BEYOND EMOTIONAL EATING - Spiritual Steps to Gain Victory Over FoodSample

DAY 5: PERSEVERE

Confess – Surrender – Renew – Walk
Learning to consistently implement the four spiritual steps to conquer emotional eating takes time. That’s why Step #5 is so essential: Persevere!

Let’s recap the four steps before we talk about what it means to persevere:

#1: CONFESS
Asking the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin each day – no matter how many times we’ve confessed it before – releases the guilt and reminds us we are not alone.

#2: SURRENDER
Choosing to invite God into our daily struggle through the surrender of our will tells him we’re serious about our desire to transform our habits and glorify him in every corner of our lives. This permits God to take control because he will never override our free will unless we surrender it.

#3: RENEW
Renewing our minds with the daily habit of healthy self-talk with statements or scripture that erase and replace the lies we believe is essential to our lasting transformation. This practice will rewire our brains physically and perform “surgery” on us spiritually.

#4: WALK
Choosing to look up and set our mind on things above so we can walk in the power of the Holy Spirit is essential to overcoming temptation and walking in victory. We were never meant to do this in our own power.

#5: PERSEVERE
When we persevere, we begin to experience encouraging signs that we are indeed making progress. But beware. On this side of Heaven, we never fully “arrive”. We do get stronger and more equipped as we lean into God and put his principles into practice. However, the battle of the flesh will continue for our entire lives because we are human, and the enemy does not want us to succeed.

Not Today, Satan!
Though Satan has lost the battle for your salvation, he is still highly interested in tripping you up and diminishing the effectiveness and intimacy of your walk with God. There are several ways he can disrupt our lives if we allow it.

Here are a few that relate to our desire to live a healthier lifestyle:

Temptation:
He often tempts us by appealing to our natural inclinations and weaknesses. He will tell you that you “deserve” the very food you are trying to avoid. He whispers that you are unfairly deprived and cannot enjoy your social time when others around you are eating and drinking things you are choosing not to.

Doubt and disbelief:
As you tell yourself the truth – that you can have victory with God’s help, he can plant seeds of doubt in your mind, making you question yourself and your faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to help you change.

Accusations and discouragement:
Satan may accuse you when you slip up, making you feel ashamed and condemned. He hopes you will give up on yourself and God. There is a difference between shame and guilt. Guilt is the result of conviction by the Holy Spirit and ideally leads us to confession and repentance which protects us from shame. Shame is from the enemy and tells us we are unworthy of God’s forgiveness. Do not believe this lie!

Idolatry:
The enemy wants you to be obsessed with food or any other thing that makes you feel out of control. Constant focus on what you eat (both positive and negative) diverts your focus from God.

What’s the solution to this roaring lion that wants to devour you? It’s to remind ourselves who this fallen angel is in comparison to God. Satan is not God’s opposite and equal foe. He is God’s creation who in his free will chose to reject God’s love and perfect plan. Yes, he is God’s enemy, but never his equal.

By consistently practicing the four steps of daily confession, surrendering our will, renewing our minds, and walking in the Spirit, we can persevere long enough to build new, godly habits from the inside out. In Jesus’ name, we can overcome our weak flesh and the spiritual attacks we encounter.

Don’t allow Satan to intimidate you! We are “more than conquerors” when we apply God’s truth to our situation. Just like taking your thoughts captive, call out the enemy with a forceful, “Not today, Satan! In Jesus’ name and by his blood, I am victorious”!”

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