Not all that appears spiritual is good. For instance, fasting isn't always a holy practice. After all, even Satanists fast. Most fasts are actually done for carnal reasons, such as the desire for a more youthful appearance.
Just as I ended my last fast, I happened to be looking at a quote on my bulletin board: "I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking."
This isn't a typical twisted message about worshiping oneself. The world tells us to forge ourselves into who we want to be, but this is about glorifying God by surrendering the self to Him. What I learned from this fast is that God loves me as I am, rather than the "perfect" version of myself I've been striving to be. God isn't impressed by the underweight ED Free who lives in strict ascetic discipline. God is restoring the real ED Free...the one who laughed and ate and loved. Maybe part of growing up is becoming less austere.
Christians are called to be mature adults. The adult, not the child, is the full, complete, perfect form...though our culture idolizes childhood. Adam and Eve, the ideal human beings, were born as adults.
Satan hates who I am in Christ and wants to stop me from being who I am meant to be. He tried to kill, steal, and destroy my identity. Doubt, shame, and condemnation are some of the strategies he used. Yet God replaced the evil lies with truth.
