Week 36 Devo – WEDNESDAY

Mental Health

What happens when our anxiety, sadness and weakness take root in us physically? Eating disorders can come in many different forms, but any persistent disturbance in eating patterns is commonly understood to be a mental health issue. While these can be so hard to overcome and unlearn, there is hope and guidance found in Christ Jesus! The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 that our bodies are not our own, but God’s; therefore, we must treat them as a temple. This is not suggesting that if you have an eating disorder you should just eat healthily. Just as we cannot cure our anxiety or depression by simply telling ourselves not to be sad or anxious, we cannot unlearn unhealthy eating patterns by telling ourselves that our body is a temple. It is true, but we must teach ourselves how to treat it as one! God is consistently trying to teach us to love what He loves and hate what He hates, therefore, when we realize that He loves us unconditionally, we must aim to love ourselves just as He loves us. Teaching ourselves healthy patterns begins with learning how deeply God loves us and how perfectly He created us.