that I turned to food for comfort. I was beside myself, trying to delude myself into thinking everything would eventually be O.K... but it wasn't. Why me???

Surely, God wanted this marriage to work. This is sometimes a tough one to handle, when you think you are doing God's will... but find out you're not. Why me??? So many banana splits by the way-side, so many extra pounds that did not heal my aching soul. Why me??? Then, I actually gave up and gave everything, the worry, the food, the control, the marriage over to God. Things seemed to work for a while... but then they didn't. Why me???

All I know is that I was blessed. God got me through the self-loathing, where I felt like there must be something wrong with me, because I couldn't make my marriage work... because I couldn't. I was blessed, because God got me through when I felt ashamed of having to get a divorce, because I couldn't fix the marriage. I was blessed, because God got me through my poor self-esteem and had me lose the 80+ pounds despite it.

I was blessed as God got me through those overwhelming things in my life, yet I was calling out to God asking, "Why me???" "Why are these things happening to me? Don't you love me, God? I'm a good person." One day, God showed me that He was there taking care of me throughout all of those situations, getting me through the unbearable pain that led me to turn to food. He still loved me when I let food be my comforter instead of Him. God loved me when I asked where He was, despite the fact that He was there blessing me as He got me through all of this.

Why me??? Because I am a child of God, and He will comfort me and bless me by taking care of me throughout all the the unfortunate situations in life. I am truly blessedRomans 9: 15 For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.


Do I Let Anger Get the Best of Me?

1 Thessalonians 5: 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 

Do I let anger get the best of me? I wish I could tell you no, but it was just two days ago that I did let it get the best of me, so I can't pretend I have amnesia. I told my husband that I really wanted to watch this video mini series on the weekend. In the midst of it, he wanted to watch another show that he likes. I stopped and watched it.

Then, he wanted to watch another show that he likes and I told him no. Then, I felt guilty about it and turned his show on instead. Then, he didn't want to watch my show any more that day. I was frustrated, because if we hadn't stopped so many times to watch his shows, I might have been able to watch a decent amount of the mini series I had requested to watch.

I said said I was frustrated that day, but a week later, I usually don't get angry, but I let him have it with both barrels. Well, you might think it's called for, because he wasn't being sensitive to my request to watch a show. The thing is, when Christ had me look at my reaction in hindsight, I blew up with my husband over a show on TV. How can that really be worth it? I spent hours apologizing for being disproportionately angry over his wanting to do what he wants instead of what I requested. I would have eaten over it, if I had snack food, but fortunately, I didn't have any available at the time. 

After prayerful consideration, I realized that if this is the worst thing that I have to contend with in my marriage, I am a very blessed woman! 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

I Owe Both You and Christ an Apology

Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

I owe both you and Christ an Apology. You might wonder why. Well, for months and months, I've been putting off writing on the the Christian Overeaters Past and Present Blog. Instead, I've been working on some other blogs I felt led to create. I know that may seem like I was doing God's work, so why do I need to apologize for that? 

Well, the things is, He may have wanted me to do both things. I felt many, many times that Christ was leading me to share particular insights He gave me after a times where I had slipped and He refocused me. Every time, I came up with one reason or another for not doing so. I'm ashamed to say that I did that. If Christ thought a situation was significant enough to share with you, I should have done it instead of rationalizing my inactivity, or activity in a different direction. 

Now, that I'm aware of what I've been doing, which was saying No to Christ, I can't remember all the situations I was supposed to share. I can't remember all the insights He gave me. I can't remember why I was so stubborn to start with and why I thought I knew better than Christ did. During this time, I gained some stubborn pounds back that are not coming off easily. That's Christ's way of getting my attention and letting me know that when I'm being sloppy with my food program, I'm quite probably being sloppy with my relationship with Christ and I'm so sorry, not just because of the weight gain! I'm also sorry that my sloppiness with these has kept me from sharing what Christ wanted you to know. I hope you forgive me!

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

I Felt Like a Lost Sheep

John 10: 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.

For years when I was overweight, I felt like a Lost Sheep wandering from one diet to another, hoping that one would call my name and my life would be wonderful! Well, I tried that for lots of years, but these diets never made much of a change for long. For one thing, my life being wonderful didn't have much to do with whether I was on a diet, but I didn't know that at the time.

