Is fasting for weight loss spiritual?

This post is a very serious one, so I'll begin with the following verses:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

1 Corinthians 6:12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.


I'm going to make this as simple as I can, ANYTHING you do unto the Lord - even if it's trying to lose weight while fasting is honorable to him. 


Furthermore, if your flesh is out of control - meaning you eat whatever you want, whenever you want and you can't seem to control your desire for the things that are causing you to be overweight,  fasting might be the very thing you need to regain control of your flesh and glorify God in your body.

Fasting is one of the best ways to get your flesh under control, the flesh will fight against your spirit to keep control over you, but it is a very powerful tool. And, quite honestly - sometimes you will have to pray to get through the toughest moments of fasting.

Look at 1 Cor 6:12 - which tells us not be enslaved to anything.  Some of us are enslaved by our own mouth & bellies,  and fasting can be a way to break free of the bondage of gluttony and poor self-control.

We are a three part being: BODY, SPIRIT & SOUL. Anything we do in one part can ultimately affect another part, so if you're body is out of whack, your spirit will eventually suffer.  In honoring God with our bodies during a fast, it becomes spiritual.  Fasting can indeed be a spiritual way to conquer a physical demon, ailment,  eating problem or whatever you want to call it.

What makes any fast spiritual is your intent & your purpose. If God becomes your focal point and you aren't just worried about yourself, it's spiritual. You can begin your fast by asking God to help you break free from gluttony and being overweight, you can seek his forgiveness for not honoring him or your body & you can tell him that you choose to honor him from this point forward. John 4:24, For God is spirit, and we must worship him in spirit and truth.  Denying ourselves during a fast is certainly a spiritual thing - if we know that it is. If you lie to yourself and only fast for vanity reasons, it's not a fast. God knows the truth of your heart, even if you don't speak it. A fast done  in vain (meaning, absent the Lord) will probably not be successful and if it is, the success probably won't be everlasting.

I think that sometimes people try to make God too complicated, he really isn't. If you honor him - with a fast, he will in turn honor your efforts.  How honored God is to see us take control over our bodies and submit to HIS will for us which is that we honor our bodies in the first place.  In my opinion, it's a win-win situation, for our spirits and our bodies.  

There's certainly something spiritual about fasting, you get to a point where you trust you can succeed, you have to believe you can go on & you know that something greater than yourself is sustaining you.  Whatever you need to accept from God during a fast - weight loss, healing, peace, discernment, wisdom,  is spiritual as long you believe it is. After all, the basis of faith is BELIEVING.

That's just my understanding. What do you think?

Til next time,

hopeforthehips.