Last week we talked about the common thinking that addictions are a disease rather than calling it what it is: SIN! It also transfers the responsibility for the choices we have made to something or someone else. After all, if it’s a disease, we are not responsible. There is also no real hope in being set free if we have a disease: it is life- long.
The second common thinking we have is that, as an addict, we will always be recovering and never recovered. Even if you stop using and don’t use the rest of your life you are always a “dry drunk,” or, “in recovery.” It is recovery without ever recovering. It engenders feelings of hopelessness, endlessly trapped in a cycle of addiction, and promises of relapses to come.
If the belief is that an alcoholic will always be an alcoholic, even if he quits drinking, where is the hope or victory? After all, he is a victim without any real hope of a solution. Why bother to quit at all? The word “recovery” implies a disease. Recovery means I’m focused on the past and the present, but never on the future.
Let’s see what Jesus says about this. In John 8:32 Jesus tells us: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” And what is the truth? Jesus says in John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth and life…” And Jesus says in John 8:36: “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!!!” This means truly free, free for good!! Jesus makes a guarantee that no other treatment program claims to give – true, lasting freedom from addiction!
When we continually dwell on who we were we cannot become who we are and who Jesus created us to be, and Jesus tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” New Creation!! Get that?? The old has passed! You are no longer an addict: You are Free, you have been delivered, you have victory through what Christ did for you! Now that’s GOOD NEWS, and news that gives hope in the midst of hopelessness.
As I stated last week, as Christians if our Sunday theology does not match our Monday to Saturday beliefs, we have a problem. Addictions programs have come and gone, psychology methods change monthly, and no two agree on the same things. The world tries to put band aids on a spiritual problem, a heart problem only mendable by the one who created it: Jesus Christ.
This is where we need to trust in the sufficiency of scripture, which never changes, and has been the same since the beginning of time. It’s God’s word and it needs to be the authority in our lives and it trumps all other things. Self-help books come and go, there are never ending sections of them at book stores. Even the AA Blue book and the steps, though you may “think” they are faith based and “spiritual,” they are NOT God’s word. The more you know about God and who He is, the more your life changes.
Won’t you come to know Him today and be Set Free!!!! I am Brian Cole, and I am a Jesus Freak! I am a new creation; the new has come, the old has passed. I have a new heart, I am a masterpiece adopted by Christ! Won’t you join me in being set free? Jer. 33:3.
Last Update: May 14, 2017 8:34 am CDT
