If you are stuck in a habit that grieves the Holy Spirit, hurts you, and hinders your usability to help others, may these insights be used of God to give you fresh hope and renewed confidence in your Liberator:  “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13).  God can pull you out of any rut!
 

We have been looking into the subject of compulsive behaviors, stubborn habits, and besetting sins.  A more contemporary term for such problems is “addiction”.  When a believer in Christ remains shackled in this way, he is missing out on a major benefit of his spiritual birthright.  Our Lord Jesus stated, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin...[however] if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:34,36).



What characterizes addiction?  “Alan Lang, in his Substance Abuse and Habitual Behavior report to the National Academy of Science, identifies nine such characteristics: 



Impulsive behavior
Difficulty in delaying gratification
Sensation seeking
Antisocial personality
Nonconformist values
Sense of alienation
Deviant behavior
Heightened feelings of stress
Little regard for goals generally valued by society" 5



Most of us know what an addiction would mean to us personally.  It is the compulsive behavior that violates the standard of 1 Corinthians 6:12:  “...All things are lawful for me, but I WILL NOT BE BROUGHT UNDER THE POWER OF ANY”.  And Romans 6:12 admonishes us:  “Therefore DO NOT LET SIN REIGN in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts”.  When a behavior robs us of the freedom that God created us to enjoy, it functions as an addiction. 6

Entertainment such as television, the internet, and video games may be OK in moderation, but they can become addictive also.  It is too easy to let artificial recreation dominate us; instead of “recreation” (refreshing) it becomes “amusement” (literally— “no thinking”).

It becomes more complicated when the behavior is attached to actions one cannot live without.  Take food, for example (gladly!!).  The Scripture says that we are NOT to “abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.  For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving”.  (1 Timothy 4:3,4).  Yet, dieters around the world will testify that legitimate enjoyment of food easily escalates into what the Bible identifies as gluttony (Proverbs 23:21).

Since I've stirred enough trouble, let's return to God's promises and provision for freedom from addictive behavior!

Previously, we compared breaking an addiction with getting pulled out of a ditch.  Let's think of the truth of “Christ as our source of life” in terms of the POWER needed to get our “stuck car” out of that ditch.   What power is ours as believers?   God's Word assures us, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20,21).  Do we REALLY believe this?  We should, because it is true!  Notice that this Scripture concludes a prayer for strength and enlightenment (verses 14-19).

Don't we often forget our potential in Christ because we live by FEELINGS instead of FAITH?  Memories of past failures are used by the power of sin to discourage us.  Instead, our focus needs to be Christ Himself who lives in us:  “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” because, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 4:13).