Stephen Arterburn - Feeding Your Appetites: Take Control of Whats Controlling You

FEEDING YOUR
APPETITES

TAKE CONTROL OF WHAT'S CONTROLLING TOU!

FEEDING YOUR APPETITES

2004 by Stephen Arterburn.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Stephen Arterburn published in association with Alive Communications, 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920.

Debra Cherry published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Literary Agents, Orange, California.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Cover Design: Brand Navigation, LLC | www.brandnavigation.com
Cover Image: Photonica/Iconica
Interior Design: Inside Out Design & Typesetting

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Arterburn, Stephen, 1953
Feeding your appetites : take control of whats controlling you / Stephen Arterburn & Debra Cherry.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7852-8924-1
1. Compulsive behaviorReligious aspectsChristianity. 2. Self-controlReligious aspectsChristianity. 3. AddictsReligious life. I. Cherry, Debra L. II. Title.
BV4598.7.A767 2004
241'.68dc22

2004011514

Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 RRD 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

ALCOHOL. POWER. MONEY. FOOD. SEX. Shopping. Gambling. All are capable of causing normal appetites to become full-blown addictions. More than twenty-five years ago, I (Steve) started working with people whose appetites were out of control. Desire had literally taken over and caused ruin in their lives.

As hard as these people struggled, getting their problem appetites under control had proved out of the question. The original experiences with whatever they desired could not be repeated. Euphoria that had once made them feel so good was beyond reach no matter how hard they tried to recapture it. It was as if they were pursuing a counterfeit of their original affection. Satisfying that particular desire no longer delivered the same promise. Appetites once held in healthy balance were now losing a battle as compulsion drove these people to repeat their addictive behaviors, despite negative consequences. Their original, God-given appetites were now painful addictions.

I have been exactly where they were. I remember what life was like out of control and how I was barely hopeful of a life beyond mere survival. My first struggle was with food. Enough was never enough. My favorite women were Sara Lee, Little Debbie, Aunt Jemima, and Mrs. Butterworth. Given a chance, I would have become a lover to any of them. And that was my other problem appetite. Sex became a soothing, satisfying fix for me. I was promiscuous and loved to be loved. But no woman could fill the emptiness I felt inside. Not even the baby I created with one filled that hollow. And the subsequent abortion I paid for intensified the appetites of my heart.

Food and sex couldnt heal what was wrong. So when I started working with people whose appetites were out of control, like mine, I was actually working for me. (Of everyone, the healer is often in the greatest need of help.) As I began working with those termed out of control, I met others who were on the road to recovery and now regaining control of their lives. These success stories were learning how to be conquered by nothing because they were finding out how to crave nothing. Their humility and gratitude regarding their victory was intriguing and palpable. I wanted to be like them; I wanted to possess their wisdom and be in possession of myself.

So I set out on a journey to understand what I had to do to get my appetites under control. Along the way I learned something amazing: every human being has an inborn desire to know God, but our personal and selfish wants get in the way. Our desire for knowledge of our Creator is taken hostage, and we find ourselves captured instead by appetites for foods, feelings, or experiences. We can identify with the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 7:15 and following: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.... For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.... Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Paul is talking about sin in the theological sense. Adam and Eves desires were in perfect harmony with God and His creation. But with the Fall, sin came into the world and has ever since caused mankinds appetites to become attached, and even enslaved, to various ungodly behaviors, material possessions, and even people.

When I fully understood this reality, I realized that my choices to satisfy my various problem appetites were symptomatic of my ongoing, willful rebelliousness against God. God gave me these appetites. I am supposed to live as He intended and to enjoy Him. However, when I let my appetites get out of balance and allowed them to take priority in my life, God became distant and my behavior less Christlike.

Before now you may not have given much thought to what drives your life and why certain behaviors seem out of controlor that there is a connection between your personal addictions and your walk with the Lord. If so, you are not alone. I am one such example. When I realized I couldnt get my appetites under control on my own strength, I started down the road to healing. After I surrendered my considerable burdens to the God who created me and admitted that fixing myself was beyond my capabilities, God brought my appetites back under control.

In October 2003 I was in Cape May, New Jersey, with three hundred incredible men and women who were struggling with their weight. They had each paid nearly two thousand dollars to learn how to take control of their craving for food and no longer be defined by their weight.

When I conduct these institutes, I invite people who previously attended to come back at a special rate. Some favorite people were among those returning alumni who came to Cape May. I had gotten to know them at other events we produced, so I felt very comfortable asking them a tough question: Initially you came to a seminar because your desire for food was out of control. If you have since lost weight and taken control of your appetite, what is your state of mind when you keep that appetite in control? More precisely, what enhances your ability to control that appetite?

My question was met with silence. It appeared that they had not considered the driving, controlling, self-destructive force behind their personal compulsions. If you think this is insignificant, consider what it would be like to sit in the sunshine each afternoon and be burned every day for days on end, yet never question where that source of painful heat was coming from.

I felt the uneasiness in the group as each person stopped to con-sider the root cause of their weight problem. Perhaps you are in the same place, unsure of how to begin this journey of healing. If so, this is the book for you. But this journey wont be quick, and it wont be easy. Change requires perseverance, even when our circumstances are painful and the journey takes a long time.