Full, by Asheritah Ciuciu, book review

Full: Food, Jesus and the Battle For Satisfaction

Author

Asheritah Ciuciu

Publisher Info

Moody Publishers, 2017. 256pp.

Summary

It is a fact that the Christian today is in a spiritual conflict and food fixation is an ongoing battle in that war. It is this struggle that Asheritah Ciuciu addresses in her latest endeavor Full: Food, Jesus and the Battle for Satisfaction. In this book she provides encouraging strategies to combat food cravings through sound Biblical principles.

However, if you are searching for another formulaic self-help diet book complete with menus and recipes, you won’t find it here. The only recipe Asheritah Ciuciu presents is a recipe for the soul.

Have you ever wondered why we choose to self-destruct with food when we feel emotionally out of control? Ms. Ciuciu presents sensible answers to that question. As the author so aptly acknowledges, real change must come from within and as Proverbs 23:7 so richly states, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, ‘Eat and drink!’ But his heart is not with you” (NASB).

Asheritah Ciuciu is a very talented writer and the spiritual focus of the book was most welcome and enjoyable. The author draws from personal experience and many will identify with how she overcame her food struggles. However, I was disappointed with the editing and publishing aspect of it. First, I would have suggested differently arranged chapters. Secondly, I found the formatting of various testimonials inconvenient to read. Tiny italic print against a grey background was much too difficult to decipher. I do hope, if this book goes into a second printing, those changes can be accommodated.

At the end of each chapter she presents excellent questions which should motivate and encourage readers to personally evaluate why they act as they do concerning food choices. Finally, above all, she stresses the fact that one is never powerless when clothed in the full armor of God.

Benefit for Pastoral Ministry

Pastors deal constantly with church members who struggle with issues of diet, health, and faith. Many pastors look over their congregation each Sunday wondering how many in attendance are digging their own graves by the mouthful. Many Christians have not made the connection between faithfully following God and their diet.

The overarching question addressed by Ciuciu is who will win this battle as we face trials and temptations? Will we trust God’s Word or Satan’s half-truths? God’s Word has remained absolute truth while Satan is the great propagator of lies. He whispers many in our ear and we fall for them. Yes of course, he acknowledges, God is the Great Physician. He can heal you but surely by now with science, mankind is smarter than God. And thus we search for earthly antidotes to take away our pain. Then he convinces us we are failures, unworthy of love and he has a better answer to our emotional cravings. Therefore, food becomes our drug of choice becoming a god of comfort instead of our Lord.

The Christian fights a continual battle against food obsession and cravings. Food will never fill that empty pain, only Jesus can. Putting on the entire Armor of God is essential in overcoming this spiritual conflict and choosing wisely. But until recognition occurs as to what one is truly searching for, a health-conscious person is traveling along a lengthy journey to nowhere. Through Full, the author lays out a much better pathway.