I’m so excited to welcome Brandice from Grace Filled Plate as my guest today! I connected with Brandice online after discovering we share similar health certifications. I absolutely love her holistic approach to wellness and love-love-LOVE the message she’s sharing here today. Keep reading and be blessed…
How do you decide what to eat? Do you follow what the latest diet trend says or try to eat what is “healthy”? Maybe you just grab what sounds tasty at the time. While choosing what to eat can sound pretty insignificant, our food choices do matter. They matter to our health and they matter to God.
FAITH + FOOD
Scripture makes it clear that God cares about how and what we eat. In the Old Testament, Jewish law forbade the consumption of certain foods for the health of God’s people. In Solomon’s book of wisdom, Proverbs, we see several references encouraging God’s children to avoid overeating and to steer clear of a gluttonous attitude toward food. The New Testament teaches us how all foods are considered “clean” but that God’s Word itself is now the “Bread of Life.”
Why does God want to be so involved in what we eat? After all, He could have easily created us without the need to enjoy His tasty creations. One consideration is that He has chosen to use our hunger to demonstrate our need for dependence on Him, as He provides for our every need.
On average we eat three times a day. This is three times each day that we receive and thank God for His provision. It’s not just about sustenance. It’s about relationship!
THE CHANGING FOOD CLIMATE
Today we live in an age where our food choices are more robust and complicated than ever. While most of you reading this post have no fear about where your next meal will come from, there are new challenges that we face.
No longer do we need to choose between simply wheat or barley — now we browse an entire cereal aisle! What started out as trusting God for provision now has become trusting God for direction as many of our modern processed foods are not good for our health.
So, how do we balance honoring God with our eating while living in a modern world that is not only obsessed with decadent dishes but also with diets? We can cut through the noise by creating a partnership with God. After all, as we discussed, our Heavenly Father wants to be involved in our daily lives and even in our food decisions.
By seeking His direction we find the wisdom we need to balance our health with occasional indulgences. We can find the place where healthy eating is as important as it needs to be without becoming an obsession.
IN DAILY LIFE
Now, I bet you are just chomping at the bit to find out how to create this incredible partnership! The place where we can ditch diets and find our own thriving lifestyle.
This sweet-spot is found in constant communication with God. Rather than consulting the “latest and greatest” diet book, we pray. Instead of surveying all of our girlfriends about how they try to lose weight, we rely on the guidance of the Spirit within us.
After all, if we are completely honest, we know what the best way to eat is! When God guides, He also provides the strength to comply.
EMBRACING IMPERFECTION
One very important thing to note is that our God is a God of grace. The same Scriptures that urge us to seek holiness also tell us that we will never be holy on our own. You will “fail” at this whole healthy eating thing from time to time. It’s ok. God does not expect perfection; He only asks that we try and that in the midst of our try, we seek Him!
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
I hope today’s discussion has allowed you to see that there’s more to how you eat than simply what’s on your plate. God not only cares about our food choices, but He is completely behind us!
He is there to guide our decisions and to strengthen us to do what He prompts us to do. As with all areas in a believer’s life, we are not left helpless! We have a great King who is with us each and every step of the way!
Brandice is a nutrition coach and blogger at Grace Filled Plate. She teaches women how to ditch diets and restriction and find peace with food through God’s grace. Grace that then overflows into a healthy lifestyle.
Visit her at one of the following links:
