Effective habits for normal eating allow you to relax and move forward into life. As you move forward, the conflicts of temptation gradually drop away. Turn your gaze outward rather than inward. Forget yourself and temptation as you work to make life better, especially for the good of others. Even your daily tasks can be done in this spirit of service. There will be much more about this in Part Four.
When you are trying to eat normally, worries about weight gain or weight loss may attempt to invade. Don’t entertain those worried thoughts. They only stall your forward momentum. There will be times of failure but don’t allow those feelings of doubt and discouragement to take root. Set aside some time each day to rest in complete dependence on God. Then prayerfully express your desire to eat normally. Summon your faith as you wholeheartedly dedicate yourself to God’s will. Then, step forward into the joys of life.
In all this discussion of physical causes and eating strategies, we easily forget the spiritual aspect of this struggle. The four habits for normal eating are helpful, but these habits are not powerful on their own. Real power for self-change comes through spiritual transformation. Let’s go back over some of the points made in the earlier parts of this book.
Overeaters, like everyone else, are searching for happiness. Food has become the primary way we try to control our own happiness. We eat to induce basic feelings of security, relaxation, stimulation, and pleasure. These four states of well-being can be further understood if elevated to the spiritual emotions of love, peace, hope, and joy.
There is no need to control your happiness with food. There is a better way, a way of spiritual transformation, which leads to happiness. Dependence on God provides the trustworthy love we seek. Wholehearted desire for God’s will and presence gives rise to the inner peace we crave. As we deploy faith along with effort, we are filled with the hope that we can achieve our goals. And finally, the joy of living is truly ours as we devote ourselves to love.
Spiritual transformation gives birth to the happiness, freedom, and self-mastery we seek when confronted by any type of temptation. Here are some reminders of ancient wisdom, which help us on our journey to a new and better life.
Four Prayerful Reminders
* Depend on God
* Desire God's will and presence
* Deploy faith along with effort
* Devote yourself to love
From Part I
Pause to rest a while with God. Lean on him with childlike trust. It’s safe to confess your fears and failures. Relinquish control over happiness. Depend on God, rather than temptation, for wholeness and security.
From Part II
In prayer, express your desire to change for the better. Offer all your desires and problems to God. Then let go and let God in. Above all, desire God’s will and presence. In the liberating light of God’s will, temptations fade and higher desires flourish.
From Part III
Prepare to do your part to carry out your decisions. Deploy faith along with effort. Through living faith, rely on the transforming power of the Spirit. Be assured that God will strengthen and guide you through the temptations of today.
A preview of Part IV
Resume your duties and join the pursuits of truth, beauty, and goodness. Venture forth, forgetting yourself, as you devote yourself to love. Pause to give thanks and praise. Be cleansed of temptation as you walk the path of life with God.
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Now it is on to Part IV. The time of planning, as well as prayer, is over. Stand upright in faith and step forward with God.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
For he satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills with good things.
Psalm 107:8–9
