Did you know emotional eating started with the first woman, Eve?
I consider her the world’s first emotional eater.
Many of us know that the Lord gave the first man, Adam, an instruction: You can eat of any tree in the garden, but you can’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Lord said that the day Adam ate from it, he would die (see Gen. 2:16-17).
Eve knew about this instruction too. So what was the emotion that drove her to eat?
Let’s pick up the story in Genesis 3:1-7. The turning point happened when the enemy pulled out his biggest weapon against mankind – contradicting God’s Word:
“You surely will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4b-5).
Uh-oh. Eve believed the enemy’s word above God’s Word, so this is what happened next:
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
Notice that Scripture does not say that Eve was even hungry. So why did Eve choose to eat then?
Here is a clue from James 1:13-15:
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does He tempt anyone. But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.
So it was Eve’s desire that drew her away from God and enticed her to sin through disobedience. Desire means “A strong feeling of longing to obtain something.”
At the same time, I believe that the enemy appealed to Eve’s fear of deprivation, which is also called the “fear of missing out.”
I looked at some key definitions associated with the word “deprivation” to see what that really means:
- Deprivation: The lack or denial of something considered to be a necessity.
- Necessity: The fact of being required or indispensable.
- Indispensable: Something so good you could not manage nor exist without it.
Eve longed for the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because she had convinced herself that it was something that she could not manage nor exist without.
Now was that true? Of course not. However, since Eve wanted wisdom, she could have obtained it from the source: God. Our Father’s plans for us are always good.
But Eve decided to meet her needs apart from her heavenly Father.
The next time you are driven to eat emotionally, give yourself a truth check.
1. Ask yourself, “Do I believe that I can’t manage or exist at this moment without eating this particular food right now?”
2. If you answer yes, then put that thought to the truth test: “Is that true?” If it were true, you would stop breathing and die if you did not eat it.
3. To prove this truth to yourself, I suggest you have a heart-conversation with your heavenly Father for a minimum of 10 minutes instead of eating the food. Set the timer and see what happens.
4. After the 10 minutes, check yourself again: Are you still breathing?
You are, aren’t you? Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step in changing your brain through confronting the enemy’s lies in your life.
The more you practice living according to God’s truth, the more you will overcome emotional eating and obtain the great plans your Father has for you. {eoa}
Once 240 pounds and a size 22, Kimberly Taylor can testify of God’s healing power to end binge eating. She is an author and the creator of the Christian weight-loss website takebackyourtemple.com. Visit today for inspirational health and weight-loss tips.
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