This Case Study was submitted by a Counseling Solution friend and reader.

Alma has been a Christian for 25 years. She just turned 42 this year and is a member of a solid teaching local church. She also is actively involved in several of the ministries. Alma was divorced 9 years ago and has not remarried. Her current dress size is 0.

Not only is it evident that she is thin, but rarely can you have a conversation with her in which she does not mention her weight or dress size. And when Alma is not at a church function she will be in the gym.

Along with church and working out Alma’s other “obsession” is food. She will go on fasts where she gives up entire food groups for a year! Her reasoning is that she believes she will draw closer to God by giving up certain foods. Frequently you will hear her comparing herself to other women her age and how she “looks so much better” than them. On other days she talks about how fat or bloated she feels.

One day she is complaining that her clothes are too tight and the next time you see her she is talking about how her clothes are too big. Her life seems to move in these contradictions. Though she comes across as an intensely private person, you get daily debriefs on her weight, thoughts about others, food and other related issues.

Application Questions

1. What do you think Alma’s main problem is?
2. What is it about the Gospel that she is not grasping?
3. What questions would you like to ask her if you were counseling Alma?
4. Here is a quick glance into her idol factory (ruling motives of the heart): Self-Righteousness, Control, Comfort, Guilt & Fear.
5. How would you prioritize them and why would you put them in that order?

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