Nobody confronted me about my weight problem in my early years as a minister and a therapist. I did not realize how much my weight problem corrupted my sage advice on how to escape various addictions. Finally, it dawned on me: I was a glutton. I prided myself on the ability to go to the food buffet at a restaurant and eat more than five plates full. I even had the arrogance to insist that everyone at the table pray for God to bless the food that we would be gorging.

 

I knew that something must change, and it did. It started when I was counseling a man who, as a child, had lost his out-of-shape father to a massive heart attack.

 

Reality hit me. I was a walking time bomb. As I listened to my client grieve the loss of his dad, I thought about what my children might be saying in 40 years: “I wonder what it would’ve been like if Dad hadn’t died… If I could have grown up with him instead of another man?” “Momma, what was my daddy like?” “Why did he have to die?”

 

I was looking into a mirror of truth, and seeing the real me for the first time. I did not like what I saw there.

 

God led me to take two major steps on my recovery. I read a book on permanent weight loss called Gentle Eating (by Stephen Arterburn) that showed how to keep off weight through lifestyle change. Then I called Joe Christiano, a fitness trainer in my area.

 

I’ll let Joe tell you the next part of the story:

 

“When Dwight met with me over breakfast, I knew he was for real. He wanted to turn his physical body around to be healthier, to lose weight and be more balanced for God’s glory. He said he would be accountable to me for whatever type of program I recommended.

 

“I designed a program for him and we began to work. I helped him make healthier eating choices, but he never starved nor went on a crazy diet. He trained twice a week with machines and machines and did some biking for cardiovascular conditioning. Dwight saw his physical condition as a spiritual issue and turned it over to God. He trained like a man driven with a holy passion.

 

“As we journeyed together over a year, I watched my brother become free. No longer was he a plump counselor in bondage to food. He was free—and he was bold to speak the truth and live it.”

 

Joe showed me that I was cheating myself from physical blessing by ignoring God’s principles. Even though I now look and feel like a different person, that’s not the case.

 

The fat man was not me. The man God designed me to be was underneath 65 pounds of fat from a lifetime of escapism and indulgent eating. Yes, I learned how to exercise twice a week and make healthy eating choices, but the really exciting part is that I had a permanent spiritual change, which means the weight will stay off.

 

God designed the human body to need exercise, nutrition, work and relaxation. All four will keep your physical machine running well. But if any of these is ignored, it causes heart disease, hypertension, aging related diseases, obesity and premature death. Even so, men often don’t take this fact seriously, and they suffer for it. Why? Some of them say they are too busy to take care of their bodies.

 

Others use food to cope with stress when feeling worried, to escape the pressure of life. It is more acceptable to be a food abuser than an alcoholic or drug abuser—but the root of the problem is the same. Compulsive overeating is the No. 1 eating disorder in America.

 

Do you eat so fast that you do not even taste or remember how much food you ate? If so, you may be using food to cope with stress. Do you eat for immediate gratification or when you feel empty inside? You may be a food abuser.

 

If you feel weak in your pursuit of fitness, get somebody to help you. More important, consider this profound truth: God’s Spirit dwells in your body. You are a holy temple! “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you… You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

 

You can enjoy victory like me. And when you do, don’t be surprised if it starts a chain reaction of breakthroughs in your life.

 

By Dwight Bain, a nationally certified counselor.