“We don't say God in recovery”… WHAT?

Twenty years ago, while struggling with overeating, emotional eating, and constant sugar cravings, I decided to attend a meeting with Overeaters Anonymous because I was desperate to find freedom.

At the time, something surprising had already started happening. After removing processed sugar and flour, the cravings were finally beginning to calm down. For the first time in years, my mind felt clearer and I was starting to feel hopeful.

But during one of those meetings, something happened that I’ve never forgotten.

While sharing about what I was experiencing, I mentioned God, and the reaction in the room was immediate. Someone gently explained that they preferred the term “higher power.” Members were encouraged to choose anything they wanted as their higher power so that no one would feel uncomfortable with religious language.

That moment forced me to think deeply about where true transformation actually comes from.

✨ In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The difference between a vague “higher power” and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• Why many food struggles go deeper than physical habits
• How emotional and spiritual hunger can drive overeating and sugar cravings
• Why behavior change alone often isn’t enough for lasting freedom
• How surrendering struggles to God leads to real transformation
• Why faith can play a powerful role in healing your relationship with food

Recovery programs can offer helpful structure, community, and accountability. But for me, the freedom I was experiencing wasn’t coming from a concept or a program, it was coming from Christ.

Because food addiction isn’t just physical. It’s often connected to the places in our hearts where we look for comfort, control, or relief.

And when I brought those struggles honestly before God, something powerful started happening. Grace met me there. Healing began. And real freedom became possible 🩷

Reflection question:

When it comes to your struggles with food, who is your higher power, something vague, or the living God who loves you and has the power to set you free?

NEXT STEPS

🔥 Join the 7-Day Breaking Free From Food Addiction Challenge: https://lifeunbinged.com/qs-weight-loss-bundle/ 

📖 Download the FREE Guide – Breaking Free From Food Addiction: https://lifeunbinged.com/breaking-free-from-food-addiction

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:20

20 years ago, I was really struggling with food, overeating, emotional eating, sugar cravings, and I decided to attend an Oreater's Anonymous meeting. Let's just say I was pretty nervous about it, but I really felt like that's where I needed to go. At that time, I had started abstaining from processed sugar and flour, and I was beginning to experience something that I hadn't felt in a really long time, and that was freedom. For the first time in years, the cravings were finally calming down. My mind felt clear, and I was pretty hopeful. So I started attending the meetings, and I think I was about the third one in, and then something happened that I've never quite forgotten. During one of the meetings, I shared about what I was experiencing, and I used the word God. And the reaction in the room was immediate. It was almost like this audible gasp. Everybody stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I couldn't help but notice the reaction in the room. And then someone very politely, or tried to be very polite, said, Oh, uh, Christy, we don't use that word here. And I looked at them and said, Which word? Had no idea. And she said, We don't use the word God. We use the term higher power. And I remember feeling really embarrassed, really confused. And I just kind of sat there quietly through the rest of the meeting. And afterwards, I went up and talked to her privately because I felt so humiliated. I just was so uncomfortably embarrassed. And she explained to me that they avoid using the word God because some people choose different things as their higher power. She proceeded to tell me that some people use a pencil or a shoe or even a door as their higher power. And they didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable if the word God was used. Ironically, standing there listening to that explanation, I felt pretty horrible. I felt embarrassed. I felt like I had done something wrong just for mentioning the name of God who was actually helping me find freedom. After that experience, you guessed it, I never went back. Now I want to say something important here. I know that many people have been helped by recovery groups, and I respect that. That structure can be really helpful, the community can be really helpful, and the accountability is most definitely helpful. But for me, personally, there was something missing in that moment. Because the truth is the freedom I was experiencing wasn't coming from a shoe or a pencil or a door. It was coming from Jesus. It was coming from surrendering my struggles to God. It was coming from spending time in his word and asking him to change my heart. And that's the thing about real transformation. It doesn't come from something vague. It doesn't come from something made up. It comes from a living relationship with Jesus Christ. God didn't send his son to die on that cross so we could replace him with a generic higher power. He died so that we could bring our struggles to him honestly and openly. And when it comes to my food struggles, that matters. Food addiction isn't just physical, it's emotional, it's spiritual. It's about the places in our heart where we're looking for comfort, control, or relief. And the truth is nothing ever had filled that place except Jesus. Not willpower, not a program, not a higher power we invent, only him. And when we bring our struggles to him, he meets us with grace, he meets us with truth, and he changes us from the inside out. That's the kind of freedom I want for you. Not just behavior change, not just white knuckling your way through cravings, but real transformation that comes from walking with Jesus daily. So I want to leave you with a simple question to think about when it comes to your struggles with food. Who is your higher power? Is it something vague, or is it the living God who loves you, forgives you, and has the power to set you free?