Spend time now thinking about how you will handle temptations when they occur. Undoubtedly you will be tempted to fall back into your old ways of handling life's difficulties--how will you respond? We recommend that you write a list of the steps you will take when you are tempted. You can include some of the following on it:
- I'll cry out to God and ask Him to help me, remembering that He has promised to never leave me or forsake me.
- I'll focus my thoughts on His goodness and His wonderful blessings in my life.
- I'll remember that my old desires or idols have never helped me find peace or joy.
- I'll call my accountability partner and ask her for prayer.
- If possible, I'll go out for a walk or move myself away from the kitchen to another room.
- I'll remember that God Is watching me and that He loves me so much that He sent His Son to die for my sin.
- I'll turn on some praise music or Scripture set to music and begin to sing and thank God for His kindness.
- I'll get out my disciplined eating verses and begin to go over them.
- If I have already begun to sin, I'll stop and repent. I'll remember that I don't have to continue on just because I've started. I'm not striving for perfection, and if I stop now, I know that God will be pleased.
Are you beginning to think of other steps you can include in your contingency plan? If you prayerfully ask God for wisdom, He'll give it to you.
Taken from Love to Eat, Hate to Eat, by Elyse Fitzpatrick. Harvest House Publishers © 1999. Used by permission.