{"id":651,"date":"2011-08-25T05:36:51","date_gmt":"2011-08-25T09:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondgorgeous\/?p=651"},"modified":"2011-08-24T09:38:33","modified_gmt":"2011-08-24T13:38:33","slug":"whats-in-that-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2011\/08\/whats-in-that-hole.html","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s In That Hole?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The numbers on the scale don\u2019t measure the distance between you and God.\u00a0 They just tell how much gravity is pulling on you.\u00a0 Don\u2019t lose sight of that!<\/p>\n<p>But, it is true that food can become an idol and an addiction.\u00a0 The Apostle Paul spoke of that in his letter to the Philippians.\u00a0 He\u00a0 told the Christians to beware of those who were the enemies of the cross of Christ &#8212; \u201cWhose end is destruction, <em>whose God is their belly<\/em>, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.\u201d (Philippians 3:18-19)<\/p>\n<p>If your life revolves around your stomach, you may have a spiritual addiction problem.\u00a0 Lysa TerKeurst talks about that in her book,<em> Made to Crave<\/em>.\u00a0 She says we were created with a nature to crave God. \u00a0 Others have put it that everyone is made with a God-shaped hole in their lives.\u00a0 Those who refuse the true and living God have to put something else there.\u00a0 For some it is money, a relationship, or a job.\u00a0 And for some, it is satisfying the body with food.\u00a0 Their god is their belly.<\/p>\n<p>None of the God-substitutes will satisfy.\u00a0 Friends and loved ones will fail you, a job will end eventually, and money has a way of sprouting wings and flying away.\u00a0 And worshipping food will make you fat and unhealthy and miserable. Only Jesus can truly fill that God-shaped hole.<\/p>\n<p>And here is a two-edged sword.\u00a0 When people become focused on LOSING weight and sculpting their bodies &#8212; weight loss itself can become a god.\u00a0 They are minding earthly things and their goals become their reason for living. (See the scripture above.)<\/p>\n<p>How can we avoid this trap?\u00a0 Make sure the true and living God is filling the God-shaped hole in your life.\u00a0 Focus on Him and live for Him.\u00a0 He will never fail you and never let you down.\u00a0<a title=\"My Message about God\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondgorgeous\/2011\/05\/what-does-god-look-like-to-you.html\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to see my message about God.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ask for his help in getting your physical body under control and do it for HIM. Not for you, not for your spouse, not to gain the upper hand in a society that worships beauty.\u00a0 He is a good God!\u00a0 You won\u2019t regret seeking Him.<\/p>\n<p><em>Eating to live and living for Christ,<\/em><br \/>\nSusan Jordan Brown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The numbers on the scale don\u2019t measure the distance between you and God.\u00a0 They just tell how much gravity is pulling on you.\u00a0 Don\u2019t lose sight of that! But, it is true that food can become an idol and an addiction.\u00a0 The Apostle Paul spoke of that in his letter to the Philippians.\u00a0 He\u00a0 told&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[143,30,149,148,15],"class_list":["post-651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-helpful-tips","tag-addiction","tag-god","tag-idol","tag-spiritual","tag-weight-loss"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What&#039;s In That Hole? - Beyond Gorgeous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2011\/08\/whats-in-that-hole.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What&#039;s In That Hole? - Beyond Gorgeous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The numbers on the scale don\u2019t measure the distance between you and God.\u00a0 They just tell how much gravity is pulling on you.\u00a0 Don\u2019t lose sight of that! But, it is true that food can become an idol and an addiction.\u00a0 The Apostle Paul spoke of that in his letter to the Philippians.\u00a0 He\u00a0 told&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2011\/08\/whats-in-that-hole.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beyond Gorgeous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-25T09:36:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-24T13:38:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sbrown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What's In That Hole? - Beyond Gorgeous","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2011\/08\/whats-in-that-hole.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What's In That Hole? - Beyond Gorgeous","og_description":"The numbers on the scale don\u2019t measure the distance between you and God.\u00a0 They just tell how much gravity is pulling on you.\u00a0 Don\u2019t lose sight of that! 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