When my soul is in anguish and my heart is heavy, I know I can open the bible and my spirit will find some peace. It happens every time. It takes a while but, gradually, I feel better and from somewhere comes the strength to carry on. I chose the following scriptures because they still my soul.

Comforting Scripture 1
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet water, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. The Lord is my Shepherd. Psalm 23 NIV

Comforting Scripture 2
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Romans 8:35 NIV

Comforting Scripture 3
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 NIV

Comforting Scripture 4
“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 NIV

Comforting Scripture 5
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12–14 NIV

Make it a habit to spend time with God and find your peace. Praise and thank Him for a good night’s rest and the blessings to come. A new day is a blessing, an opportunity to do better than yesterday.

In the darkness of battling compulsion remind yourself that God listens to every prayer, whether simple or complex. Offer your pains and sufferings to Him. You have not been abandoned.

Butterflies are beautiful, unique, and display an incredible process of transformation. What was a fat, leaf-chomping, tree crawler is now one of the most beautiful creatures in flight. In the same way, humans can transform from tree crawlers being driven by the lower nature to that of a free creatures, flying the skies, enjoying all the blessings of life.

Steps to Change Compulsive Thoughts

1. When you are ready to eat, take a moment to thank God for all He has given.
2. Chew the food well, slowly tasting and enjoying each bite.
3. Enjoy the food and relish each bite. Eat slowly, chewing, tasting and enjoying till the food becomes liquid.
4. Feel content when your stomach tells you have eaten enough.
5. Do not let your mind wander, stay focused on the act of eating.
6. When you finish eating, congratulate yourself for doing well. You have eaten in a disciplined manner. Feel good that you are giving your body good nutrition.

Before you eat, consider your goals for the day. See yourself accomplishing them easily and feeling good about it. Visualize yourself enjoying the day. Decide to be loose and be child-like. Get determined to have some fun, relishing each second, as though they are the last moment on earth.

If you are feeling lonely, question the thought. If you feel worthless, challenge it. You are a kind, loving, patient person who works hard at whatever you do. You are not worthless; you are a good person, rare and unique. Be at peace with yourself. Forgive your mistakes most especially yourself. You don’t have to be perfect. Let go of those uncomfortable feelings and trust in God. Give Him your doubts and suffering. You do not need food for comfort. Food cannot give you what you want. Straighten up your shoulders, loosen up, let go, and be at peace. There is nothing to worry about. It will all work out.

The cares and pressures of the day will steal your enjoyment if you let it. Stay focused on the food. Make the decision and be firm to leave any problem in God’s hands. If you are tense, take a few deep breaths, inhale and slowly exhale to the word “peace”. Do not let your thinking get negative. Declare to your soul: “This is going to be a good day!”

You are eating healthy and disciplining yourself and you should feel good about that. At the end of the meal, feel the guilt-free contentment of what you have eaten. There will be times you may still feel a little hungry, ignore the feeling of hunger and move to your next activity. If after all these positive thoughts, you find yourself still wrestling with the desire to eat more, create a feeling of revulsion then get moving.

Compulsive people easily yield to temptations. It is a battle we need to face and win. The following are some of people’s confessions while battling overeating :

1. “God’s power is greater than my sin nature. When I resist sin, Christ moves into action. I have been given the authority to control sin and I am using it.”

2. “This temptation is a test of loyalty to God. I will pass it.”

3. “This trial I am going through is a gift.”

4. “I am willing to suffer physical discomfort. My suffering for Christ will turn to joy. You have suffered for me. In this, I suffer for Him.”

5. “This temptation is empty. The more I want, the more it causes me pain. I have decided to sacrifice all, wanting nothing, but to know Christ and let Him fulfill my needs.”

6. “There is no pleasure to expect from eating wrongly. My anticipation is stupid. I am increasing sin’s power by anticipation. I am becoming excited about anticipating something that is not real.”

7. “I do not accept this negative emotion, thought, feeling or anxiety. I will not believe a lie.”

8. “I repent. This desire is a sin. I have no excuse. Please, help me, Lord.”

9. “I am taking Your way out Lord. There is a way out of every temptation.”

10. “Overeating is gluttony. It is a sin. In stuffing my body for pleasure, I am abusing the body God has given me.”

