Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Review - Made to Crave

In "Made to Crave" Lysa TerKeurst does an outstanding job with a difficult subject. Given the subtitle of the book - 'Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food' I expected an approach or style that would be all about inspiration and light on reality. (Even more so on seeing that the author is President of Proverbs 31 Ministries!) Instead, Lysa hides nothing in discussing her very real struggles with food, the wrong places she looked for satisfaction, and some extremely practical and down to earth advice. This isn't the story of a woman who prayed a simple prayer and had her desire for food melt away. Almost kicking and screaming, that struggle was a very real challenge for her. Fortunately her understanding of a better way is just as real - a life that puts our natural (and good) desires for food, acceptance, and contentment, in perspective with our deepest desire - a satisfying relationship and identity with the One who made us and loves us.

This is definitely not just a dieting book. It really doesn't go into great detail about nutrition or offer a specific diet you must follow. Most readers struggling in this area already know 'the facts' on eating better, yet find themselves frequently unable to change their habits. The book is not hard to read. It is organized into a number of fairly short chapters, covering a wide range of important subjects including understanding what is really going on with us, replacing our cravings, growing closer to God, making peace with your body, the challenge of exercise, overindulgence, what to do when we fall off the wagon, why most diets don't work, making good choices, and living the life of an overcomer.

The book describes itself as "the missing link between a woman's desire to be healthy and the spiritual empowerment necessary to make that happen." It does this well, but I must add that this book will be of interest and benefit to men as well, and to those who struggle with any kind of craving that competes with our desire to walk with God and become more like His Son. I would definitely recommend this book to Christians who find that their struggle with food and health are negatively impacting their life and walk.

"Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food" is available from Amazon and other retailers.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Amazon.com as part of their Amazon Vine™ review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".

2 comments:

GyrlPower said...

I'm going to have to give this book a try. I've been looking for something that puts a more spiritual reasoning behind being healthy. Thanks for the review!

Larry Baxter said...

You're welcome! Dawn is currently reading it and loves her honesty. Lysa does a great job combining spiritual and physical realities.