What Being Gluten-Free Taught Me About Sin

I still remember first meeting my current doctor back in 2020. I came to him for more than just needing a new doctor, but to seek help for weight loss and figuring out how I can be healthier. One large blood test later, it came back I have a slight sensitivity to gluten and peanuts. The news shook me more than I’d like to admit, the idea I can’t eat normal bread, cake and pasta again. It didn’t settle in until I went through my pantry and fridge, and cleared out everything I had that had wheat or a hint of gluten. There was a pile that had more than half of my pantry filling up my studio apartment of things I couldn’t eat anymore. All I could do for everything was offer it to my congregation who could eat it. I rejoice in having brethren willing to take what I couldn’t eat because forbid I waste food. 

Being Gluten Free is more than just not being able to eat normal carbs, gluten is found in everything. Preservatives can be a hidden ingredient in a lot of foods bought by the supermarket. You know how people go through withdrawals when they haven’t had anything for a long while? I was going crazy without toast in the mornings. I wanted to cry each time I went grocery shopping because I couldn’t buy my favorite bread anymore: Orrowheat Buttermilk Bread. I also couldn’t get takeout from places I enjoyed anymore, and it’s surprising to find out how many places have hidden gluten in their food. I’m looking at you, Cafe Zupas, with your bisques and your salad dressings. This was when impulse buying got worse for me because I would bulk buy things to make sure I had them. The downside was they spoiled quickly, which was a large waste of food and money. It reminded me of a passage in Exodus when the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness and were complaining about a lack of food. God then orders them to gather according to each one’s needs and according to the number of people per household (Exodus 16:16). 

Sometimes it feels like we are lost and unsure as where to go when faced with life changing events. It felt like I was wandering like the Children of Israel were.

It wasn’t just my diet that changed. My entire social life changed the moment I was forced to cut gluten and peanuts out. It’s now a burden to go out with friends because they must be aware I have a dietary restriction. Usually, it’s them not wanting to make plans at all, and that hurts more than anything. Now it’s a worry to make sure you don’t get sick, and they feel obligated to provide for that. Isolation hurts. I’m already apart from my family and friends and now I feel more distant from my own brethren.  

The devil started to get craftier with me. He knew I was feeling alone, and now I have this affliction that will damage my body over time. I'm faced with uncertainty, fear, and a lot of anger. I admit I didn’t go to God that much during this time. That was my regret. Without His guidance, I was suffering, complaining, and not eating that much at all. I felt forced to compromise myself just to get by. For those with worse dietary restrictions than I do, you know you cannot compromise yourself as your life depends on it. Temptations came at me at every angle. It was easy to disregard what the doctor recommended that I do to improve my quality of life and live how I wanted to. I could’ve kept eating Papa John’s, homemade milk bread, my favorite bread toasted in the morning and all the tortellini I could eat. What grounded me was remembering my purpose and why I sought out my doctor in the first place: to lose weight and to improve my health.  

What I learned from being tested was how to always seek God and His kingdom first (Matt 6:33) and to remember to check my heart if I really wanted to be healed from my infirmity or not. I was reminded of the man of many ailments who was by the healing pool, and Jesus found him during the Sabbath. Starting in John 5:7 through verse 9: “When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.” I know people that have infirmities but choose to complain about them or solve them alone. This is a reminder to always ask for help as God is our heavenly doctor too. Without Him, I wouldn’t have found the help I needed. 

There are those that dabble in sin sometimes. Maybe they’ve been good for a whole month they decide to go a club and get laid. It’s no different than someone who was recently diagnosed with celiac deciding to go to Chick Fil A for a whole chicken sandwich for being good and not eating anything with wheat or hidden gluten. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” It’s the same principle. By that logic I haven’t cut sin out of my life. I admit I have been doing this (still do) because those wraps from Spitz are delicious and because I love breakfast burritos. It’s hard to come by large gluten free tortillas and homemade ones are not flexible. Circling back to Exodus 14-17 when the Israelites were complaining about no food, no water and no home. They wanted to go back to at least have a place to be despite being enslaved, oppressed and miserable. I was missing the ease of life, but that would mean harming my body more. I'm already being checked for PCOS, and since cutting gluten and peanuts my body has felt a lot better and is still healing. Even my monthly cycle has become a bit more regular, and a better flow has been happening. 

Thats why the logical solution is to just go to God, and He will help you figure it out. There are hundreds of resources out there for those who can’t eat gluten. I've found cookbooks that help me understand a bit more about kitchen chemistry and safety, and it enabled me to be a more responsible and creative cook in the kitchen. That’s not me saying I’ve cut the carb addiction; I still love my bread goods. I am now able to bake them in a safe environment where I know I can eat it with less repercussions. I don’t eat on campus anymore when I go to class because it’s already a food desert. I don’t trust the minimal amount of food I would be able to eat on campus. I still struggle to do stuff with my brethren outside service group events, but there’s now a family here that is also gluten free. The wife and I support each other in protecting each other from gluten.  

I was reminded that having dietary restrictions in my life gave no changes to my life. I’m called to be different from the world (though not necessarily different from my brethren). I could still figure out how to have the cake I love, but it took a bit to figure out how to make it healthier and still have it be rich, moist and delicious.

This thorn in my side was once something I felt shame about. I couldn’t eat like a normal person anymore, and now I felt I had to be catered to for my sensitivity. It took a lot of time before I saw it as more of an affliction that I needed more support for. I'm also grateful to be blessed with my boyfriend’s mother, who also cannot eat gluten. We trade products we find, and I feel more supported than I do with my mom. This year will be my first Christmas with his family, and I plan to bake the gluten free version of my mother’s manicotti recipe (always something I look forward to every year). I’ve figured out now how to live with this affliction. What’s made it easier is remembering how my body is a temple for my spirit, and it’s my job to take care of this temple. My body is a vessel for the Holy Spirit which was bought by blood. It belongs to God, so it is a big responsibility to take care of my body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). 

So, what have dietary restrictions taught me about sin? It’s given me a literal lesson on separation, and what happens when I make choices for myself rather than for the glory of God. If I don’t take care of my body, I will die sooner and remain dead. If I don’t take care of my spirit, well that’s a consequence that makes me shiver with fear.  

What health changes were you forced to make? How has that affected your faith? Feel free to comment, and I’d love to read your testimony on overcoming these trials with health changes.