11. “Food cannot fill the feeling of emptiness, only Christ can. The more I use food to run from inner pain, the worse it gets. I need to face it with courage. Insecurity, fear and doubt and worry of the future will not rule me. Christ has promised to supply all my needs according to His riches and glory. He is the Source of joy. He is the Source of peace. He is the Source of love. The more I draw close to the Source, joy, peace and love will come.

12. “I am a new creation in Christ. God has recreated me into an eternal being. The Creator of the universe lives in me and I am free. I am free of addiction. I need nothing from this world. I am content with what I have.”

With these, we see different approaches in countering overeating. Whatever way we choose, it all narrows to discipline.

Spirituality and Compulsive Behavior

The mind is a battlefield. It is a place of dread where a solitary soldier must cross a minefield of worry. But you are not alone. God is with you. Armed with a vacuum cleaner in one hand and Godly thoughts in the other, you take on Goliath with weapons of patience, faith and hope. You can be improving your thoughts on life while vacuuming, picking veggies in a grocery store or weeding the garden. You can do it while standing or sitting. Every time you change from a negative thought to a positive one, you have gained a victory.It is not easy. Self-defeating thoughts have become routed in your thinking. It takes a lot of work. There will be times when you want to give up, but never must you quit. When you win, the payoff is gigantic. Peace, hope and feeling loved all come through winning battles over negative thoughts.

Challenge your negative thinking. Refuse to give in to nagging, complaining emotions. The next time that doubt shows its ugly insecure face, say “No! I am forgiven and that is that.” Feel good about it. Thank God for being forgiven. When you are down and the world seems bleak and full of problems, think good, encouraging thoughts and you will have peace. The mind easily goes into the worry mode, mulling over all the gloomiest details.

When faced with a problem, get the facts down on paper, and then make a decision about what you are going to do about that problem. When you are tempted to worry, you can say to yourself, “No, I have made a decision. This is in God’s hands. Worrying will not help.” If you want to do something positive, pray about the situation, but pray believing that God is working it out. Visualize a good outcome to the problem and see yourself thanking God for answering your prayers. You are His child. He loves you. He has prepared a place for you. You are forgiven of your sins. He will protect you. He has promised to bless you. Get emotional, rouse up some passion, and get angry at negative thoughts. Don’t just go along for a ride. You are in charge. You have control over your thoughts and your actions.

Compulsive behavior destroys one’s sense of worth. It takes a strong willpower to rebuild self-esteem.

Failure can challenge us to try again or smash our self-worth. It can create determination or erode what resolve we have. We can use the failure to dig into our character and pull out strength, or lose all hope. The easy way is to give up. We stop trying so we won’t get hurt again. All of your energy is sapped. We feel hopeless. But it is at this very point where victory is won. This is the point of faith where we can draw on the deepest strength and use it to build the determination to try again.

The effect of failure distorts our thinking. It is like entering a dark tunnel. We can’t see our goals or even remember why they were important. We tell ourselves, “so what, it never really mattered.” But, we are lying to ourselves. Don’t let yourself get away with it. Remind yourself of the value of your goals. Build desire and enthusiasm. Tell yourself why it is important. Don’t get mad at you; get mad at the behavior. Where is your fighting spirit? Are you going to sit back and take it? Are you going to let a stupid little failure push you around? You’re tougher than that!

Write out your goals and what you want to accomplish. Enthuse yourself about your goals by visualizing you achieving them. Make achieving them feel pleasurable. See the things that will tempt you from your goals and create a feeling of revulsion as you think of them. Spend time building the desire to achieve.

Biblical Perspective

We spend so much of our life on the little useless details. We easily become sidetracked. We forget what our goals are and lose enthusiasm. Put your energy toward what is important. You need to invest time in encouraging yourself to move forward. When you feel like giving up, remember where you are going and why you are going there. And most importantly, pick your goals in prayer and humility before God, for it is only by His hand that they can be reached. Remember, What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? (Matthew 16:26)

Thou shalt not eat cookies. Thou shalt not eat ice cream. Thou shalt not eat peanut butter cups. And when you do, a big mean god up in heaven shakes his head with disgust. “Look at the failure I’ve made.”

But if you failed, God failed because He made you. But God didn’t fail. Everything in nature is unique including you, and nothing is perfect. Even the most perfect orchid is not perfect, and neither is anyone here on earth. God does not make us imperfect. He makes us unique. So it is time to give yourself the privilege of making mistakes and loving yourself in spite of them.

