Finding Freedom from Food Addiction By Karen Kingsbury, New York Times bestselling novelist. January is over and by now we’ve had to take a long hard look at the promises we made just a month ago to ourselves and to God. Most likely getting healthier was one of your goals, the way it was one of mine. I’ve been watching all the magazine headlines that come out this time of year, stories about people half their size and a dozen different new and improved diets. We want to look for something simple and easy, some new-fangled approach or that one diet that will give us the “Ah-ha!” feeling we’ve searched for all our lives. But I’ve noticed something when it comes to eating right. There is nothing new under the sun. It’s like the message of Ecclesiastes. Absolutely nothing new. That’s what I love about the PRISM program. It’s not pretending to be something new or groundbreaking. Rather it’s a very simple, healthy approach to nutrition, with a great and necessary dependence on Christ. See for most of us, eating poorly isn’t something we’ve stumbled into. It’s something that borders on food addiction. We’ve looked for a thrill, an enjoyment, a crutch to lean on, and we’ve reached for a brownie instead of the Bible. That’s where the good news of Jesus Christ comes in. He died to set us free, that’s what Scripture tells us. Most of us glide right past those words and don’t give a second thought to how they apply to our eating patterns. But think about it. When we’re chained to the burden of overeating, we feel trapped in every possible way. We feel sick and bloated and heavy and defeated. It’s like being in a prison, one we’re desperate to escape. But here’s the good news. Christ literally died to set us free. We were standing locked in the prison cell of overeating and food addiction, and along comes Christ and His sacrifice. He holds the keys to our prison cell. We accept his gift of salvation and He opens our prisons. He sets us free. When we complain about needing a new program or wanting to find the right diet, while still refusing to give God our eating habits, we might as well be standing in a prison cell with the door unlocked, wondering how we’ll ever get out. It’s time we recognize this fact, time we open the door and walk through into the land of God’s strength, His mercy, His grace. His plan for a healthy eating pattern. I’m happy to say that this January has been one of victory in Christ as far as my eating goes. I’ve seen people around me struggling with their health and I’ve made a stark realization. I’m not getting any younger. I have six kids and a husband who love me and want me around to share in their lives. And I want to be here for that very reason. God knows the number of days in my life, but it’s up to me to draw strength from Him in order to create life in my days. PRISM is the sort of program that works to put life into our days. It asks us to focus on healthy foods – lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains like brown rice and oats. In that way, it’s like a lot of other programs. But it doesn’t stop there. The people who run PRISM know that if it were a matter of recognizing which foods are healthy and then deciding to eat those foods, no one would have a problem with their health or weight. But breaking an addiction to food can only be done by finding strength in Christ. The PRISM workbooks help us look at that truth every single day along the journey. The goal of the PRISM program is the same goal Christ has for us in Scripture. Very simply, the goal is that we would change. Change our location from the prison cell to the place of freedom, change our eating habits from unhealthy to life-giving. And most of all change our desperate need from food to an even greater need for God Almighty. If you’re doing well on your goals to change your life this January, then keep relying on Jesus for strength. But if not, then this is the first day of the rest of your life. Your prison cell is already unlocked. Open the door and step into the life God has for you. A life full of freedom and health and a greater dependence on Christ than ever before. You can do it! Jesus is pulling for you every step of the way. Karen Kingsbury is America’s favorite inspirational novelist. She has written more than thirty novels and has more than 5 million copies in print. Her last nine books have all hit the No. 1 spot on the Christian fiction bestsellers list. Several of her titles are being made into major motion pictures, including Gideon’s Gift, due out in November, 2007. Karen lives in the Northwest with her husband, Don, and their six kids – three of whom are adopted from Haiti. You can find out more about Karen and her ministry of fiction at www.KarenKingsbury.com.