Holy, Healthy, Whole: Growing Fruits of the Spirit for Weight Loss and Wellnessნიმუში

Angry Eating

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20 (NIV)

Have you ever engaged in angry eating?

Angry eating occurs when you feel angry about a specific situation and eat as a form of release. Angry eating often involves crunching, such as potato chips, cereal, or nuts. You try to crunch your way right through the frustration.

It's easy to get sucked into angry eating, then when you come up for a breath, you discover you’ve overeaten junk. You feel rather queasy, and the frustrating situation remains to be dealt with.

As a Christian, you may think you shouldn’t feel anger, so you push it away.

You act nice.

Then you eat.

What if, instead of eating away your anger, you took it to God?

Anger by itself is not sinful. Jesus got angry, and He was perfect. James explains the importance of being slow to anger because, in your humanness, you are quick to sin when you are angry.

Developing the fruit of self-control means recognizing anger when it arises. You pause, take a breath, and come to God for direction.

Reflection: Have you ever engaged in angry eating? What was the situation? How will you handle it differently next time?

Prayer: Lord, I want to honor you in all areas of my life, including the times I’m angry. In my anger, help me not to sin. Help me turn away from using food to deal with my emotions and instead turn to you for guidance. I trust You, Father. In Your name I ask, Amen.