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Have you ever had an addiction? Maybe you find yourself struggling with one even now. For those who have never been addicted to something, they cannot possibly begin to understand what it is like.

An addiction is horrible; it is like dragging a lead weight around that you cannot be rid of. Even if you want to be rid of your addiction, you find that you are drawn right back to it again. Often though, people are addicted to things, and will not admit it or do not seem to care.

I was addicted to many things. At one time I used drugs for a while in my life. Not a good thing drugs. I was even more addicted to alcohol and cigarettes.

The list of addictions I could write would fill pages up! People are addicted to social media, television, music, drugs, porn, movies, blogging, and many more. If you have to have it, or have to do it all the time, it is an addiction!

When I drank it was every day. No exceptions, every single day no matter what. It did not matter if there was an appointment that day, company was coming; nothing mattered enough that it would prevent me from drinking. This is the nature of addictions; an addiction is not something you can just stop whenever you want to. I knew I drank too much; I was not interested in stopping this behavior most of the time.

Addictions are a way of self-medicating because people have problems. Lets face it life is not easy for anyone. If I as a person do not posses a solid foundation on which to stand, I will turn to what helps me…often with disastrous results. The other problem is that if the addiction produces a “high”, some type of pleasurable feeling, then the person becomes addicted to the very feeling and continuously desires more. It is a very vicious cycle that is incredibly difficult to get away from.

I had become a follower of the Lord, but had not given up alcohol yet. Despite what some would say, you can be a Believer and still be doing things you really should not be. People do not become Believers and then just like that all things are nice and tidy in their lives…it does not work like that. One has only to look at King David to see the truth of what I am saying, and yet many a person would disagree with me here.

I am one of the exceedingly lucky ones; God Himself took away the desire to drink from me…I could not stop. For reasons unknown to me (I say this because I know people still struggling) the Lord took this awful burden from me. It happened in a very simple way. I was drinking as usual; I was also reading in the Word. It occurred to me that reading and studying the Word of God while guzzling down beer was not right. That was it; I was done right there and then, just like that.

There is hope for addictions, there is healing. Support groups are great; friends are good as well. First and foremost though I would say a relationship with Jesus is the most important thing. Then one needs a real desire to give up the addiction, this is not a game. Addictions are very serious business. Prayer is a key element as well; ask God to help you, keep praying do not stop. If you fall, don’t beat yourself up about it, get back up and keep trying. Success can and does come because of perseverance.

Satan wants you to remain locked in bondage to your addiction; it serves him well. Do not let him fool you; break free with God’s help! You can do this! Be encouraged that addictions can be beaten. In Christ you can do all things.

Online resources and encouragement:

Setting Captives Free
Addiction Tribe
Think In Today
Darrell Creswell
Good Life