Spiritual Bulimia – can we talk about it?

Binge and Purge– frequent episodes of grossly excessive intake followed by self-induced evacuation.

I had an acquaintance in high school who struggled with bulimia nervosa. She would go and purchase several bags of groceries, lock herself in a room, binge on all of the food in one sitting and then purge it all back up when she was done so that the calories didn’t affect her weight. This was a stronghold that gripped the way she saw herself. I felt helplessly terrible for her as I watched her struggle with this bondage for many years.

Bulimia is also called hyperphagia and is defined by having an abnormally voracious appetite or unnatural constant hunger. The condition of Bulimia nervosa comes into play when a person who suffers from this unnatural appetite attempts to continue feeding the behavior of excessive overeating but wanting to avoid the consequence of the weight gain. This becomes the psychological bondage of binging and purging episodes. In short, it is a demonic stronghold on the mind.

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Spiritual Bulimia

I cannot help but see the parallels of the physical condition of Bulimia to the many who struggle with this as a tragic spiritual condition. Spiritual Bulimia as I see it is when we have an abnormally voracious appetite for the attitudes, mindsets, philosophies, and consumption of this world and we proceed to binge on them during the week, only to come to church on a Sunday and attempt to purge it all before the Lord, hoping to dodge the disturbing consequences of our intake. After we feel cleansed and in right standing we head right back into Monday feasting on the same old junk: gossip, anger, greed, pornography, drunkenness, rebellion, materialism, gluttony, sexual impurity, rancid media and all that contaminates our souls. And so, we return again to church on Sunday hoping to find peace from the torment with no real conviction, intention or passion to truly be changed. The world becomes our bag of groceries and the church, our toilet.

 

You were created for more!

“But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him”– 1 Corinthians 6:17

Did you know there is One who saw you, even at your lowest point and chose you specifically to be His? He laid His own life down and absorbed the bondage of sin and shame so that you could live and be FREE! If you have joined yourself to Christ, then you are ONE in spirit with Him, this means you are not a divided soul and no longer a slave to the darkness. As a believer you are called to live in this world but be not of it, meaning just because the fruit is hanging doesn’t mean you have to eat it, just because you feel like looking at pornography doesn’t mean you have to do it, just because you have information to share doesn’t mean you need to gossip and so on. Christ broke the chain of sin and death so that what used to keep you in bondage is no longer master over you unless you give it permission to be. It doesn’t make it easy, it just makes it possible through Christ. The Apostle Paul addresses the conflict of the two natures, sin and spirit, in his letter to the Roman church, and after acknowledging the wrestling of the two natures he gives the solution, “Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). Don’t be the dog that returns to his vomit, stand up and say “NO!” to the devil when he whispers foul ideas to your ear, for it was for FREEDOM that Christ set you free, so stand firm and do not be bound again to the yoke of slavery! (Galatians 5:1)

 

You cannot ride two horses with one butt!

“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”– 1 Corinthians 10:21

Often times it’s our thought process to want our cake and eat it too, as fickle humans we want to find a way to have the desires of our flesh while keeping the blessings of the spirit, the culture of the world tends to call this “self-care”. Let me warn you, dear friend, that having no boundaries, and drawing no lines to indulgence is indeed idolatry of the flesh and is not a healthy way to care for yourself. In fact, the opposite proves to be true, like a child who has no boundaries or resistance to the demands of his impulses, he tends to become desensitized to the true need of his spirit, soul, and body and thus his ability to make judgment in any given situation becomes dim and he is a danger to himself.

We must also teach our flesh to be led by the Spirit, denying it much of what it demands so that it can see what it needs. If you expect to live in the blessing of the fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self-Control, then you cannot continue to indulge your flesh in the antithesis thereof: Bitterness, Complaining, Discord, Anger, Selfishness, Malice, Strife, Pride, Vanity and the like. You must shut all doors to the things that breed these dark behaviors, shut off the social media, tv, computer, radio, close the books and magazines, stop hanging out at the establishments and become aware of what’s being inputted into your eyes, ears, heart, and mind. If you want to stop feeling pulled apart, stop riding the line, get your foot out of the fire, you cannot ride two horses with one butt and expect to get anywhere!

“For by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”– 2 Peter 2:19

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Good News!

Maybe you’ve struggled with this concept of spiritual bulimia; perhaps you’ve allowed lustful behaviors, idolatry, perversion, anger, malice, greed, bitterness, pride, and other attitudes and behaviors to be present in your life. Possibly you’ve gone to church each Sunday simply giving an apology to God, looking for the grace to be released from the torment of your choices only to return to them promptly on Monday. There’s good news, this doesn’t have to be the end for you! Christ broke the chains of demonic cycles so that you can walk free from the rule of sin and shame. Even things that your family has passed down to you is no longer yours when you make Jesus the Lord of your life, your DNA becomes HIs DNA and you are a new creature, all old things pass away!

 

I want to pray with you and for you:

Father, thank you for the person reading these words right now. Thank you, God, that You know this person and his/her deepest challenges, victories, struggles, and strengths. I pray Holy Spirit, that Your love would convict their heart of any areas that need to be surrendered, and that Christ, You would rule and reign in their heart, giving them the freedom that they’ve needed for so long. I pray that they may know that today is the day of salvation and true commitment for a better life of freedom. I break off every cycle of sin and behavior that has kept them in bondage and I declare the FREEDOM of Christ to emerge. May the know who they are and Whose they are in Jesus name, AMEN!!!