Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food

by Lysa TerKeurst

From New York Times bestselling author of Uninvited and The Best Yes, Lysa TerKeurst brings you the missing link between a woman’s desire to be healthy and the spiritual empowerment necessary to make that happen.

The reality is we were made to crave. Craving isn’t a bad thing. But we must realize God created us to crave more of him. Many of us have misplaced that craving by overindulging in physical pleasures instead of lasting spiritual satisfaction. If you are struggling with unhealthy eating habits, you can break the “I’ll start again Monday” cycle, and start feeling good about yourself today. Learn to stop beating yourself up over the numbers on the scale. Discover that your weight loss struggle isn’t a curse but rather a blessing in the making, and replace justifications that lead to diet failure with empowering go-to scripts that lead to victory. You can reach your healthy weight goal – and grow closer to God in the process. This is not a how-to book. This is not the latest and greatest dieting plan. This book is the necessary companion for you to use alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan you choose. This is a book and Bible study to help you find the "want to" in making healthy lifestyle choices.

Other products in the Made to Crave family include the Made to Crave devotional, video study and participant’s guide, and Made to Crave for Young Women. All available now!

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Health, Christian Living, Faith, Self Help, Religion

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2010

About the author

Lysa TerKeurst is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the New York Times best-selling author of Univited, The Best Yes, Unglued, Made to Crave, and 18 other books. Her newest book, It’s Not Supposed to be This Way, is scheduled for release in November of 2018. Lysa was recently awarded the Champions of Faith Author Award and has been published in multiple publications such as CNN and Fox News online. Additionally, she has appeared on the Today Show as one of the leading voices in the Christian community.

Each year, Lysa is a featured keynote presenter at more than 40 events across North America, including the Women of Joy Conferences and the Catalyst Leadership Conference. She has a passion for equipping women to share their stories for God's glory through Proverbs 31 Ministries' annual She Speaks Conference and writer training program, COMPEL: Words That Move People.

Connect with Lysa on social media @lysaterkeurst or at http://lysaterkeurst.com/.

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were a lot of things that I found problematic in this book, but the most important one is this: TerKeurst makes weight loss a spiritual journey in which the dieter grows closer to God by denying themselves (certain) foods. There is nothing wrong with turning to God in prayer for help in achieving a goal, nor is there anything wrong with denying oneself something for spiritual purposes--like fasting. But I think there is a danger in trying to put those two things together. Fasting isn't about weight loss and failing on a diet doesn't mean the dieter lacks faith in God. And, of course, it completely ignores the fact that weight gain isn't only a function of emotional eating (which is the only mechanism for weight gain that TerKeurst acknowledges). People gain weight for lots of reasons and not all of them have to do with the number of calories eaten.

The book wasn't all bad. TerKeurst does a really good job of emphasizing that losing weight will not solve all the other problems in people's lives. If someone isn't happy right now, they need to work on that first (or at least at the same time). She has a nice conversational writing style that makes the book quick and easy to read, and she does a great job sharing her own personal struggles in a genuine and meaningful way. She also has many moments where she starts out saying something that is really helpful, but then she slides back into one of her more problematic themes.

Throughout the book, TerKeurst claims Satan tempts dieters to eat unhealthy foods. Since eating those foods isn't actually a sin, she ties it to her belief that weight loss is a spiritual journey, so Satan tempts you with Oreos to destroy the special relationship you'll develop with God if you keep losing weight. Towards the end of the book she actually talks briefly about the fact that junk food is made to be addictive, but then she went right back to tying one's desire to eat it with temptation from Satan. If Satan is playing a role here, it seems to me that role would be in the greed demonstrated by the companies who intentionally create food that is not only nutritionally void, but also incredibly unhealthy. And then they compound that by doing everything in their power to make sure customers actually become addicted to their products. Satan isn't tempting dieters (and others) to eat some McDonald's french fries; McDonald's is doing that with chemicals added to the product to give it an enticing aroma everyone can smell from inside their car as they are driving past.

Several reviewers have discussed their annoyance with her repeated referral to herself as a "Jesus Girl". There is a lot of high school cheerleader-esque vocabulary in this book, but I didn't find that nearly as bothersome as her frequent comparisons between weight-loss and sexual purity. Just like girls need to be extra vigilant to preserve their purity on prom night, dieters need to be extra vigilant around Oreos. Seriously. That is creepy on so many levels.