The message of Christ is forgiveness; we can never meet the standard required to get into Heaven, so He met it for us on the cross. We are accepted as we are; all we are asked to do is try. We think of repentance as a sad sinner before an angry god, but repentance is simply living with the desire to be right with Him. Repentance is feeling bad about hurting God and wanting to do it His way.

“I’m sorry God. I made a mistake. What I did was wrong. I really want to change. Please help me. Lord, I love you.”

A prayer like that puts us in a position where we are ready to change. “The action was wrong, but I know you love me and I do want to change.”

The Bible holds out the highest calling as a challenge: Be holy, because I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16) Wow! You can’t get much higher than that. But it is not a standard. If you tried to live up to that as a standard, you’d fail every three nano seconds. But all we are asked to do is to try with all our hearts. Trying is the goal.

God is proud of you. He is looking down, smiling with love. Encouragement sparkles in His eyes. He looks upon one whom He dearly loves. God can’t hate us. He loves us too much. He loves you no matter what sin you commit. His arms of welcome are always open.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:24

All sin is a test of loyalty to God. We are constantly forced to choose between self-gratification and living a disciplined spiritual life. This is the challenge of God. What are you willing to give up? Are you willing to put an end to your selfish nature that your godly qualities may shine like a star in the heavens? He has many gifts for those who overcome.

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.
Revelation 3:21

The TV generation is being raised on the pabulum of sitcoms, cartoons and game shows. It’s a generation of spoon-fed dreams and corrupt morality. There are a million images for impact. The target? It’s your wallet and imagination.
Watching TV is a full-time job.
Yet, God hungers for your attention.
Great achievements start with a vision. With time and effort, those visions sprout into reality. Dreams and visions give us direction. We head towards our dreams the way a plant seeks light. When we feel secure and comfortable in our minds with a dream, that is the path we will most likely take. Dreams make achievements reachable. Dreams remove our fear of sacrifice and build courage and desire to reach that goal. Visionaries become great leaders. For a person with a vision, accomplishment is the natural outcome. They believe it will happen, and success is just a matter of time and effort.

Imagination ties into the power of faith. Because we are created in God’s image, we have the capacity to bring into being what we believe in the most, either for good or bad. Reflecting on my life, I realized that my thoughts and imagination preceded everything bad that had happened. I thought about it, imagined it, then it came into being. What I had believed was brought into being. My thinking preceded both the good and bad.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Matthew 21:22

Worry about getting a spot on new clothing and sure enough, it appears. Visualize negative imagery and the faith principle will work towards making that imagery a reality. If you see yourself as an unhappy, fat, sick, out-of-shape failure that is unloved and rejected, then those factors will multiply. Imagine disaster and the worst usually happens. Stop imagining yourself negatively. See yourself at your best: healthy, happy, composed, in control, full of joy and peace — then believe it.
Remember God’s commercial. You are a child of God whom He loves. He values you. You are important to Him. You are one of a kind. Imagine what He feels looking at you. A father cannot help but love his child. Imagination is a gift, and we need to use it to:

Encourage us to achieve
Inspire noble sacrifice
Stir us to challenge
Give hope in suffering

Imagination fuels our desires. The pizza was cooking in your brain long before it arrived at the door. If it is not pizza, we are imagining disaster, problems and creating horrible pictures to fuel our worry. Fight against negative imagery by using your imagination constructively. Visualization is easy; just have a daydream of yourself enjoying a great day with everything just perfect. If you are to be playing a sport, see yourself giving it everything you have, playing the best game you have ever played. My friend and I kept losing on the badminton court. Our opponents were really good, and we were just learning. But, we had just learned how to visualize, and this was a chance to try it out. We went in there with the attitude; we are going to return every shot. We are going to play the best we have ever played. I envisioned us winning, and it happened. We beat them with a score of 21 to 12 and 21 to 8. Twice we beat them. We were stunned as much as our opponents were. We never thought that we could win, never mind demolish them.

Using our imagination had stirred us to play harder. It had brought the best out
of us. And that is how we want to live, at our best. Our imagination is a creative force.

God spoke a Word and the universe came into being. We have been given a minute aspect of that same power if we want to use it.