This horrendous disease is becoming more and more pro-active within our society today. Does it amaze you? On one hand it might amaze you, but on the other hand it should not amaze you. Society with its strict demands to look perfect from the outside has taken and is still taking more and more its toll on lovely people today. However, it is not only our youth who suffers today from this disease, for statistics are showing that women and men between the ages of 40 -60 are falling into the grasp of this destructive disease. We also see an increase of men who suffer from this disease. But what is this disease and how does it take a hold over someone’s life?
‘Anorexia nervosa’ as it is officially called is a disease that has ‘starvation’ at its root. People who suffer from this disease often starve themselves, even unto the point of death. It often occurs in people who suffer both from internal (anxiety, stress, feeling insecure about one self, unhappy, depression etc) and external problems such as skin diseases, cancer etc. From the internal side we can be more understandable as to the why a person can suffer from anorexia. A depressed person for example, feels already very low or negative about himself and his or her surroundings. They often feel unwanted and misunderstood,often hearing from their surroundings that they need to cheer up because they are too negative. This makes a person who suffers from depression feel lonely and unaccepted. Usually when anorexia sets in, it is because patients think that if they look thin they will be accepted.You see thus how this disease only focuses on the outside, but has such an enormous and devastating effect on the inside.
On the other hand people who suffer from what we shall call ‘external problems’(skin disease etc) are often misunderstood as to the why they suffer from anorexia. Society accepts an anorectic diagnosis from a person who suffers from psychological wounds, but neglects to accept and understand that a lot of people who suffer from anorexia have external problems which left them feeling unwanted and rejected.
You might justly conclude that a person who suffers from cancer or from a visible skin disease has enough problems to cope with already,and that is very true. However, these people usually feel unworthy and that is often the case why they fall into an anorexia. A person who has had cancer and due to this illness has lost a lot of weight, can gain weight after their recovery. This might trigger off an anorectic behavior. People who suffer from visible skin diseases often think that they might be more acceptable if they are thin, thus this thinking can trigger an anorectic behavior as well.
It is not uncommon for us believers to look at anorexia as demonic in origin, but we must not always attire this to the demonic. Society Often enough, may be the root cause for many illnesses itself.
Our contemporary society today expects a person to look perfect or shall we say gorgeous?!. Less is just not acceptable anymore. To age gracefully, that is to allow one’s hair to become gray or for wrinkles to appear on one’s face is simply not accepted anymore. We see more and more middle aged women looking like young women, even in their dress code. Because of this new outlook on society and all that belongs to it, many people, who are not lucky enough to possess a perfect body, hunger themselves to unproportionate measures, sometimes even leading unto death. You must understand that this society in which we nowadays live, puts extreme pressure on people, especially young people.
“Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's” ( 2 Cor 10:7)
Unfortunately, people do not look at themselves as Christ sees them. They put too much emphasis on the outward appearance. They worry that if they possess only an ounce of fat, society will not accept them anymore. Often this outlook on their body and its weight leads people to view themselves in a very unhealthy manner. The danger of this outlook is that what they deem fat is not really fat, but they see it that way, they have lost all common sense. Unfortunately, glossy magazines promote the perfect look everywhere. It is therefore not uncommon to see young people and nowadays adults, to succumb to this pressure.
But let me ask you a question. What is wrong with the way God created you? What is wrong with a little bit of fat? Most of us who hope to grow old will not attain our youthful thin bodies. Each decennia leaves its legacy in our bodies. In your teens you are fairly thin or normal in weight, in your twenties your body starts to develop into a mature body. In your thirties you already see more changes and that goes on for every decennia. Please do not get me wrong here, I am not promoting that you should yourself let go and not worry about your body weight. All I am saying is that if you live a healthy life, eating healthy food that should be enough. Why starve yourselves to death?
Most women who have had children have seen drastic changes in their body. Well, that is part of who you are now, that is part of which you should be proud of. Not every woman can have children you know. All I am saying here is that you should not take measures to the extreme. It is okay for you to look good, but do not go to far. Most of you who go to far just lack self-esteem. Ephesians 1:6 says that “We are accepted in the beloved”. You are loved by God, He created you as you are, because He wanted you to exist. He planned carefully how you would look like and the body you should get. Try to accept yourself and see yourself as God sees you. Jesus gave His life your you so that you might be freed from sin. He did this out of sheer love for you. Try to focus on the things that matter. The flesh is corruptible but the spirit is not. Try to focus on the inward. Do not believe that crap that many people sell out there that in order for you to feel good about yourself you must work on the outside as well. That is all New Age crap. That is not true. In order for you to feel good about yourself you must see yourself as God sees you. With loving eyes, for all He has created is perfect!
Please read Who you are in Christ for further help.