ADDICTION
This
[boredom] is why people are so prone to an addictive lifestyle. Many people who
fall into sinful addictions are people who were once terminally bored. The reason
why addictions are so powerful is that they tap into that place in our hearts
that was made for transcendent communion and spiritual romance. These addictive
habits either dull and deaden our yearnings for a
satisfaction we fear we’ll never find or they provide an alternative
counterfeit fulfillment that we think will bring long-term happiness,
counterfeits like cocaine, overeating, illicit affairs, busyness, efficiency,
image, or obsession with physical beauty. They all find their power in the
inescapable yearning of the human heart to be fascinated and pleased and
enthralled. Our hearts will invariably lead us either to the fleeting pleasures
of addiction or to God.
Sam Storms
Copied
from: Pleasures Evermore: The Life-Changing Power of Knowing God by Sam Storms,
© 2000, p. 51. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.org. All rights
reserved.
The Bible has
a different view of how we first get involved in addictions. Instead of
explaining the overpowering urge for [something] as a disease, the Bible talks
about our motivations and desires, forces so powerful that they can take over
our lives. The Bible says that we first choose our addictions, and only then do
our addictions choose us.
Edward T. Welch
Blame
in on the Brain? P&R Publishing, 1998, p. 191.
If we allow
the Bible to reveal the unseen spiritual realities behind addictions, we
suddenly realize that addictions are more than self-destructive behaviors. They
are violations of God’s laws: His laws that call us to avoid drunkenness and
immoderate self-indulgence (Rom. 13:13), His law that calls us to love others
(1 John 4:7), and His law that calls us to live for Him rather than ourselves
(1 Cor. 10:31). This means that addiction is more about someone’s relationship
with God than it is about biology. It reveals our allegiances: what we want,
what we love, whom and what we serve. It brings us to
that all-important question, “Will you live for the fulfillment of your desires
or for God?
Edward T. Welch
Blame
in on the Brain? P&R Publishing, 1998, p. 193.
What about
cravings? The Bible understands them well. It refers to them as temptations.
The Bible recognizes that people with years of sobriety often still struggle
with huge temptations. Sometimes this is just a normal part of the slow process
of change. Sometimes it is simply a consequence of being reminded of something
we once loved. But at other times it can be a result of mentally cherishing and
nurturing the addiction while physically abstaining from it. Instead of asking
God for a desire to hate sin at its roots, some people cling to the pleasant
memories associated with their addiction. They remember that they once had a
potent escape, whereas now they experience the pain of facing daily problems.
Edward T. Welch
Blame
in on the Brain? P&R Publishing, 1998, p. 196.