I also think she really misses out on the opportunity to point out that the best foods for health are those which God provides. Whole, natural, unprocessed foods are what will keep people healthy--not chemical junk food creations, heavily processed packaged foods, genetically modified foods, or antibiotic and hormone laden CAFO meats and dairy products.

But all of these other problems are minor in comparison with the first. Conflating weight loss success with one's relationship with God is extremely dangerous in light of the fact that well over 90% of people who lose weight gain it back within a few years. Other Christian writers who have tried this in the past have later recanted. It's too bad TerKeurst didn't learn from their example.

[Lori Henrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I have been struggling with weight like thousands of other people, and like thousands of other people of have tried many things. I would lose weight and then gain it back. If you struggle with weight and are a Christian this book will open your eyes to a new way of looking at food and how you can change your life from wanting food to wanting to be closer to God.

I am not on a diet, I am on a spiritual journey. What a wonderful concept. Lysa TerKeurst takes you on a walk through her journey to lose weight and to become a "Jesus girl". The scriptures she shares show that God is concerned with what we put in our bodies and that His word and prayer can help you change the way you look at food. There are helpful tools within its pages to show you how to figure out what your triggers and ways to counter act those triggers.

This book isn't just about losing weight and eating healthy. It is about filling those areas in our lives that lead us to food instead of to the Lord who can fill those empty areas in our lives that we might not even realize that we have.

A thought provoking look at become healthier both physically and spiritually.

THANKS LYSA!!!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author and I have different definitions of making healthy changes. She gave up all bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and sugar and viewed eating any of those as "messing up" or "cheating." I am not eliminating sweets and starches from my life but am aiming for moderation, so I didn't relate to her in this. I did like her larger point that often when we think we are craving unhealthy foods, we are using them to cover a deeper issues and a craving for God. She had some wonderful points, but I also thought the book was redundant.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here's the thing. I usually don't rate or review books I DNF, even when that DNF-ing is very intentional, but I felt like this book could be actively harmful and, as it has had popularity and success as a Christian book I felt compelled to say something.

First, somehow, despite it being abundantly clear in the subtitle, jacket copy, and cover imagery, I missed that this book is first and foremost about dieting. In my head-copy, the book was about our tendency to idolatry and the ways we try and fail to fill the craving for God our spiritual selves has.

Ostensibly this book is about that but only in the narrowest of contexts. Instead of being a deep spiritual examination, it's a fluffy self-help/dieting book with a dusting of shallow spirituality.

That this book is directed specifically at women, that this book seems to equate outward appearance (of being overweight) with a spiritual deficiency, that this book doesn't allow for anything but emotional overeating as a cause for obesity/being overweight, that its tone is terribly objectionable all of these are things that made me furious.

What made me stop reading though (because I knew almost immediately that I would not like the book, but initially was determined to read it to form a proper and coherent review) was the little discussion/introspection/dig deeper questions at the end of each chapter. Although the intentions of these questions, and of the author I presume, are good, what I found them doing was causing a focus on the negative; of one's body, of one's spiritual journey, of one's relationship with God, and I knew I wouldn't continue to listen to this spiritual junk food.

I would be less than thrilled at the author's approach to weight loss in a secular self-help context, but the way this is written and marketed for a white, middle-class, female Christian audience. It really upsets me.

[Susy C. *MotherLambReads* · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love all of Lysa's books, I really do. I learn so much through her teaching and life experiences.

This one though, I did find myself wondering about it and not too sure I would recommend it to just anyone.

Definitely a book for a person who has been a believer for awhile and mature in Christ. I would hate for a newly saved person or one who is struggles with eating disorders to read it and get discouraged. This is her story of how she took on her food issues and her spiritual journey. It’s her story. Not everyone’s will be like this.

It's not a book with dietary advice or practical steps on how to curb eating. I felt like in some parts it was over dramatic.

I did appreciate how she dealed with legalism in the church (ex: Christians being all offended about someone committing a "sin" (she uses drinking wine) but then committing gluttony at the next church pot luck. It made me chuckle out loud because that is so true (a good Baptist loves their pot luck dinners). She tackles over indulgence, self medicating with food, gluttony, and the need for balance and going to God for every craving. Overall I definitely agree with those points!

