I beleive in Jesus as the One True God, the Son of God, the Messiah who died and rose again for our sins. I trust Him alone for eternal life.
Amen!!
Then comes what may be the harder part . . . trusting in Him alone for abundance in life now.
What that means to me is that in the times when I cannot seem to resist my addiction, I look for a future time when I will in fact be free, because Jesus promises me freedom. My heart is set on freedom, even when my will still seems defective.
And even though such times may come, even so, we can have real freedom - now - "in quietness and trust is our strength".
The thoughts and feeling hit, we lose our sense of wellbeing, we lose functionality, we KNOW what will set it right, and the draw to either the drug or the behavior (gaming, thrill seeking, porn, meth, cocaine all addict in the very same way) becomes hard-wired into the brain.
In some cases, addictions build up over time, changing the structure of the brain to support that addiction. When you stop the drug or behavior, the feelings and impulses and obsessive thinking and all that may continue, but in time, will diminish as the brain re-forms itself - "brain plasticity".
In some cases, such as in childhood traumas, the brain does not develop fully, resulting in "clinical depression", that is, the brain lacks some of it's structure and/or chemistry. As we grow into these lives, we find ways to counterbalance these brain deficits, but those ways tend to be unhealthy if not downright sinful.
But it all comes down to the same thing, sitting still, or doing something else, while all those thoughts and feelings storm and rage inside us, as we simply don't act on them. That no matter what our minds tell us, no matter what we feel inside, we simply choose to not do that thing, trusting that Jesus has already freed us from it's power.
The Bible speaks of the "deceptive lusts", our flesh lies to us. "You have to", "You can't stop", "You always have", "You know you want to", "One more time, what's the diff?" The biggest lie of all of them?
That this is what "I" want. Because when you ask me, No, I don't! But sin comes in succombing to the lie.
Which has more power? My corrupt flesh? Or my living Savior? It's Jesus!
Much love!
