Page 52 - Faith-Based Workbook 8-27-18

TOPUCU Adult Faith-Based Workbook
LESSON 7: PART 2
BURN THE BRIDGE
Welcome to the final portion of the TOPUCU
Starter Program. By getting to the end of
this curriculum you’ve taken a huge step
toward seeing total transformation in your
life. As believers in Christ, we know that
transformation is an integral part of our
walk. In fact there is one scripture that really
correlates with many of the ideas we have
discussed during these seven lessons. That
scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation. The old has passed away; behold,
the new has come.” (ESV) This is such a
powerful verse! It sums up perfectly the
notion that once you’ve made the decision to
accept Jesus into your heart, you’ve become
a new person. As we wrap up our discussion
about burning the bridge, you should keep
that scripture in mind. Think about the fact
that God has something greater and better
for you. Think about how, with His strength
and guidance, the formulas and techniques
you’ve learned through this program can
help you achieve the sort of change you
never thought was possible. Now let’s get
down to it, and finish strong!
BURN THE BRIDGE!
As we’ve discussed, burning the bridge is
essentially all about commitment. It’s about
destroying the links to your past bad habits
and behaviors and not looking back. Let’s
look at an example of a familiar situation
that will help us tie together many of the
ideas we’ve spoken about throughout this
Starter Program.
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Think about a wedding you attended where
you knew someone in the wedding party
or a family member. You knew the bride
or groom. Maybe you knew the parents or
sibling of one of the people getting married.
Either way, it’s safe to say that if you’re at the
wedding, you have a relationship with one
of the people at the front of the church. We
can all agree that most people attending the
wedding do things to prepare themselves
for that special day. And a lot of what they
do relates to their personal appearance.
One of the things you probably noticed is
how they got into better shape or more
specifically lost some weight. Why do you
think that is? Well, you learned the answer
to that in Lesson Two when we spoke about
the Motivation Scales. Who wants to look at
the wedding pictures and be disappointed
in the way they looked? This is a perfect
example of external motivation. They know
the wedding is coming in six months and so
they begin taking the necessary steps to lose
weight. They’re externally motivated because
of how they will look at the wedding in the
eyes of others and not internally motivated
to make a transformation that will last them
a lifetime. And while there are some cases
where external motivation can cause a
long-term transformation, most of the time
it doesn’t. After the wedding, the pounds
gradually begin to pile back on, and in no
time they are back to the weight they started
at or maybe even heavier.
You’re probably saying to yourself, this is
supposed to be a lesson on commitment, not
motivation. Well, here’s the point. They did
all of the hard work to lose weight for the
wedding and they crossed over the bridge
called weight loss. If they didn’t burn the
weight lose bridge they probably found
themselves slowly strolling back over it.
Think about how they came across it in the
first place. Maybe they walked across the
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come." — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
bridge, meaning that they slowly started
working on a weight loss program or they
started cutting back on their portions.
Maybe they decided to give up ice cream
and sweets. Or maybe they jogged across
the bridge, which means in addition to
eating properly they started doing some
physical activity like walking. This way they
burned more calories and took the weight
off a little quicker. Perhaps they’re a Type-A
personality and just got after it and ran
across the bridge. They went into a dramatic
weight-loss program, started riding their bike
and joined a Cross Fit group. You know what
we mean. The point is they chose a speed
with which to go across the bridge.
Let's return from our analogy about a
wedding to you. Almost everyone has done
the same thing with either the weight-loss
bridge, the school-work bridge, the getting-
in-shape bridge, the get-out-of debt bridge,
and the list goes on. Here’s the problem.
After the bridge is crossed over it is left
intact. Because the bridge wasn't burned
when you completed your trip across, you
continued to look back at the other side.
You're not consciously doing it; you do it
because of your habitual behavior, which we
learned about in Lesson One. That old habit
is still stored in your brain and because you
didn't burn the bridge you will continually
be tempted to cross back over it. A few will
sprint back over it, but for most of you, it will
be a slow stroll – you know, like a few potato
Lesson 7: Part 2
chips here and a bowl of ice cream there and
within a few months you’re standing on the
other side again. All that hard work; all that
effort; all that sacrifice is gone in what
seems to be a blink of an eye.
Let’s look at another example. Have you
ever decided that you want to get out of
debt? You start controlling your spending;
you become aware of what you’re using
your money for and decide what you can do
without. You begin down the path towards a
life free of debt. But because you didn’t burn
the bridge, somewhere along the way that
desire for things you don’t necessarily need
begins to creep back into your life and the
next thing you know you have as much, or
more, debt than you did before.
Or, what about the example of someone
challenged with an addiction? It could
be gambling, eating, shopping, drugs or
alcohol… and the list goes on. Think about
it, someone works really hard at overcoming
their addiction and it looks like they’ve made
it, but because they didn’t burn the bridge,
what happens? They’re right back at it.
We’ve all heard people say things like,
what’s it going to hurt if I just make one
more purchase or play that one hand of
cards or have just one beer? This is exactly
what we are talking about. It’s that first step
back across the bridge that leads to the
second and eventually a trip all the way back
over. When you decide to decide, you have
to burn that bridge.
Your memorization for this lesson is to
visualize whatever challenge or habit change
you’re working on through this program;
picture the thing that is holding you back
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