Thanks for the link. I've been praying for discipline and self control for a while now and it seems that is something that God wont just give you in an instant, but you have to come into it on your own. its so hard.
Now on to the spiritual:
Oftentimes we are asking God to give us something He's already placed on the inside of us.
2 Peter 1:2,3 - Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue..
God has given us everything we need for victory in this life through the Holy Spirit within, but
we cannot access that victory without knowledge of God's nature and the workings of His kingdom. We acquire knowledge of God primarily through His Word.
The Word says that the fruit, or natural result of the life of the Spirit at work within you includes self-control:
Galations 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control...
How do we cultivate this spiritual fruit? Primarily by abiding in Christ - According to Jesus:
John 15:4,5,7
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Abiding means to dwell in, to remain in, or to settle down in. Jesus also noted specifically that His words must abide in us. On a practical level we abide in Christ by continually being in communion with Him through prayer and the Word on a daily basis. Just as natural branches wither without life from the vine, so we too must seek out continual life from God's Spirit by communing with Him.
So then, knowing that the Word is a living and active force within our lives and hearts and that the Spirit gives us the power to overcome and live in excellence, we must now
act out of faith in God's divine power to conquer our challenges. You cannot wait until you no longer feel gluttonous to take action and say "no" to your urges. Your flesh by nature will always want the opposite of what your spirit wants:
Galatians 5:16-17
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
We are commanded to walk in the Spirit knowing that the flesh will always be at war with the Spirit. It is up to us to strengthen the voice of our spirits within through prayer, the Word, singing spiritual songs, etc. so that we can crucify the flesh.
Galatians 5:24-25
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
So you can now act out of hope and faith since you now know that the power of self-control is already within you, you just have to cultivate and release that power through communion with God and meditating on His Word. Our fleshly challenges don't define our identity, don't let slip-ups depress you, God gives us abundant grace to get back up and try again and after a while you'll be surprised at how much you've changed.
Remember that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (God provides divine power but our actions have to be part of the equation) - The power of life and death is in your tongue,
declare that gluttony does not have power over you and that you can and will overcome this challenge by the power of the Holy Spirit!
Forcing myself to write down what I ate and spent on food on a daily basis so that I could see it in black and white.
Time.
