I woke one morning with the word "fellowship" on my mind, along with the following scripture:
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14)?"
While this scripture is often used to warn Believers in Christ against marrying unbelievers, I think this principle also applies to fellowship with dark thoughts - a key driver behind negative emotions and emotional eating.
After all, what closer fellowship do you have than with the thoughts you harbor daily?
I learned about the principle of fellowship many years ago when I struggled with depression.
It was like an emotional black hole in my life. Its vortex sucked all my energy, vitality, and purpose into it.
To escape those dark feelings, I overate and binged regularly. Eventually, these habits joined the depression vortex, draining the life out of me day-by-day.
It took a chest pain and the Lord's kind words of "It is not supposed to be this way" to enlighten me as to what was happening.
I realized that I was accepting and rehearsing the enemy's lies faithfully. In doing so, I was living looking backward. It's hard to walk forward while looking backward!
Those thoughts kept me focused on past mistakes, what I lost, and what I lacked. While those circumstances were true, the conclusion of them was a lie.
The lying thoughts said that my life was bad and it would never get any better!
However, the Lord challenged me to look ahead - to my potential future in Him.
I realized that believing the enemy's lies was stealing my life from me - one depressive day at a time.
Because I was so focused on my own pain, I did not have much energy left to help others.
But a major turnaround in my thought life came through following Joshua's example from Joshua 5:13:
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
This was a time of war so Joshua was vigilant. He did not assume that every person who showed up on his battlefield was on his side automatically!
As Believers in Christ, we are in engaged in Spiritual warfare. So we too should be vigilant about our thought life.
Do you examine the thoughts with whom you fellowship daily and ask:
Are you for me or for my adversary?"
A good clue that a thought or pattern of thought is for your adversary is,
Does this way of thinking steal, kill, or destroy me or something good in my life?"
If it does, then you want no fellowship with that!
As Believers in Christ, we are called to be salt and light in a dark world.
But how can we be light when we tolerate darkness and lawlessness in our own hearts and minds?
The Lord knows everything about us. Hebrews 4:13 tells us that someday, we will give an account for what we have done in these Earthly bodies:
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
If you have emotional issues that are keeping you in darkness, then ask the Lord to enlighten you with a new vision of your future freedom in Him.
Next, you need fellowship with those thoughts that bring enlightenment, support right living and strengthen you in the joy of the Lord.
As you practice aligning yourself with His thought and ways, you will experience His marvelous light of freedom and daily joy in His presence!