Is being overweight a sin? I asked this on my facebook page and got many replies. Some thought it was and some thought it wasn't. Ken thinks being overweight isn't a sin. It is what led to being overweight that is probably sin.
I was overweight in college. I admit I was a glutton. My college friends and I would go on eating binges at least once a week and eat until we were sick! I hated myself for the lack of self-control I had and I weighed about fifteen pounds more than I liked.
When I watch shows like the Biggest Loser, they show what these obese people eat in a day and it is an enormous amount. They are definitely gluttons and would probably admit it.
I guess it comes down to each person's own conscience. They know whether or not they are being a glutton which is a sin. Here is a great quote by S. Michael Houdmann about food and our relationship to it ~
God has blessed us by filling the earth with foods that are delicious, nutritious, and pleasurable. We should honor God's creation by enjoying these foods and by eating them in appropriate quantities. God calls us to control our appetites, rather than allowing them to control us.
Self-control is a difficult thing in this day and age. We live with the motto, "If it feels good, do it." It is so easy to give into our fleshly appetites and forget all about discipline. I know it is very hard to lose weight but we should never give up the battle.
Cassi, my daughter, saw the question and emailed me her response ~
I believe it's between you and God. First, what is being overweight? There are healthy weights that seem overweight to others. If you work out, eat healthy, don't over indulge, and there is no act of sin in your eating habits, then "no" overweight is not a sin. However, the majority of people are obese/overweight because of sin, but who are we to judge. We are called to love, rebuke when necessary, but always do it in love. I think with weight problems, it has more to do with the roots of being overweight than being overweight itself. Cut out the roots, the main sin issues for overindulgence and you'll more than likely become a healthy weight. All this to say, most of the time, being overweight is a sign of other sins, hurts, addictions, etc.
Yes, we raised one wise daughter! ;)
But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Ephesians 5:16
***HERE is the blog of a woman who has found victory over her unhealthy eating patterns and said, "Freedom to control eating food instead of being controlled by eating food is unbelievably freeing."
Cassi, my daughter, saw the question and emailed me her response ~
I believe it's between you and God. First, what is being overweight? There are healthy weights that seem overweight to others. If you work out, eat healthy, don't over indulge, and there is no act of sin in your eating habits, then "no" overweight is not a sin. However, the majority of people are obese/overweight because of sin, but who are we to judge. We are called to love, rebuke when necessary, but always do it in love. I think with weight problems, it has more to do with the roots of being overweight than being overweight itself. Cut out the roots, the main sin issues for overindulgence and you'll more than likely become a healthy weight. All this to say, most of the time, being overweight is a sign of other sins, hurts, addictions, etc.
Yes, we raised one wise daughter! ;)
But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Ephesians 5:16
***HERE is the blog of a woman who has found victory over her unhealthy eating patterns and said, "Freedom to control eating food instead of being controlled by eating food is unbelievably freeing."
Logging you in...
Sue · 578 weeks ago
On the other side of things, there are people like me. I'm naturally pretty slender, but that doesn't mean I'm not guilty of gluttony (particularly back in college...your description is very similar to my own pizza binges). I might not gain a ton of weight due to my gluttony, but I still have to be aware of the sin when it's happening.
Loving been his wife · 578 weeks ago
I am a person who weighs and measures all her food, I keep a food diary and works out for 2½ hours a day at the local pool. However that said I am doing it so I can lose weight and look good for my precious Hubby!!!
I also want to be fit and healthy!!
I think being overweight is a lot different to being a glutton.
Susan · 578 weeks ago
Amanda · 578 weeks ago
I really believe that (in my life at least) it has been the lack of self-control to cover up for the other pain and sin we are hiding. In my family, I also can't help but wonder if it's easier for us to hide behind an obese body and have people reject us for that reason, than to reject us because we are simply us. That being said, it's never acceptable to mistreat someone who is overweight or obese.
Ultimately, I believe we are called to a life of self-control. Within the church, we like to say "moderation" (alcohol with moderation, food with moderation, etc). My aim is to eliminate that word because I don't believe Jesus called us to a life of moderation (He told the rich young ruler to go and sell everything, not just a moderate amount, and follow Him). We ought to practice self-control in our lives. Be not mastered by anything, but let God be our master. I myself have been in the trap of being mastered by food. I would long, crave, plead, dream of getting my next piece of chocolate, cookie, chips or whatever. My focus and heart was on that rather than on God. So for me, yes, it has been sinful, because I have let something *other* than God be my master. I was seeking something other than God to heal my hurt. The consequences were left bare before everyone.
From what I've seen in my life and others, overeating is often the result of other deeper sins. We must tackle those sins, find forgiveness, work on healing of those and then proceed outward. It goes hand in hand, and I'm not sure that it can be done independently successfully. That I don't know, because I'm the only one in my family who has managed to break the food addictions and no longer be mastered by food, but along the same lines, I don't have the baggage to deal with that my family has had. I'm the last born into it and learned poor eating habits because of their desire to ease the hurt caused by sin.
For the tangible approach, we need to eat real food (not surprisingly much of the food produced is created with the intent to leave us wanting more - and why - more money for the manufacturers). When we provide our body with real food, full of real nutrients and not empty calories, our bodies begin to heal and the cravings subside (for instance, Oreos which used to be my favorite thing ever, are now repulsive to me). In addition to the tangible, we need to seek God in all we do, seek Him to heal our hurts rather than food.
Sorry - didn't mean to write a book here - this is close to my heart as I've seen so much hurt amplified by one sin leading to another. I 100% agree with Cassie's last statement "All this to say, most of the time, being overweight is a sign of other sins, hurts, addictions, etc."