[Trisha Fleitz Truman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to give Lysa one star, because I imagine her heart is in the right place, but this is the same legalistic message that I’ve read in other Christian weight loss books. Try really really hard and pray a lot and then God will become more important to you than food and then you’ll have self control. But I have done this multiple times. I have even succeeded in sticking with it for a few years and losing weight. But then I get tired of “being strong” and “controlling myself” and “being good” and I would totally fall off the wagon. The result was gaining all I lost plus, feeling like a bad person, and even straining my relationship with God.

[Adrienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't take this book as a lose weight book since I read so many of those in the past; moreover, it was about her food addiction and craved it more than her relationship with God (which some did lose weight once they changed their mindset on how they viewed or thought about food).

What moved me when I first started reading/reviewing the book before church service, November 20, 2011, was the breakdown of cravings (which I also shared in my Facebook groups):
1 John 2:15-16--passage details three ways Satan tries to lure us away from loving God:
*the craving of the sinful man
*lust of his eyes
*boasting of what he has or does

craving=trying to get our physical desires met outside the will of God
lust of eyes=trying to get our material desires met outside the will of God
boasting=trying to get out need for significance met outside of the will of God

Matthew 4:1-11:
Cravings=Satan appealed to Jesus' physical craving for food
Lust of the eyes=devil promised Jesus entire kingdoms if He would bow down to the god of materialism
boasting=the enemy enticed Jesus to prove His significance by forcing God to command angels to save Him

*Book choice read for November 2011 in Virtuous 31 Woman Book Club on Facebook.

[Ann Warren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really interested in exploring the spiritual connection between food and God. She made a few interesting points, but seemed to contradict herself throughout the book. While she claimed that diets don’t work, and your worth is not measured by the number on the scale, she’d go on to write things that sounded like fat shaming to put it nicely. Lots of diet culture to be found here, with frankly quite mean and negative self-talk. It was really frustrating to get through. Would not recommend. Explore the science of habit change instead.

[Khari · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was an excellent book.

It took me a while to finish it because I started it kind of cavalierly because it was the next one on the shelf (I'm taking advantage of my mom's book shelf while I'm here), and well, I was convinced it wouldn't really have anything to say to me. I am nothing if I'm not a highly balanced and controlled person. At least, in the area of food anyway. So, I was like, well, I'll read it, mark it off the list and move on to something juicier.

I got about two thirds of the way through it and decided I needed to go back to the beginning and actually read through it carefully and engage with it. Because there was a lot of good stuff! It's not just applicable to food. Whatever it is that you are struggling with, whatever is controlling you, be it guilt over past decisions, worry over the future, anxiety over the present, this book has something good in it for you. So yeah, I don't struggle with food all that much. I can eat a balanced, healthy meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner for weeks on end, and budget in treats without going overboard. No problem. But control my inner thought life? Arrogance? Contempt? Hoo boy, now you are talking actually tough things. A lot of the lessons that she learned about food were lessons that I can apply to those areas of my life.

I liked three things especially that I feel like I can apply to my own areas of struggle. One was the go to script of "I am made for more." I really am. I was not made to be engaged in a constant struggle of seeking after attention on social media and then being crushed when I don't get it. Why waste time on it? Do the things that bring meaning to you, personally, instead of trying to gain meaning through other people. The other one was "all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial". It's not like it's a sin to have arguments in my head with people that I will never actually meet in real life. It's not. But is it beneficial? Absolutely not. It's a waste of time, energy and only has the effect of building up a false assessment of my debating skills. It's real easy to win an argument with an imaginary person. It's a lot harder to do it in real life. I can waste hours in my own mind, how is that beneficial? It isn't. I tend to have a fairly black and white way of looking at the world. This is good, this is bad. This is sinful, this is right. It was nice to realize...oh...there are other categories! This isn't a 'sinful' thing, but it is not necessarily good in this moment, so just avoid it. Huh. You mean I don't have to take things to an extreme and stop using my imagination in every way since I have a problem in this particular subsection of that area? Revelation. (Don't laugh, it's amazing how I can miss the obvious sometimes). But, perhaps my favorite, and most useful little script to say to myself was "How will I feel about this in the morning?" After lying in bed for hours running the day's conversations over and over in my head and nitpicking all the little areas I could have said something better...how will I feel about this in the morning? Tired. That's what. Tired, and saddened, and depressed, and for what? Because I'm not perfect and never will be? That's a fact that everyone has to live with and move beyond. It's not something to agonize over for hours every night. It's not something to be used to build unrealistic expectations of yourself upon.

