Addiction is the notion of wanting something so bad that you think you must have it to survive, or at least to be able to enjoy our life today. It’s one of satan’s most crafty tools. Is is possible to be addicted in a positive way? For instance, eating healthy, exercise, spending time in God’s Word? Though these are good things for each of us to do, an addiction to these is wrong. As an addict, your thoughts and desires mostly revolve around that which you are addicted to. Our survival is not based on obtaining our desires. Our focus should be upward and outward, not inward. Addiction manifests greed, gluttony, and selfishness. It contradicts Christ’s instructions to us to trust and rely on Him.
In our society, satan has a stronghold. In some areas, addiction is seen as acceptable, almost normal. If the object of addiction is something that is legal to obtain then our society almost caters to those areas. For example coffee. Every street corner in the city has a way for those addicted to caffeine to obtain a nice, big cup of coffee. We’ve gone so far as to market it in a way that makes it even more attractive. As if to draw even more people into this acceptable addiction. How about food? Our society encourages gluttony. We super size in order to get more. Consumerism is based on greed, another area satan has a stronghold in.
In our ministry, addiction is prevalent. Addiction to drugs, alcohol, a sense of control, to sex, to certain emotions and feelings, even an addiction to programs. We see it all. No matter what part of our ministry you look at you will see addiction. The only difference is that their addictions usually lead to illegal behavior. The hard part is watching them overcome an addiction only to place the act of addiction into another area in their lives. For instance, we have a gang member who has overcome an addiction to drugs, alcohol, obtaining respect from younger gang members, feeling the sense of control, only to place his addiction into the very programs that helped him overcome these former issues. Instead of being free from addiction itself, he now is so addicted to the programs that he feels he can’t survive without them. As soon as he finishes a program and is out on his own, he has a pattern of going into a depression and readmitting into the program. We see this often. Some might say that it is better to be addicted to that then to the illegal activities. Of course, this is true. However, it is still an addiction and it is still a control tactic over our lives by satan.
The question I’m left with is, “Is it possible to completely remove the sense of addiction from those with an addictive personality?”
The answer in my heart is, “All things are possible with Christ.”