9 Bible Verses To Help You Find Food Freedom

If you are struggling with overeating, binge eating, and feeling out of control around food, check out these 9 Bible Verses to help you find food freedom.

Scripture for Food Freedom

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

I get asked often which Bible verse I used most in my weight loss journey. This is the one.

I have used this Bible verse to fight emotional eating, food cravings, nighttime snacking, binge eating, secret eating, and so much more.

It reminds me that just because it feels right doesn’t mean it IS right.

And God will ALWAYS provide a way out.

It’s like how your parents taught you to avoid danger when you cross the street, right?

Stop. Look. Listen.

The same applies to food cravings.

They feel so intense in the moment, convincing you that you have to eat that particular food right now, but that’s just not the truth.

It takes time and a lot of practice, but keep looking for (and taking!) the way out that God provides.

Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1

When I was in the habit of regularly overeating, I had no idea that I’d become a slave to my food cravings, but that’s exactly what happened.

It was like I’d lost complete control of my decisions. I couldn’t be trusted around food.

If there was a chip basket in front of me, you better bet I wouldn’t stop eating until I reached the bottom.

My appetite didn’t have an “off” switch. I didn’t stop when I was full, I stopped when the food was gone.

I let my cravings dictate my decisions.

But it is for freedom that Christ has set us free – from whatever our yoke of slavery is (food cravings, in my case).

Remember to stand firm. You have Christ on your side.

Try using the 3 Ps to bring God into the moment and conquer your food cravings.

1 Corinthians 6:12

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

1 Corinthians 6:12

We live in a society that tells us that “freedom” means getting to choose whatever we feel like.

But choosing the food you feel like eating for years and years without the balance of wisdom and truth usually leads to you being mastered by food.

It can show up as:

• emotional eating
• food addiction
• binge eating
• not being able to exercise self-control around food

I talk about the 4 practical steps that I took to get me from calorie counting to food freedom, but I don’t want you to misunderstand the freedom I’m talking about.

The food freedom I’m talking about isn’t a freedom without healthy boundaries.

The freedom that we experience in Christ is one that allows us to do what we ought to do, allowing us to experience the fullness of who we are created to be.

With food, that freedom means that food is in its proper place in your life. You can enjoy it, you use it to fuel and nourish your body, and it does not rule over you.

That freedom assures us of our identity as a child of God and sends us straight to the cross, to a Savior who meets all of our needs, instead of to the fridge for a temporary hit of dopamine that simply distracts us from the real problem.

Romans 7:19-20

For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Romans 7:19-20

I think everyone trying to lose weight can relate to this verse.

• You know the healthy foods you should be eating.
• You know how you should be exercising.
• You know you should be eating small portions.

But, simply knowing what you should be doing doesn’t seem to be enough.

I firmly believe that a pattern of overeating can’t simply be treated as a habit issue.

Overeating needs to be dealt with as a sin issue.

I think that’s why so many weight loss programs work temporarily, but not long-term. They never get to the root of the problem.

Sin expresses itself in our habits, but it’s rooted in our hearts.

There is a lot to this (way too much to include in a single blog post!), which is why we walk you through this process step-by-step in our Faithful Finish Lines 2.0 Christian Weight Loss program.

Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8

Most Christians are familiar with this verse, but I’ve found in my life that it just doesn’t occur to me to ask in certain areas.

I didn’t pray for my weight loss journey for years after I was struggling with my excess weight.

I convinced myself there was no way God would care about my eating when He was busy taking care of people dying of cancer, fighting for failing marriages, and so many other problems much bigger than my own.

But those weren’t God’s words telling me that.

Scripture tells us to ask. Seek. Knock.

We should be trying to make God the center of every single part of our lives – big and broken or not.

I absolutely believe that God cares about what we eat and every other detail of our lives (and hearts).

Psalm 107:13-14

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
    and broke away their chains.

Psalm 107:13-14

Our God saves.

He saves us from addictions, from temptation, and from our sinful desires.

You’re reading this post because you’re struggling with food right now. It seems like something so trivial, but food issues run deep.

In one of my rock bottom moments, I had just downed a full bag of Cheetos and an entire box of Little Debbies. I had snuck through the house and out to the garage to hide the evidence underneath trash bags so that nobody would be able to see.

That night, I realized my eating problem had become a character problem.

I was sneaking, hiding, lying, and stealing from my loved ones – all to feed my food cravings.

I was living in darkness and I desperately needed to cry out to my Savior.

And He did bring me out of the darkness and break those chains.

He can do the same for you.

Proverbs 28:13

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Proverbs 28:13

As I mentioned above, I don’t believe regular overeating is a habit problem. It’s a sin problem.

Be honest with yourself about your choices. I mean really honest.

I was constantly trying to hide my poor eating choices by sneaking and hiding food.

I tried so hard to look “healthy” in front of people by eating carrot sticks and salads in front of them, then turning around to down boxes of fruit snacks as soon as they weren’t looking.

I told myself it wasn’t a big deal. I wasn’t hurting anyone else.

Let me just tell you that minimizing and rationalizing sin is not helping you to be less sinful.

Denying there is a problem doesn’t help to solve it. It may help you feel temporarily better, but that sin is going to keep rearing its ugly head in your life.

Instead of concealing your sin, confess it.

It feels so scary and unsettling to confront your poor choices, but that is the first step necessary in experiencing the fullness of God’s grace and forgiveness.

Isaiah 40:29

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:29

On my weight loss journey, I was constantly in search of the ONE “right” solution.

Losing weight is stinkin’ hard and I was sure I would eventually fine the shake, the diet, or the program that would be the ONE for me.

I was determined that it would feel “right” and make weight loss feel easier.

Guess what? That’s not the way it works.

Weight loss is hard. Changing the way you’ve been eating for years is hard. It takes time. You are not going to be instantly good at it. It’s not going to feel good and it is going to take intentionality and work.

You are going to feel weary and you are going to stumble at one time or another.

One of the reasons I was able to succeed in my weight loss journey is that I stopped allowing myself to give up.

It’s easy to give up when you are relying on your own strength.

• You don’t feel like you have the self-control to say no.
• You don’t feel strong enough to overcome your emotional eating.
• You feel like you have proven yourself a failure by messing up too many times.

You do play a part in this! You do have hard choices to make and hard habits to break.

But you are not the source of your strength.

Lean into Jesus.

Acknowledge your weakness. Talk to Him about your struggles.

Not giving up is a mental battle and it’s our hope in Jesus and HIS power that can keep us going on the hardest days.

Ephesians 4:22-24

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Freedom in your eating is just another area where you can put off your old self and let your new self shine.

And don’t miss the middle part of this verse. “…to be made new in the attitudes of your minds.”

This is not just about changing your habits. Finding food freedom requires you to change the entire way you think.

It requires you to pay attention for any lies that sneak into your thoughts (like, “I had a stressful day so I need to unwind with a huge bowl of ice cream”) and take them captive and make them obedient to Christ.

There is a mental transformation that happens when you shake yourself out of autopilot and start becoming more and more intentional about the way you eat.

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