Women Food and God by Geneen Roth shines a light on compulsive and binge eating. The author's view is that our eating behavior expresses our emotions, life approach, and even how we view God. The latter point is what drew me to the book, so this review is written for others seeking a Godly solution to healing binge eating. I will disclose that I bought the book with certain expectations; I battled compulsive eating for over 20 years, with my weight at a maximum of 240 pounds. But with God's power, I traded relying on food when I was emotionally hurting to relying on him. I lost 85 pounds and have kept that weight off for many years. My healing would not have been possible without a personal relationship with God. Through the person of Jesus Christ, I came to know God as my Redeemer, Healer, Strength, Wisdom, Joy, and Comfort. So it was the God who loves me that I was hoping to see in Women Food and God. The book had a promising beginning - it affirmed the importance of refraining from self-condemnation. This is a critical key to healing. Condemnation leaves you feeling ashamed, frustrated, and depressed - without hope. The bible tells us that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. God is always about restoration, not condemnation (Romans 8:1). I also found value in a startling conversation in the book; a woman revealed that she binged because food was her only comfort from emotional pain. That is a core issue of healing binge eating; because the woman believed as truth that food was her only comfort, she defiantly told Ms. Roth that she would not deprive herself of it. However, I do not recommend Women Food and God for those seeking a Godly solution to overcoming compulsive eating for one reason: On page 16, Ms. Roth says "It doesn't matter if you believe in one God, many gods, or no god." This contradicts the bible: "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God?(Isaiah 44:6). As Christians, we are told to gird our waists with truth. In ancient times, the waist/stomach area was viewed as the seat of the emotions. So we are to secure our emotions with the truth. Our truth is that there is only one God and the bible is his word, our source of truth. I chose not to finish reading Women Food and God because by Ms. Roth's statement, she says that you can remove God out of the process and her methods still work. If that is correct, then what role does God play in her book? Is it God as he defines himself or is it god as individual readers define him? From personal experience, I know hat having a stable view of God's love as expressed in the bible, knowing that he has a future and a hope for me, and believing that I could trust him in my healing was central to my success.
Women Food and God by Geneen Roth shines a light on compulsive and binge eating. The author's view is that our eating behavior expresses our emotions, life approach, and even how we view God. The latter point is what drew me to the book, so this review is written for others seeking a Godly solution to healing binge eating. I will disclose that I bought the book with certain expectations; I battled compulsive eating for over 20 years, with my weight at a maximum of 240 pounds. But with God's power, I traded relying on food when I was emotionally hurting to relying on him. I lost 85 pounds and have kept that weight off for many years. My healing would not have been possible without a personal relationship with God. Through the person of Jesus Christ, I came to know God as my Redeemer, Healer, Strength, Wisdom, Joy, and Comfort. So it was the God who loves me that I was hoping to see in Women Food and God. The book had a promising beginning - it affirmed the importance of refraining from self-condemnation. This is a critical key to healing. Condemnation leaves you feeling ashamed, frustrated, and depressed - without hope. The bible tells us that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. God is always about restoration, not condemnation (Romans 8:1). I also found value in a startling conversation in the book; a woman revealed that she binged because food was her only comfort from emotional pain. That is a core issue of healing binge eating; because the woman believed as truth that food was her only comfort, she defiantly told Ms. Roth that she would not deprive herself of it. However, I do not recommend Women Food and God for those seeking a Godly solution to overcoming compulsive eating for one reason: On page 16, Ms. Roth says "It doesn't matter if you believe in one God, many gods, or no god." This contradicts the bible: "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God?(Isaiah 44:6). As Christians, we are told to gird our waists with truth. In ancient times, the waist/stomach area was viewed as the seat of the emotions. So we are to secure our emotions with the truth. Our truth is that there is only one God and the bible is his word, our source of truth. I chose not to finish reading Women Food and God because by Ms. Roth's statement, she says that you can remove God out of the process and her methods still work. If that is correct, then what role does God play in her book? Is it God as he defines himself or is it god as individual readers define him? From personal experience, I know hat having a stable view of God's love as expressed in the bible, knowing that he has a future and a hope for me, and believing that I could trust him in my healing was central to my success.