And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. John 8:32


Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Lies that make us cave into the social pressure to eat

Hi, everyone! I said I’d try to write another post this week about the lies you might believe in a situation where you’re feeling pressured to overeat. Here it is—I hope it will help those of you who struggle in these situations.

1. I need to please (my mom, my family, my friends, etc.).
Truth:
I need to please my Father—and I can't always please Him and others at the same time.

2. If I don’t eat (as much as they expect me to eat), they’ll be mad at me.
Truth:
If I do eat, I’ll be mad at me.

3. They’ll ridicule me if I don’t eat.
Truth:
I so rarely get the chance to suffer because I'm doing the right thing (usually I'm suffering because of my sin), that I'll take that as an honor if they ridicule me.

4. They’ll think I’m (uppity, self-righteous, judgmental, etc.).
Truth:
God knows my heart, but it’s inevitable that others will sometimes misunderstand me and judge me. This is difficult and sad, but I need to press on anyway and do what God’s called me to do. I’ll have to spend some time with God before the get-together so I can love the people there with a pure heart, and not a defensive heart.

5. I’ll end up gaining my weight back and then they’ll ridicule me.
Truth:
If I end up gaining my weight back, God will help me through it. He can use all things for His purposes.

6. They think I’m dumb for wanting to change my eating habits.
Truth:
It’s okay if they think I’m dumb, but that may not even be the case. It's possible they feel threatened that I'm changing and would feel more comfortable if I didn't.

7. I won’t fit in if I don’t eat as much as they do.
Truth:
This might be the price I have to pay for doing the Father’s will, but I'm guessing they'll love me even if they think I'm strange. I need to stop worrying about what they think and focus on loving them regardless of what they think.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You are right on with this! I have believed all of these lies at one time or another. It's hard to replace ingrained thoughts with new ones.