Although I loved Christ throughout the time I was overweight, I wasn't listening to His voice when He called me. I kept thinking that I can lose this weight. I can have the will power to make a change. I was thinking that I can take care of my growing vice, if I only tried hard enough. I had tried years and years of different diets and even acupuncture, but I never kept any of the weight off for long. It would all come back and then some, quicker than I had anticipated. That only told me that I can do it if I only work harder.

It wasn't until I had been on my "Good Diet" for awhile and only cheated a little and found that I had gained weight, that I gave up. Yep! I said gave up and that made all the difference. I sat on my bed, not really expecting anything, and said, "God, I give up and if You ever want me to be thin, You'll have to take care of it, because I can't do it." 

Do you know it was that very same day that the desire for great amounts of food, treats, etc. no longer called my name. It wasn't the day before or the day after. It started from that very same day. I no longer craved these things and it didn't have to do with a specific diet. God allowed me to lose 80 pounds and has allowed me to keep the vast majority of the weight off for over 30+ years. 

Did I do any of it? No! I tried to figure out how it happened that God allowed this blessing when I prayed for Him to help me lose weight all those years. Well, that was the answer. I was asking God to help me lose it. I wasn't turning it over to His very capable hands and was wandering about like a Lost Sheep. When I said the prayer above when everything started to change, I was giving up, plain and simple. It was the first time I wasn't trying to be in control of my food, my body, and my eating. It was the first time that I was turning the control over to Christ and hearing His voice instead of mine, which has been a blessing much more than any weight loss. When I slip, which happens from time to time, Christ shows me when I'm prayerful about it, that I've been turning to food again in times of stress, etc. Then, when I apologize and ask His guidance, He refocuses me and I try to let Him be in control. 

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Christ Allowed Me to Learn That Food had Become a False god as I turned to it when I was Stressed

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Well, this verse is significant to me, but I'm not sure that I qualify what I do with this particular verse. I don't preach to the poor, at least, not specifically. I'm not sure that I really preach at all. All I know is that I feel like Christ has led me to create this blog and other blogs, to help others see that Christ loves them fat, vices, and all. If Christ loves us, then He wants us to love ourselves, something that I found I had a difficult time with when I was overweight.

I don't think it was necessarily because I was overweight, but I used that to mentally beat myself up, thinking I was deserving of being ignored, accepting poor behavior and lack of respect from others. It was Christ who showed me that He loved me and helped me start loving myself. It didn't all happen overnight, because He had some lessons for me to learn on the way.

Christ allowed me learn that food had become a false god in my life and that I turned to food instead of turning to Him when I was stressed, hurt, or afraid. Once He showed me what I was doing, my attitude toward myself, my eating, my vices and my relationship with Him started changing. Christ was setting my bruised self-concept at liberty. I feel that He has used my shortcomings to share this with others, as well, because He wants all those who are bruised to be set at liberty through an on-going relationship with their Savior. Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

I Want the Sign In Bonus!

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:21 

Every morning, I start by saying my prayers. I pray for God to continue to heal my food, my body, and my eating as He has done for over 30+ years. In addition to that, this morning, I was praying for all my family, friends, and people throughout the world. During this, I asked for their Salvation, but thought Jesus already provided us with Salvation, free of charge. All we have to do is love Him as our Lord and Savior. No strings attached. Then, we get the Sign In Bonus of eternal life in heaven with Him.

Jesus led such a humble life on earth, even though He's God's Son, in order to give His life to redeem us from the consequence of our sins. I'm not sure that if I knew I was going to be betrayed, persecuted, spit upon [that's a deal breaker unto itself], and crucified, I would have been willing to do all of that, especially for people who don't always appreciate all He did for us. Fortunately for us, Jesus is gracious and loves us in spite of our many flaws.

Isn't interesting that Jesus made it so easy for us to have eternal life, but He had to give up so much to do it? He doesn't ask for us to give Him lots of money, our first-born child, a Lamborghini, or anything worldly. He just wants our love and sincere dedication to try to live as examples of our faith in Him. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:21 

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

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