Incurable but manageable

I attended a fund raiser Saturday night for an organization dedicated to helping alcoholics and drug addicts especially targeting those in prison. One of the speakers stated that he had been sober for seven years and he did not believe that someone is an addict for life and that God could change someone so completely that they will no longer desire those things and God had done just that for him. Hmmm I could not buy into that one, but when it was my turn to speak I did not dispute his statement.

I do believe though that addiction is a lifelong battle and must be addressed one day at a time for as long as one lives. My belief in life-long addictions aside, it does not mean that we must succumb to them. As I see it, alcoholism, drug addiction, and other addictions are incurable, progressive diseases, and the only known effective treatment for someone with an addictive personality is abstention. I have incredible self-discipline, an unshakable belief in God, and indeed my faith in God is as steadfast as I believe it can be, as evidenced by the fact that I do not fear death in the slightest and in fact am looking forward to entering heaven and residing their forever; however in spite of my tremendous faith in God, on occasion I still have an intense desire to take a drink that I must combat with every fiber of my being. I have desired drugs in like manner as well; particularly after surgery and the doctor was prescribing pain killers for me like they were candy.

Personally I do not think it is beneficial to tell people that when they become a Christian and develop a strong faith in the Lord that their desire for whatever it is that they are addicted to will go away. The truth is that most addicts are not successful the first time around and most try to quit again and again, only ending up having relapse after relapse. Is this because their faith in God is not adequate? The Bible states that the mind is willing but the flesh is weak. Similar to someone rigidly staying on their diet only to relapse and abandon their diet, binge gorge, and go back to loving the fork can lead to depression; particularly if someone, whom they respect, is telling them that they personally do not ever crave whatever they were addicted to because of their deep faith in God. I fear such talk could lead weaker individuals who might lose a battle or two to question their own faith and maybe even lead them to give up on trying to quit altogether and maybe even give up on God.

I have read the Bible many times and I have never seen where it stated that having faith in God would change someone so much that they NEVER gave in to temptation. Just the opposite, it states that the only one who was totally successful in resisting temptation and did not sin was Jesus. Consider one of Jesus’ favorite disciples, Peter. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed in the morning. Peter said that he would never deny Christ; after all his faith was rock solid; he had seen Jesus heal the sick, give sight to the blind, raise the dead, walk on water, and so forth and he loved Jesus with all of his heart.

What did Peter do? He did indeed deny even knowing Christ after the Roman soldiers seized Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, and when the rooster crowed at dawn he had done so on three separate occasions, just as predicted by Jesus.

Why is this in the Bible? I believe in part to instruct us that it is exceedingly difficult to love God and obey His commands as Jesus could. Also to give comfort to us when we see the great disciple Peter’s weakness, (and the rest of the disciples who initially hid out in a room cowering in fear), and to realize that we too are weak, and even if our faith is as solid as the biceps and triceps on a muscle head from Gold’s Gym, we will occasionally fail and for that reason we must remain on guard constantly.

I am not making excuses, but the Bible warns time and time again that satan has supernatural powers and was created as the most powerful angel by God. He still has those powers and is an adversary that knows our every weakness and exploits them at every opportunity. Go back to Peter and read the rest of the story about his life and you will find that after Jesus appeared to the disciples, the second time around Peter and the other disciples found extraordinary faith and became emboldened and went on to bravely suffer for their love of Christ while spreading the word of Jesus, and in fact were eventually martyred for Christ.

How can we resist? The Bible tells us to put on the full armor of God; (study God’s word the Bible, have regular fellowship with other Christians, and pray continuously throughout the day). God also gave us a brain and we should use it. If your addiction is food, do not work as a chef, go to fast food restaurants daily, or hang with others afflicted with the same malady; if you drink too much alcohol, then do not be a bartender or hang out in bars; if you cannot stop watching porn on the Internet, cancel your Internet subscription or put an ax in your computer; if you love drugs, don’t hang out with people who use them; if you lust for your co-worker, do not ask them, (or accept an invitation), to have lunch with you or have a few drinks after work Duhhh.

God knows our weaknesses; however we should petition Him daily and bombard Him with requests to build a burning wall of flames around us to protect us from temptation. God says temptation comes from satan and that He is incapable of tempting anyone or being tempted Himself; however for some reason that only He knows, He does allow our powerful adversary satan to tempt us, but He assures us that He will never allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to resist and that He always provides a way to escape temptation. All I can say is do what I try to do; look for it, and when you find it, exit quickly…

If however, you miss the opportunity to exit without succumbing to temptation and fail; then don’t get all down on yourself. View it as losing a battle and not the war. Just vow to win the next battle and the war! Ask God to help in that regard, because the Bible is emphatic that we cannot battle satan alone and win!

After all is said and done, we are only human and that my friends is why Jesus had to come and sacrifice His perfect life for us in order for it to fulfill God’s holy laws of righteousness. God cannot tolerate sin; ANY sin! When God’s laws are broken, they must be punished. Jesus was the only one capable of redemption via satisfying God’s punishment for you and for me and for the entire world’s sin; He willingly did so and took our punishment on that cross even though He never committed the first sin. That is why I love him with all of my heart! Because of Him, we are blessed; we are forgiven; we will be made like Jesus in the eyes of God throughout eternity! Give your heart, your soul, your mind, your body, and your spirit to Him today; won’t you?

Psalm 32:1
Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord does not impute
iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no
deceit.