Do you believe God is for you or against you?
What you believe about God has a profound effect on your health.
Christian author Dr. Timothy Jennings makes this amazing statement:
Recent brain research by Dr. Newberg at the University of Pennsylvania has documented that all forms of contemplative meditation were associated with positive brain changes—but the greatest improvements occurred when participants meditated specifically on a God of love.
Such meditation was associated with growth in the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain right behind our forehead where we reason, make judgments and experience God’s love) and subsequent increased capacity for empathy, sympathy, compassion and altruism.
But here’s the most astonishing part. Not only does other-centered love increase when we worship a God of love, but sharp thinking and memory improve as well. In other words, worshiping a God of love actually stimulates the brain to heal and grow.
I have proven this true in my own life.
When I struggled with emotional eating at 240 pounds, I believed God was against me—even though I had said the prayer of salvation nine years earlier.
I saw God as angry with me and out to get me.
So I gave Him His due on Sunday, but had little to do with Him Monday through Saturday.
Now I know that my false view of God was born from a lie—just as Adam and Eve believed the enemy’s lie about God and changed their relationship with Him forever.
Fear became the dominant force in their lives, not love.
Their fear caused them to hide from God. And most of mankind has been hiding from God ever since.
I hid from God emotionally, too, for nine years after saying the prayer of salvation.
It was only when I attended a Christian women’s conference back in 2001 that God showed me His love in such a personal way that I started believing God was for me.
If you don’t believe the simple truth that God loves you, then you won’t believe any of the other promises in His Word.
Once I believed that God loved me and was for me, the process of healing began. I began to trust Him with my pain and started turning to Him when I was hurting emotionally rather than burying my emotions under food.
As a result, I lost the excess weight and overcame emotional eating.
As long as you believe that God doesn’t love you and is against you, you’ll keep running from Him emotionally too.
Your healing will begin the moment you start renewing your mind to the truth about God’s love.
The Bible tells the truth about God’s love for us. These four Scriptures reveal it with sharp clarity:
- “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8)
- “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
- “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things” (Rom. 8:31-32).
- “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, neither height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:37-39).
Dr. Jennings recommends spending a minimum of 15 minutes daily meditating on Scriptures pertaining to God’s love for you.
My article, “God’s Love Letter to You” has many Scriptures to start with that can help renew your mind in this area.
As you go about your day, look for evidence of God’s love for you. See it in how He meets your needs. Experience how He gives you wisdom when you need it.
You can even see it in how He gives you breath and a voice.
Evidence of God’s love for you is everywhere—if you view life through the lens of biblical truth about Him.
So today, start renewing your mind to the truth of God’s love for you.
In time, you will see how this process will impact your body and health for the better. {eoa}
Once 240 pounds and a size 22, Kimberly Taylor can testify of God’s healing power to end binge eating. She is an author and the creator of the Christian weight-loss website takebackyourtemple.com. Visit today for inspirational health and weight-loss tips.
This article originally appeared at takebackyourtemple.com.
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