Archive for Addiction
Addiction – Seeking Run Riot!
Posted by: | CommentsAddictions of all kinds are nothing more that self seeking run amok and out of control. The addicted person is so determined to feel good they are willing to put every other aspect of their life at risk to appease their desire. Someone once said the lives of at least nineteen other people improve the moment one alcoholic stops drinking! But, as bad as divorce and addiction may be, there may be no higher form of self seeking than the frivolous lawsuits that characterize American life today. The economic ramifications of litigation have devastated the health care industry. Self seeking believes there should be a guaranteed good outcome to life itself and if something bad happens it is always somebody else’s fault. Self seeking wants to be compensated regardless of the repercussions for others.
Self seeking flies in the face of everything Jesus taught and demonstrated in His life. A Christian has no business indulging in self seeking, but the statistics for divorce, addiction and other symptoms of self seeking among Christians are comparable with statistics in secular society! This fact demonstrates the basic carnality of the American church.
A True Story
Posted by: | CommentsA young person is introduced to a “recreational drug” in high school. He ingests the drug, gets a good feeling and nothing bad happens. He comes to believe after several recreational use sessions that the drug is not harmful and he can control it. Then, he is introduced to harder drugs, such as crack cocaine or ecstasy. Still, nothing bad happens, so his belief that he is in control strengthens. Eventually, his need for drugs escalates and he suddenly discovers he needs more money to keep buying the drugs that help him function. He breaks into a home and steals computers, firearms and stereo equipment to sell and finance his drug habit. He gets caught. He stands trial. He is sentenced to five years in a penitentiary and he is only eighteen years old.
This is a true story about a young man my wife and I have known since he was fourteen years old. It all resulted from his believing several lies and that allowed him to surrender to an overpowering compulsion to take drugs because they made him feel good. He believed he was in control; he believed drugs were not harmful and he did not believe warnings about drugs applied to him.
For a number of years I conducted weekly substance abuse meetings at a prison. A thousand men were incarcerated there and all had similar stories to share about how they wound up in jail. They all believed lies that led them to tragedy and incarceration. Sadly, upon release, 75% of them return to prison within four years. I believe the 25% who do not return find ways to alter their Body of Truth and let go of the lies that got them jailed the first time. Those who can’t or won’t identify the lies they believe to be true, just keep on doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. Some say this is a definition of insanity. I’ll grant that it appears to be insane, but it’s really just the inevitable result of hanging on to lies that are not true, and allowing them to continue to control our thinking, our choices and our behavior.
The truth is found in Jesus Christ, yet so many do not want to look for Him.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Posted by: | CommentsI believe emotional pain occurs when reality overcomes fantasy. By the time I became willing to take an honest look at myself I had enough of it to last a lifetime. I spent my younger days trying to fill my emotional tank with material things and the lusts of the world that provided temporary fulfillment. My most significant partner was alcohol.
Like most people who have experienced addiction, alcohol started out as a form of adult recreation and fun for me. Over time it became my best friend and ultimately my deadly enemy. For many years I could rely on alcohol to make me feel good because it seemed to have a magical power to transform me. The transformation always gave me temporary relief from the shroud of impending doom that surrounded me most of the time.
Alcohol worked for me until I was in my late 30’s. Then it almost killed me. While I avoided experiencing many things that plague alcoholics at the very end, I eventually had enough. Divorce, declining health and bankruptcy, were served up to me in succession.
My emotional pain eventually became so intense I sensed death. I knew I had to do something different. The only problem was that I had tried just about everything I believed might make me happy. I had put my faith in things that had no true value and they had all failed me. Money failed. Possessions failed. People failed. Alcohol failed. Everything I believed to be true about being happy had failed.
So, I decided to chase after God, who never fails.