So yeah. I found this book extremely helpful and convicting. Not so much with food, although a little bit there. I do tend to view food as a comfort. If I'm having a really bad day, I will let go of my healthy eating habits and eat a donut or something, maybe ramen for dinner. Maybe that is something I should work on, but it doesn't seem that much of a problem to me as that is something that happens every two months or so. The nightly anxiety sessions are just that, nightly, this seems to me to represent a greater problem that should be worked on. I was appreciative of some tools to handle it. I don't think the author meant them to be used in this particular area, but if the shoe fits go for it!

My only issue with this book is that it's quite unapologetically written for women. That's not to say that men wouldn't find it beneficial. But, I think there are some things in it a lot of men wouldn't understand or wouldn't really identify with. I don't know very many men who agonize over their weight. I suppose they exist, but I don't know any who keep a pair of skinny jeans and then have monthly cry sessions when they don't fit....Do you know any? Am I just in a bubble of well-adjusted men and mal-adjusted women? Cause I know a lot of women who do that. She also always refers to her readers as 'girls' and 'sister' and such. I kind of want to recommend it to a friend, but am not sure he would like it or if it would be helpful to him. It was to me though.

[Robyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot believe how high this book is rated. An incredibly harmful book for those that struggle with eating...tying weight with spirituality is dangerous. So disappointing that a woman wrote this for other women.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and don't understand the bad reviews. Yes, this book is targeted toward women who struggle with food. What's wrong with that? There are plenty of other books targeted for other groups of people, it that interest you more. The subtitle tells you what this book will be about, so there are no surprises there.

I enjoyed this book because I thought it was practical. It wasn't preachy but included great examples (half of which I have used myself as excuses) of reasons we sometimes turn to food to fulfill us and what we can do with those desires. If you are starting a new diet plan or are struggling with proper nutrition or simply trying to understand the relationship between food and spiritually, this book is very enlightening.

[Mary Havens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had one major problem with this book: it didn't really speak to me. I couldn't really wrap my head around the whole "God cares about what you eat" concept. I know it was more about obedience to God than eating 4 peanuts or 54. I tried to read this as one chapter a week with some co-workers but it became apparent that this timeline was way too slow and ineffectual. So we disbanded the group and agreed to finish in our timeline and answer the questions. So I did that.
Even then, I just didn't feel like most of this book spoke to me. One co-worker suggested that perhaps I wasn't supposed to "get" the whole book but that I was supposed to only glean a few nuggets from it. And I did; mostly that God is my daily portion and equips me every day for my unique struggles. But that didn't make me put down OR run to the Ben & Jerry's.
I kind of felt like Terkeurst was mashing her food struggle with Scripture and, if that works for you, awesome!! It just didn't for me.
And she should never be allowed to make pop culture references. Saying "You know that song 'I like big butts and I cannot lie' from Shark Tale?" WHAT??? She lost quite a bit of credibility with me at that moment. #sirmixalot4ever

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can only think of about two books I’ve read that were worse than this. I have a lot of respect for the author I’ve read other books by her and truly enjoy them. However, I found this book to be dreadful.

First off what kind of friends does this woman have that are constantly talking about people and judging them and remarking about how they physically look instead of who they are and how they make people feel? I about lost it when she said her friend in gym class was talking about how her sister in law had gained weight and she was probably 150.

Now, trust me, I myself am a chunky monkey, and if I weighed 150 you’d probably see me running around naked. I have a lot of friends that way more than 150 and they’re still pretty dang skinny. And the fact that she tries to tie this in with how God wants us skinny?!?! Are you kidding me? I understand that isn’t what she was exactly saying, but come on!!!

Anyway, I felt she lacked credibility on this topic and the point I think she was trying to make was missed by a landslide.

[Melissa Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a companion to the book "Made to Crave," which I have actually not read. The 21 days of devotionals are short but meaty and helpful. Though I do not have a food struggle that matches that of the author, I think her advice and the biblical precepts she includes here apply to whatever a person may struggling with that vies for the place that only God can fill, the throne on which only He should sit, the longing that only He can meet.

We are made to crave God, not food; that's the bottom line. We are made to crave God, not acceptance. Not money. Not the perfect career or kids or retirement package or whatever it is we work toward so it will complete us. Not the things that fill our time and provide our escape.

