How to be Free from Obsessive Body Focus

Focused on taking care of the body and body focus are two different things. There are many different degrees of body focus that I have run into over the years of counseling. This obsession can lead to many kinds of strongholds: narcissism, exerciseaholism, anorexia, bulimia, chronic control. All these people have this in common: their mind is on themselves in almost any and every circumstance. Their world is centered on themselves.

Anorexia can start early in life, as young girls see the U.S. spinning out of control when it comes to overweight and obesity. These are the children of dieters, and since diets have not worked, they are taking their weight into their own hands and self-denial into their own hands. Self-denial should be God-led. People are not good at making decisions for themselves. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

This does not say in “some” of your ways submit to Him, but rather in all your ways submit to Him. We are not gods and we are not good controllers. We are humans made to lean on God.
What is the etiology of this stronghold or sickness? There are people who are overly competitive and are obsessed with having the thinnest body. Many are blind and never seem to like the body God has given them because they are focused on someone else’s. Again, you like what you focus on, and the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Had we brought children up to appreciate life and health, perhaps we would not have this outbreak of anorexia in this generation. Anorexics are so consumed that they do not see that they have become too thin. Anorexics ignore hunger and eat so little that they put their health in harm’s way if they do not refocus to please God. The human being must eat when they are hungry and they must stop when they are full so that they are not overweight or underweight. The anorexic must obey God and eat when the body is hungry. Eating God’s way, with hunger and fullness, gives the perfect weight and freedom from this destructive, heartbreaking, and often tragic body focus.

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