Hope in the Age of Addiction by Chip Dodd

Author:Chip Dodd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Self-Help/Addiction and Recovery;Addicts—Religious life | Addicts—Pastoral counseling of | Substance abuse—Religious aspects—Christianity | Compulsive behavior—Religious aspects—Christianity;REL012070;SEL026000;REL050000
ISBN: 9781493423071
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2020-05-29T00:00:00+00:00

6

Am I Addicted?

It’s easy to view addiction as someone else’s problem. The reality is that addiction is pervasive, personal, cultural, and even institutional. It’s everywhere. It’s the most dominant influence in the culture of America—in secular and religious cultures, urban and rural settings, professional and blue-collar worlds. Because addiction has so many faces, is fueled by denial, and can look so acceptable (even laudable), it’s wiser to ask, “Where is addiction in my life?” than to ask, “Is addiction in my life?”

A massive number of people in the world are drifting toward or are trapped in addiction. Many more of us than we are comfortable admitting are in some form of relationally and physically damaging addiction. Too often the consequences just haven’t caught up with us yet. Addiction has not disrupted our status quo enough to break our denial. Although being honest with ourselves can be painful, the road to full living and freedom begins here. Every natural instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness.

Because addiction is fueled by denial, just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean we’re not enslaved by it. By going back in our own stories, and with perspective and clarity and courage, we can begin to see that for years before we realized it, our lives were out of control, that our addiction was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression. With addiction, we most often don’t see how infested and overgrown our lives are by it until we begin to find freedom from it. But once we look, we often begin to see the ways we are entangled and captive. We start to see that all the things we thought were good are not so good. We start to see that our best efforts are getting us nowhere and our good intentions are not so good. The apostle Paul said it so clearly about himself in his letter to fellow Christians in Rome.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (Rom. 7:15–20)

Beginning to see and admit to ourselves where we really are and what we really are doing is the first step toward freedom. Being honest with ourselves, like Paul, about our powerlessness and unmanageability requires that we become willing to put aside pride.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.