Absolute victory ... daily sacrificial choices that lead to lifestyle changes ... replacing the lies in our head with God's truths ... believing what God says about us. These are topics worth thinking about and believing in and putting into practice.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're the target audience, I can see the worth in this book. I was not it.

This isn't a book about food issues; it's a book about weight issues. I struggle with craving and unhealthy relationships with food, but not with the number on the scale. Half way through the introduction it was obvious that Lysa and food is indistinguishable from Lysa and her weight ~ even when she is viewing them with a healthy perspective. I kept skimming until I hit a point talking about "skinny girls." They were so obviously a separate category of people that I felt I could no longer identify with anything she was saying. My outward appearance is thin, but I still would like to learn to crave God more than food. This book didn't lead me in that direction.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads just like her blog. You can imagine yourself sitting down and chatting over a cup of coffee, which makes it very easy to listen to. There are a half dozen stand out statements that I would have liked to copied to my journal, but with the nature of audiobooks, it's said and then it's gone. And since I listen while I drive mostly, rewinding and copying it down isn't an option.

I would recommend this book, I liked it, but didn't love it. But being that it is in the VB Overdrive catalog for free, it's certainly worth a listen.

[MaryAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me six months to read this book. Although I really liked it -- and I want to go back and read parts of it again -- I just couldn't take it in big chunks. I would read a chapter and mull it over for quite a while -- but then often forget what I read. But I think Lysa TerKeurst really got it right.

[Madison Pharr · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a truly new perspective I have on how I don’t have to be ruled by my bad eating habits or weight issues that I have struggled with my entire life. I can/should fill those holes with Jesus. Walking away from this book with a renewed hope that there can be victory where I have not yet seen it yet! “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬ ‭CSB‬‬

[Kayleigh Antenucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

[Katie Sandy-smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I can’t rate a book about essentially dieting super high; however, this book was good in that it gave me a lot to think about. It had some cheesy lines, but I found many tidbits to take away and think about as I battle my own issues with food.

[Jessica Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a personal review for me. I have struggled with my weight since I was a teenager. I've tried every fad diet, some with great success, but something always tripped me up. The reviews of this book are quite mixed, so I was hesitant to pick it up. I've never been one for the "self-help" variety, but after seeing Lysa speak, I decided to take the chance on this one. I was raised a Christian, but it wasn't until about a year ago that I truly gave my life over to Christ and began to take my faith seriously. I have since worked to bring every aspect of my life under God's guidance, but never before have I considered turning my weight loss struggle over to Him.

This book does not have a miracle diet plan. In fact, Lysa doesn't real offer any health tips that aren't already common knowledge, and she doesn't pretend to be a health expert. What she does offer is a different perspective through which to view your struggles with food and a how it pertains to your relationship with God. I found this book to be rather profound, and I related to Lysa's story in a big way. Several reviewers criticized the book, saying that it focused on only one cause of weight struggles - emotional eating. While is this true, I don't think that Lysa intentionally ignored other reasons. She wrote about her experience, which included a struggle with weight because she was an emotional eater and turned to food in times of stress and despair. The point of the book was to share what she learned through her journey. I could have easily flown through this book. It's not a long book, but I found myself taking my time and really stopping to think about what Lysa was saying and how it applied to my own experience.

Lysa's style won't be for everyone, and this book is definitely centered around Biblical principles. I have by no means been "cured" of my food cravings, and there are days when it's difficult to walk away from temptations, but what I do have now is a changed perspective on food and tools that I can use to bring me closer to the life that God wants for me. The "struggle" isn't so much of a struggle now, as I have come to know there is someone in my corner that I never realized was there before - God.

[Beth Salesky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard book to read - the words themselves are not difficult but seeing their truth as reflected in your own life in ways that aren't pretty is hard! I highly recommend this to any Christian, woman or not (though it is directed to women, I think men could get a lot from this book too). It comes down to examining the value we give food in our lives - to comfort, console, and reward ourselves, and whether it displaces God. This was so challenging and full of truth - highly recommended. I actually just bought the 60-day devotional to further integrate some of these ideas into my life.

[Joan Haughton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not finish this book, I stopped at day 4 or 18%. On day four it was mentioned that 'The object that enticed Eve might have been an apple" I stopped reading there because anyone who seriously study the Bible knows that this is wrong teaching. I could go no further.

I am sorry because the topic of the book appears to be a good one but the content is more about food than anything else. I pray that God will bless the author but I could not give the book more than one star because I could not continue reading.

