It’s amazing that everyone in our culture has not fallen into the food addiction trap. Entitlement leads to indulging, which leads to addiction. It is a slippery slope once you take your first bite of that addictive food. Down the slope you fall as you consume the whole package—which you did not intend to do. If you are addicted, you can’t rely on moderation. You need to understand the spiritual aspects of consuming foods in a manner you do not want to. This article focuses on how to gain freedom from an addiction.
The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. (NLT).
How can you tell when you have an addiction? You can recognize it when you have an overpowering desire that you succumb to over and over again. Even when you don’t want to, you can’t help it—it’s like a battle raging inside you. Paul struggled with a similar issue as indicated in Romans 7:14-15, “The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” (NLT)
Can you relate to Paul? Do you partake in poor eating habits that you know needs to change? If yes, do you think it is a food addiction, emotional issue with food, spiritual bondage, candida infection, or lack of understanding about which foods negatively impacts 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 will free you.
Five-Step Freedom from Addiction Plan
1. Name what controls you.
Declare (out loud) Jesus Christ is your Lord in its place!
Name the thing controlling you—food addiction, anxiety, eating disorder, depression, fear, etc.—whatever it may be, and declare (out loud) Jesus Christ is your Lord in its place!
For me, it was the desire to drink alcohol. I liked the way it made me feel. I identified that this desire was generational bondage handed down from my grandfather to my father and from him to me. I wanted it to stop. I did not want to hand this down to my children. I recognized alcohol became a stronghold in my life because I turned to a drink to handle my stress rather than turning to God. I used the steps in this plan to gain freedom from this addiction.
Stand up to the thing 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 “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 NIV).
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 your addiction.
What food problems have you had since childhood? My sister was hooked on candy and sugary foods since childhood. For me, it was the generational bondage of alcoholism. Take some time with God, and determine what situations from your past resulted in the way you eat today.
2. Submit yourself completely to God.
“Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you” James 4:7 (NIV). There is a secret to resisting the devil—you must first submit yourself to God. How in the world do you do that? In my experience, you no longer do your will but God’s will by submitting your life to him. For me, it was not without a struggle.
Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 (NIV)
I finally recognized the Holy Spirit’s desires within me after I read The Purpose Driven Life. The Spirit’s wishes felt like my conscience. After this recognition, God began nudging me to grow with simple requests like spending more time with him.
If you are a food addict, after binging, ask God to forgive you and help you not to binge the next time. Don’t fret over a stumble. Get up and try again using this Five-Step Freedom from Addiction Plan.
3. Use the name of Jesus.
In the name of Jesus, you won’t oppress me anymore. I bind your power in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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: “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (TLB). Using the name of Jesus is key because then you operate under his authority. Declare Jesus is Lord over your life, not your addiction, and use Jesus’s 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.”
4. Use the Word of God.
Every time you are tempted, declare (out loud) the specific scripture.
Search the Bible for a verse that is the opposite of your addiction. I used Ephesians 5:18: “Don’t drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path be filled instead with the Holy Spirit and controlled by him.” Write the verse you choose on an index card and memorize it. Every time you are tempted, declare (out loud) the specific scripture.
After you tie up your addiction with the Word of God—ignore it. It will try to hobble after you because an addiction doesn’t give up easily. The next time you are tempted, you’re facing a critical moment. So recite out loud your opposing Bible verse and ask God for help.
5. Praise God and practice gratitude.
When you praise God and thank him for his blessings, any form of spiritual darkness will flee.
Beat your addiction by declaring Bible verses. Stomp it into the ground by singing praises to God.
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 and humility.
Every day, write down three things that you are grateful for. When you embrace a mind-set of gratitude, dopamine releases in your brain. Remember that dopamine, the feel-good neurohormone, releases when you eat sugar and wheat. Instead of getting the positive feeling from a bad habit, get it from a good one—by journaling gratefulness.
Beat your addiction by declaring Bible verses. Stomp it into the ground by singing praises to God. I created a worship playlist on my phone, and I listen to it every morning as I get ready for work. Before long, I lift my arms in praise to God.
In the previous article, we addressed how a person becomes addicted to food. Today we explored how to gain freedom from an addiction. In the next article, we will address a physical component of craving sugar and carbs—Candida.
If you would like a full version of this plan, get your free copy of 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar and Carbohydrates and start your journey to freedom. This is a special promotion offered only to One Christian Voice readers.
