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OVEREATING
A study from the series
What Keeps Me from Growing.
by Woodrow Kroll
Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them.” No other living creature has been created in
God’s image and that really speaks to my heart.
Psalm 139:13-14 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my
mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful
are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
It is pretty evident that the whole image issue is very important with regard to overeating.
Especially for women who are bombarded constantly with various media of the “ideal
looking woman” … and life just isn’t like that!
So, when we get our focus off those images and our focus goes onto the image of
what God created us to be, how glorious we are as individuals, I think it changes our
attitude entirely. Now this is really important especially in battling a temptation like
overeating. God created us with significance and if we lose sight of His significance in
our lives we’ll be tempted to adopt what the world sees as significant for our lives.
Just think about what the Bible says about our personal significance. Not only are
we created in God’s image as the verse above indicates, but we were the last of God’s
creation. He created the sun, the moon, the stars, galaxies, plants, animals, fish,
everything … and at the end of His creative activity, as Genesis records, He created
us. We are the grand finale. We are the crown of God’s creation. Nothing else in His
creation is like us! Nobody can top us, nothing can top us! We are His creation, His
crown, created in His image. Now that gives us importance; not the way we look, not
what we do or who we are in this world, but who we are in Christ.
But there’s more. In Genesis 2:7, it says that God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the
breath of life. Now God didn’t do that for anything else He created. Just us. God
breathed out of His nostrils and into ours. That means we were not only created in
His image; we were created with His spirit, with His breath. God only breathed out
and into two things: His Word and us. That’s the kind of significance each of us has.
And that closely identifies us with God and His goals, His plans, His intensions, and
His blessings. His likeness is our likeness. And that gives us something we can really
enjoy and latch onto. So, when we think we don’t measure up to what the world
thinks about us, all we have to do is think about what God thinks about us.
A Prayer: Father, this is a tough issue. And it’s one that touches so many, many lives.
Would You help us to see the real problem in so many of these things that tempt us?
It’s really not about us Lord, it’s about our relationship with You. Keep all of us, Lord,
from viewing temptations like overeating as just a harmless habit, because anything
1 OVEREATING
WHAT KEEPS ME FROM GROWING
that harms our relationship with you is NOT harmless. For anyone struggling today
with overeating, Lord, show them how to win this battle. Comfort them through
Your Word. Bring to them the meat of Your Word to satisfy their spiritual appetites.
Thank you Father for providing all things we need, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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WHAT KEEPS ME FROM GROWING
A BAKER’S DOZEN OF VERSES ABOUT OVEREATING
1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 6:19 - 20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were
bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
1 Peter 4:7 “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and soberminded for the sake of your prayers.”
1 Corinthians 6:12 - 13 “‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All
things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything. ‘Food is meant for
the stomach and the stomach for food’—and God will destroy both one and the other.
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the
body.”
Genesis 1:24 - 31 “And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to
their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their
kinds.’ And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds
and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And
God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth
and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold,
I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and
every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of
the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth,
everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And
it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
Isaiah 25:6 “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of
rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well
refined.”
Philippians 4:5 - 7 “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at
hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.”
1 John 2:15 - 16 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires
of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is
from the world.”
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THE BAKER’S DOZEN VERSES
Matthew 4:4 “But he [Jesus] answered, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’”
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the
temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you.”
Psalm 139:13 - 14 “For You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my
mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are
your works; my soul knows it very well.”
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THE BAKER’S DOZEN VERSES
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“Baker’s Dozen” scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version®.
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