Binging is a word you hear a lot - we binge on chocolate, fast food, Netflix, social media, alcohol... I know a lot about binging, I used to have an eating disorder. I know for a fact that in most cases, neither binging or completely denying ourselves is good. God intended us to have balance in our lives. There is nothing wrong with chocolate, fast food, Netflix or alcohol as long as it is part of a balanced life (and you are over the legal drinking age).
Luke 9:23 says, Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. When we binge, we are thinking only of ourselves and how to gratify our selfish desires. So how do we stop? Ephesians 5:18 talks about binge drinking. Paul said, Don’t be drunk with wine, which will ruin your life, but be filled with the Spirit. Here's my paraphrase for the 21st century, Don't binge on wine, chocolate, chips, Maccas, cake, Netflix, Instagram or Snapchat. Instead binge on the things of the Spirit - reading and studying your Bible, prayer, worship, giving thanks. You get drunk on wine by drinking too much of it, so it follows that you become filled with the spirit by feeding it - reading the Bible, praying, meditating on God's Word, singing songs of worship, giving thanks to God for all that he has done for you... Often binging is triggered by certain emotions or feelings such as despair, hopelessness, depression, guilt, shame, pain... Ironically, binging usually increases these feelings, rather than relieve them. One of the most effective ways of getting our minds off of ourselves is to do something for someone else. Being kind to someone else can be a great release valve to those negative emotions. In Ephesians 4:32 Paul instructed us to Be kind and compassionate to one another. Next time you feel yourself spiralling towards another binge session, do something for someone else - ring or visit a friend (don't just text or message them), make someone a nice card and send it to them, help your mum with the chores, play a board game or computer game with your brother or sister, write positive, encouraging comments on people's social media posts, bake a cake and take it to your neighbour... It's obviously a bit more complicated than what I've outlined above but next time you feel yourself spiralling out of control and tempted to binge on [insert your weakness here], fill up on the spirit instead of chocolate and be kind to someone. It might not solve all your problems, but it might help.
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