Overcome compulsion by facing failure head on with courage.
There are many disappointments while fighting to overcome compulsive behavior. You might even end up blaming God for your failure. Asking him questions like “Why is life so unfair?”, or “Why does He doesn’t seem to be listening to the prayers of those who are sincerely begging for help”?

In a world of competition, when you pray to God for your personal success, there are more people out there praying for your failure. It is the course of nature! So it is part of life and we all have to face it but how can we face it with courage and see failure as a learning rather than an label on our personality.

Failure is a viewpoint, a disparity between what one is capable of and what one has actually done. You see the lacking rather than the attempt. The glass is half empty.

In order not to suffer beatings from failure, set realistic goals. Small goals can give a boast to your dignity. Even a small success is a big one if you cherish it.

There are times you still fall off the track, do not quit, but be sympathetic to yourself. Allow yourself to fail; it is an acceptable part of learning. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Focus on the goal, not the failure. Examine what caused you to fail and come up with ideas to prevent it from happening again. Beating yourself up with guilt will just be inflict useless self-punishment. There is no way you can go back in time, so keep moving! Feel regret, then build the desire to change. Feel bad about the decision, then make a decision and move on to your goals. Thomas Edison, did not simply come to a point of thinking that tungsten would be the perfect filament for the incandescent bulb. Success came after nearly a thousand attempts, or 999 failures. Sylvester Stallone, was denied when he requested support from Warner Brothers on his first Rambo. He loaned some funds and produced it by himself. The result? Five movies and endless Rambo repeats on every channel. TV for Real Men. Sheer determination accompanies success.

If you fail, encourage yourself. Think of the things that you have accomplished.

Blowing is part of the process of learning how to do it correctly. You are not a failure. You have come so far and accomplished so much! Bear in mind that their is never a wrong decision. It is by failure that you come to know what is right. Life is like singing Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way”. The song is never wrong, just a bit out of tune. A planet slightly deviated from orbit. With extra effort, you will be back on track.

Fight those feelings of worthlessness. Consider God’s love for you. Feel the forgiveness of a Father’s love. Forgive yourself. Apologize to God for being so miserable and not asking for His help. Thank Him for your failures and the chance to learn.

Rebuild your desire to try again. Look at all the benefits. Come on, you can do it! When you are faced with a seemingly horrendous obstacle, consider them as a challenge. Challenges build paths to a sweet victory. The fulfillment brought about by winning a contest against a hundred participants is great but cannot be paralleled by winning ……

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