I wanted to address fasting, in the Christian sense, because I’ve been hearing so much about it lately. For those with a history of eating disorders or disordered eating, it can be triggering when encouraged to fast, because is often associated with food.
The purpose of fasting is to draw you closer to God. It involves taking your eyes off the things of “the world”/denying the “flesh” in order to focus on God. This could mean releasing anything we are holding too tightly; things we are tempted to keep in our own control vs releasing the control to God.
For anyone with a history of disordered eating, or a diagnosed eating disorder, you know the real hold that “food/body control” can have on your life. For me personally, when I was struggling in the past, eating was one area of my life I tried to keep in my own control instead of fully releasing this control to God. Fasting from food could easily be a temptation to take this “control” again for anyone with a history of disordered eating.
When being encouraged to fast, I encourage you to really examine your motives. Pray about it. Is it worth the temptation? Is this from God, or a desire to control food/your body again? Will it draw you closer to God, or feed the past eating disorder voice?
Fasting usually comes with a warning label for those with health conditions like diabetes. I think It should have a warning label for those with a history of disordered eating too. It is ok to choose something, besides food, to fast from. I personally choose other things, related to entertainment or social media, when I choose to fast.
God knows and searches our hearts. If you are considering fasting, and have struggled with your relationship with food in the past or present, bring this to Him. He will show you which way is best.
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