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I truly think on some level most of us girls struggle with this whole 'getting healthy' thing. After all, like I've said before, the very downfall of humanity happened around a circumstance where a woman was tempted with food. So, I do think this is an issue God takes very seriously."

I think Lysa did an excellent job unearthing the spiritual side of disordered eating. She writes from her own struggles and victories and so she brings a great deal of wisdom to the table, especially since she relies on appropriate Scripture to make sense of it all.

[Bethbeatty59 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! It's a challenge for all if us not to "live to eat" when there's so much enticing food. Keeping a check on why we eat is very needed. God alone fills all those cravings which we instead fill with overindulgence.

[Jodi Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Convicting, challenging, and eye opening to the idol of food in my life. The church does not regularly talk about gluttony as a sin but Lysa calls it out and encourages us to repent and lean on God for help to eliminate the foods we "crave" more than Jesus.

[Kel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devotional with readings from her book "Made to Crave"

[Tina at Mommynificent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really inspiring and helps to pinpoint the source of cravings you are having trouble saying no to. I found myself highlighting a lot and plan to re-read several sections.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eating is something most of us do every day, and especially in developed countries, we have endless choices of foods to entice us, promising happiness, comfort, satisfaction, or numbness from however we're feeling. We all know that a tub of ice cream is the notorious drug of choice for a girl who got dumped, that a trip to the bar is how many deal with a stressful day, and that food is the best way to ensure people will show up to a meeting. But what we don't readily realize is how deeply food and our eating are entrenched in our spiritual health. We go to food for every emotion under the sun, and this feels perfectly natural. We want a quick fix for our feelings of stress, anxiety, loneliness, anger, or boredom. And our knee-jerk reaction is food.

Lisa brings this struggle to light and challenges her readers, with a nonjudgmental, humble and humorous spirit, to consider the spiritual benefits of learning to turn to God in their moments of need rather than turning to food. This is not just an issue for those whose struggle with food is more outwardly apparent. This is something I think most if not all women, and men, struggle with. Learning to be aware of how your cravings for food are linked to your emotions, and retraining your brain to go to God with those emotions rather than seeking a quick fix in food, has the potential to bring your relationship with God to a new level of intimacy.

This isn't a diet book. It's a look at how we go to things we crave, and a dissection of what the root cause of those cravings is. Once we know what the root cause of our cravings are, we can learn to bring those concerns to God, rather than seeking whatever it is we're seeking instead of Him. The principles she applies to food can really be applied to many areas of life, and open our eyes to the many subtle things that we turn to instead of God. If you struggle with eating healthily, or if you struggle with looking to anything besides God for satisfaction, this book may be a helpful tool to begin seeing the connection between your emotions and your cravings, and provide an encouraging look at how freedom-inspired discipline and transformation can bring new growth and wholeness to your relationship with God.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made to Crave was a book I only found out about when my Trim Healthy Mama coach recommended it to me during my first trimester of my first ever pregnancy. Although I’d heard about TerKeurst before, I’d never actually read anything by the author.

Now, listening to the audio recording (borrowed from my library), I’m thinking:

- I’m not a big fan of this narrator (different from the author)
-This book was so engaging only two or three chapters in, that I’m already recommending it to people
-A copy of this book probably needs to come live on my bookshelf

With all of that being said, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of the actual book.

Even prior to chapter six there were so many insights, I’d pause the recording to think about what was just said. However, in chapter six, there was a major truth bomb dropped on my head.

TerKeurst talks about a passage of scripture, and analyzes it – which happens often in Made to Crave. The meaning she gets out of it though… it’s a passage about food in Philippians, and Terkeurst explains how food can rule us, especially if we find “certain foods impossible to walk away from”.

Until I spent time listening to the wisdom in Made to Crave, I never realized what a deep impact on our spiritual lives food could have – or our food choices could have.

Overall
Made to Crave was an excellent read listen (ignoring the voice of the narrator and just focusing on the writing) that I greatly enjoyed. I laughed about as much as I cringed from my toes being stomped on so hard.

One thing to know about this book, if listening where others can hear (especially young ones) is that TerKeurst mentions sex about as frequently as she mentions carrot sticks. It’s usually in the context of how the Bible refers to sex, but unless you want to be explaining to young ears what that means, I’d be cautious listening aloud.

Note: This review also appears on https://www.allbehindasmile.com/made-... .