Battling the Enemy: Spiritual Warfare in Weight Loss

Did you know that weight loss and overcoming overeating starts with recognizing that you are in a spiritual battle? Many Christians make the mistake of thinking it is only about eating properly and exercise.

I made that mistake.

I am a registered nurse, so I knew about eating properly and exercise. My problem was that I couldn’t make myself do what I knew to do—at least, not for long! I’d soon go back to those habits that made me gain the weight in the first place.

That is why I would lose weight, but I would always gain it back. I needed help. And that is where God came in.

When I had a severe chest pain that I thought was going to kill me, He said to me, “It is not supposed to be this way.”

Would I choose to believe Him or not? I decided to believe Him and answer His call.

I believe He is calling you too. As a disciple of Christ, you play a vital role in God’s story to save mankind from their sins. You are called to share the gospel with those who don’t know Jesus.

That is the big story of life—the baseline of your purpose.

We’ll discuss that in more detail later because you must focus on the big story to win the little battles!

However, the enemy wants to trap you in the little story of life. The little story is focused on you.

The little story is about paying bills, heaping up material things and entertaining ourselves.

Even our eating and weight issues can be part of the little story if we don’t approach them with the right perspective.

To live out the big story of life, you must be aware of the spiritual battle you are called to fight:

“For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

You have a real enemy who is out to steal, kill and destroy you (John 10:10). A few months ago, a reader named Teresa wrote to me about this issue. It was around the same time that the Holy Spirit gave me the idea for this spiritual warfare series:

“Hello Kim!

My name is Teresa, and I have been receiving your emails for several months now! Your emails cause me to really think, which is good! I wanted to share something with you. Jesus has been showing me this week that gluttony and obsessing over food is a sin, just as evil as any other sin, such as murder. I believe Satan is busy in the church buildings with all of the banqueting going on inside. Gluttony is one of the most accepted sins in the church, going on right under our noses! I want to encourage you because Jesus will give you the strength and compassion to address this issue. It is an ugly sin that grieves the heart of Jesus. As the church fills its stomach to excess, the sloth continues, and Satan sits back very pleased! He is rendering us ineffective for the kingdom of God. I am praying for you as you serve our Risen Savior!”

Teresa

God is not about condemnation; He is about restoration. That is why we have to know about the weapons we have to fight against the enemy. They are powerful. They are outlined in Ephesians 6:13-18:

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit always with all kinds of prayer and supplication. To that end be alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

You are called to stand up to the forces of darkness that would seek to destroy you. So let’s begin. In this first part of the series, I will cover the first piece of armor: You are directed to gird your waist with truth. What does that mean?

Gird means to secure. In ancient times, the soldier wore a belt to hold the other pieces of armor in place, especially the soldier’s weapon—his sword.

Symbolically, the ancients also thought that the waist was the seat of the emotions. Have you ever heard the term “gut feeling”? That is where that expression comes from.