[The wicked] eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. Proverbs 4:17-18
Like it or not, decisions are a constant part of life. Some of them are small and seemingly unimportant. Others are very obviously significant. And then there are the in-between choices that we often make thoughtlessly, quickly, and yet they reverberate throughout our lives and the lives of those around us, for better or for worse.
Here are some thoughts, adapted from my book, Dining with the Master, on how our minds operate as we make choices regarding food and regarding sin, as well as a choice we can make to help increase our self-control.
“It’s not that big a deal.”
“I won’t go too far.”
“It’s not hurting anyone.”
“It will only be this one time.”
If you think about it, we use the same rationale for bad eating choices that we do for sinful choices. So often with both– with daily food choices, and with sins (like fornication, lying, and neglect of church activity)– we choose poorly; then we justify it, telling ourselves it’s just short-term or that it’s not that poor of a choice at all, only to find that those choices become habits, and sometimes those habits become addictions.
Some people struggle with food. Some people struggle with sinful things like pornography, lying, hatred, or gossip.
What if every time a person had sex outside of marriage, looked at pornography, told a lie, or said a cuss word, they gained an ounce? If sin showed on our bodies like overeating does, we would all be obese. The same shame lives in all of us. The first thing we need is forgiveness through Christ. If that is your need, look to the New Testament and talk to your Christian friends about salvation.
But what if you’re already a Christian and you’re still struggling with making good choices?
Sin is pleasure at the moment and guilt afterward. It’s the exact same thing with food when we’ve lost control– pleasure at the moment and guilt afterward. This is where fasting can help. Fasting is a form of delayed gratification. It’s not only that, but it is that. It trains the spirit to be stronger than physical impulses.
Whether you struggle with your relationship with food or your relationship with sinful pleasures (or both), spiritual fasting offers an avenue for bringing pleasures under control. And when you start to see your eating choices as a matter of stewardship, it helps you to see choices regarding sin the same way.
There are two ways that people make decisions. We make decisions based on what we reason (either honestly or dishonestly, correctly or incorrectly) the outcome will be. Or we make decisions without thinking at all, based on impulses learned by repetition. (For a fascinating and in-depth look at this idea, read Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.)
Our impulses or ingrained habits will not usually lead us to fast. They may, however, cause us to dismiss the idea without bothering to think it through. The design of this book is, in part, to reason that the outcome of spiritual fasting includes things like greater strength to resist temptations, a deeper prayer life, more peace when things go wrong, and improved clarity about one’s relationship with God; and that such an outcome is certainly worth a little delayed gratification.
We were created as physical AND spiritual beings, but the spiritual is more important because that part outlives the physical body. Biblical fasting is about taking the focus off the physical and putting it onto the spiritual. If we fast only as a dietary program, that’s fine, but we’re making it about the physical. It only becomes a spiritual exercise if we intend for it to.
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Daniel 9:3 ESV
by Christie Cole Atkins
Dear Heavenly Father, our physical impulses can be so strong, and our reasoning so flawed; we have no hope of living righteously on our own. We thank You that Jesus is interceding for us and we ask for power from Your Holy Spirit to bring our bodies into subjection to You, O God. Forgive our sins. Renew our desire to seek You with our whole hearts. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Related Reading:
Does Sin Really Lead To Death?
Interested in spiritual fasting but don’t quite understand it or know how to get started? Check out Dining with the Master, available in paperback here at Amazon on October 15, 2026, or pre-order the e-book edition today!