We all struggle with sin. Just because my sin is different than the next persons sin doesn't mean either of us are any less valuable or less loved by God. Jesus died for us all. We must remember that as we discuss this subject, and interact with people. My sin just happens to be something I can't easily hide from you.
Elissa Philgence · 578 weeks ago
Blessing to you Amanda and I pray that God will give you the strength, wisdom and courage you need to move forward in your life and continue to encourage others to do the same.
H_D · 578 weeks ago
I think the same could be said for gluttony. I don't think it just applies to food. You can go too far to an unhealthy point about many things. You can be a rapid, insatiable consumer, but still be very skinny and not over indulge in food. I really believe that it is a heart issue.
Some sins show more readily on the outside. A young girl in our congregation got pregnant out of wedlock. However, the pastor was quick to say that she had repented of her sins and that God had forgave her. He also challenged us to think about how we would feel if our private sins had become public. If we had to walk around wearing evidence of it on the outside. It would feel pretty bad and he thus challenged us to be gracious to the young woman.
Yes, if someone is gluttonous with food it is likely to show up on the outside. But although you can see the evidence of the gluttony, you can't see what is going on between that person and God in their heart. They may be completely forgiven and repentant, but still live with the physical reality.
Another person might not show any physical evidence of a very similar sin. Maybe they are a shopaholic who is immoderate with the way they spend money. Maybe they are in debt or maybe not, but they buy things they don't need or shop to sooth pain. The heart issue is similar between this and a person who is emotionally eating, but you may not see physical evidence of the shopaholism. God isn't fooled though.
I think we need to be careful about judging someone who is overweight. They may or may not have a problem with gluttony, but a slim person could as well. Large people already take a lot of criticism and can be made by society to feel that they are not intrinsically valuable. This is very far from true! The cross speaks volumes about the value God has placed on us.
Elissa Philgence · 578 weeks ago
You daughter made some good points here, yes there are different level of being overweight. However, I don't think it as much to do with medical issues. Today, I do believe that ingredient are added to the food to made us addicted to them more. More salt, more sugar, and food quantity are getting bigger and more unhealthy, but it is up to us to control ourselves and our habits.
"For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty...? (Proverbs 23:21). The Bible is very clear about those of us who overeat. I watch a lot of shows today, people weighing over 300 to 500 lbs and I think we have become people who eat too much and walk too little. I can only pray for them and for myself.
Peace to you.
Amanda · 578 weeks ago
Courtney · 578 weeks ago
sarah · 578 weeks ago
Amanda · 578 weeks ago
And yes, we need to use common sense in this topic. We are not simply a number on a BMI chart. I know people who have very low body fat and yet are considered morbidly obese by the BMI by because they are very muscular. It's not a simple one look at something and make a solid conclusion. Yes, throughout history, views of beauty have changed. Sometimes overweight was beautiful. Often times it was an outwardsign of wealth, thus the appeal to it. Those who were poor and famished could not be overweight. It's not always been the case, though, think of the rib cracking corsets that women used to wear. We must not decide beauty based on society. The Bible doesn't include a weight chart that we must follow. But we can apply common sense as God gave it to us. If we lack self-control and gorge ourselves on food, it's probably not the best God has for us. That's not His fault, but rather our fault. He does tell us that living in the spirit should yield self-control (Gal 5:22).
I am only discussing ME being overweight, because I know the road I took to get here. I know how much of a heart issue it was and the battles I went through. I discuss it, not to judge people (because we are ALL sinful - my sin just may be different from your sin). But how much I would have longed for someone to talk about it with me, as a struggle that they've also endured, and the journey to find real food, and peace in Jesus, rather than trying to find peace in food. For some reason, we don't have a problem talking about other people's struggle with alcohol, or gambling, or spending, or porn, but food - hey, man, that's off limits.
Ken · 578 weeks ago
Eating poorly or improperly is the secret, yet not so secret sin of the church. I admit it it is an area I have sinned in the past, and I may miss God's mark regularly in this area of feeding my appetites. Remember, it is not just a weight issue, but a health issue. Some can eat pizza and ice cream every day and never gain an ounce, while others seem to eat mainly vegies and struggle with weight. Which one is the sinner? Not the second one as God blesses their discipline and efforts to try and stay in shape, even if their metabolism and body fails them.
We know that poor eating habits can be sin, but to judge if it is or is not is usually a personal thing with God. We all should go to God and our "temple of the Holy Spirit" to allow Him to do with as He likes, instead of mindlessly feeding our appetites. (I am preaching to me now :)
A cheeseburger or an ice cream is not sin, but when does it become sin? When it begins to rule you and you do it more and more regularly. If you want to talk about missing the mark ten let's talk about exercise. We all know that the minimum amount of exercise is a 20 brisk minute walk at least four times a week. One cannot honor the temple of the Holy Spirit apart from some sort of moderate exercise, unless of course you simply cannot do it.
Do we realize that 100 calories in each day that we do not burn, one cookie a day extra, will put 8-12 pounds on us in a year? And one cookie's worth of calories less each day and we lose 8-12 pounds a year. It doesn't take much to gain or lose weight over longer periods of time, but we must be conscience of what we are eating and perhaps for some, it is time to give up the excuses, "Oh its only the weekend" or "Only twice a week," if the weight is not coming on as it should.
I have set a max weight and once I hit it I eat nothing but good stuff and less until I have lost four pounds, then go back to regular eating and enjoying all foods. I have done this for years with success. Eat too much and gain weight means lose it the next 7-10 days with salads and protein shakes only. Find what works for you and let's all try to honor the Lord in all that we do. I know I still miss the mark in this easy area and at times overindulge and feed my pleasures.
Victoria · 578 weeks ago
Lori Alexander 122p · 578 weeks ago
shannon · 578 weeks ago
Hope you are well and thanks for saying these difficult things
Kim · 576 weeks ago