Below is a video from the presentation of “Gaining a Healthy Relationship with Food.” For the various counseling options available from this material visit www.summitrdu.com/counseling.
NOTE: Many people have asked how they can get a copy of the seminar notebook referenced in this verbal presentation. You can request a copy from Summit’s admin over counseling at counseling@summitrdu.com (please note this is an administrative account; no individual or family counsel is provided through e-mail).
“I Want to Steward My Life; Not Wrestle a Scale”
RESTRUCTURE MY LIFE to rely on God’s grace and Word to transform my life.
Ganing A Healthy Relationship With Food — Step 6 from The Sam James Institute on Vimeo.
Resource: Healthy Food Thoughts Journaling Tool
Memorize: 1 Timothy 4:8 (ESV), “For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” As you memorize this passage reflect upon these key points:
- “Bodily training” – God likes your body and wants you to care for it as the good gift he intended it to be.
- “Some value” – The effort you put into caring for your body is not wasted; God places value on those efforts.
- “Godliness” – You character is what determines whether your physique is a blessing or bondage.
- “In Every Way” – Godliness is what allows us to savor every blessing that God bestows without excess or neglect.
- “Present life and.. life to come” – Character enrichment is not just heaven-preparation but also vital to a happy life.
Teaching Notes
“I sensed a stronger resistance to impatience, lust, and other sins. Confronting excessive, indulgent eating was almost like taking spiritual penicillin or antibiotics and that it seemed to cut the feet out from under other demands (p. 61)… Obesity is ‘socially contagious.’ Your social environment has a tremendous impact on your own journey of either gaining or losing weight (p. 92).” Gary Thomas in Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul
“The enemy of our souls wants to discourage us from ever thinking we could have a supernatural self-control (p. 31)… Research tells us that people become more successful at long-term weight loss when their motivation is to become healthier, not thinner (p. 34).” Stephen Arterburn and Linda Mintle in Lose It for Life
“I used to carry my food plan home with me on a piece of paper. If I had not, I would never have remembered what I was supposed to eat. I even recorded what I ate every day in a food journal. The rigidity was necessary in the beginning in order to get me on the right track (p. 42)… A true test of my recovery has been feeling overweight and still eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner (p. 68).” Jenni Schaeffer in Life Without Ed
“In the past, when I’ve read the diet books, I frequently skipped right to the eating plan so I could get to the store and buy the food on the list and get going. I usually didn’t care why I should eat and ways the author said; I just wanted to get going on losing some weight (p. 97).” Elyse Fitzpatrick in Love to Eat, Hate to Eat
“The most valuable lesson I learned was how to listen to my own body (p. 122).” Sheryle Cruse in Thin Enough: My Spiritual Journey through the Living Death of an Eating Disorder
“Part of your recovery will be developing your own line or limits where you are no longer willing to betray yourself to ‘fix’ or change your body (p. 71).” Carolyn Costin & Gwen Schubert Grabb in 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder
“I used my cravings for food as a prompt to pray. It was my way of tearing down the tower of impossibility before me in building something new (p. 30)… We can step on the scale and accept the numbers for what they are—an indication of how much our body weights—and not an indication of our worth (p. 74).” Lysa Terkeurst in Made to Crave
“I have these boundaries in place not for restriction but to define the parameters of my freedom. My brokenness can’t handle more freedom than this right now. And I’m good with that (p. 153).” Lysa Terkeurst in Made to Crave