Addictions are a struggle for many, whether Christian or not. Since every addiction has a root, you may quench it temporarily, like herbicide on weeds, but if you do not deal with the root, that addiction will return at the next opportune moment.
We are in a day and age when the enemy tries very hard to deceive the elect. Certainly, as the age of the anti-christ draws near, addictions and quick access to every pleasure possible increases daily. The amount of temptation is a thousand times more than a hundred years earlier. With current technology, many can access distractions with one swipe of the phone.
Addiction are Subconscious
No matter what you are addicted to, there is a root reason for why you are addicted. For example, why would you be addicted to Coke instead of Pepsi? Was it because, as a child, you could not afford that Coke you saw on those TV commercials, and now, as an adult, Coke must be on your table at each meal?
Surely all addictions are rooted in trauma.
Root issues are not conscious thoughts for why you do what you do. In fact, root issues are subconscious triggers which lead us to sin. They are unfulfilled desires inside that we feed without identifying why.
Without awareness of the root, we will justify the action because we have not dealt with the root, and addiction will become a well-honed habit in our life, and then worse, starts to become our identity, keeping us guilty and condemned by our deceived perspective,
Can you Separate your Works from Your Identity?
Apostle Paul said, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:15-17).
Paul, the Man of God who wrote much of the New Testament epistles, is honest, when he says, “I do what I hate!”
This is what makes Generals of God, their ability to know there is a difference between what they have done, and who they know they are.
Here is truth: “I may have done what they said I did, but I am not what they say I am!”
When we separate our identity in Christ from our actions, we arise. For if we believe the action is us, then we have to do it, again and again. But if we can separate ourself from our action, then we are no more obliged to do it, and we can walk away from this addiction.
Heaven sees your Subconscious as You
If you are telling Jesus, again and again, “I love you, Jesus, I love you!” but inside, you feel like a sinner, unworthy, unwanted by God, that is the real you whom the angels see. Many come to God in fear instead of faith, hoping He will accept us, yet subconsciously convinced that we are past all mercy, like our natural parents taught us with their discipline.
Unbelievably, satan strolled into heaven with more faith than many. He knew he was a son. The meeting for the sons of God was called, and regardless of his eviction from Heaven, satan arrived and held a conversation with the Almighty (Job 1: 6-12). Yet when we sin, we stand crying in the outer courts and our fear keeps us there. This is an error.
Paul knew to enter the Throne Room of grace, one must enter boldly unto the Throne of Grace. (Hebrews 4:16). Confidence is the key to access Heaven!
To please God, faith is required. It is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrew 11:6). We must rise up in faith in our Great God who has more than proven His Love to His Children!
To hear more on this concept, head to Uprooting Addictions (1/3)
Disconnect from the Garbage
Once the root of an addiction is identified, and our faith in God is assured, now we must disconnect from the addiction in our mind. To overcome an addiction, we must first overcome this pattern, this desire in our mind.
In order to overcome, we need to separate from the inferior and connect to the superior.
Paul said in Philippians 3:8, Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
Paul compared his former life, his sin, as putrid garbage.
He measured the worth of Christ as the superior value to let go of his former inferior ways, stating “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (14-15).
Revise your Value System and Do the Work
Apostle Paul took time to meditate on the surpassing beauty of Jesus Christ and put everything else behind, to pursue that which is Greater. To overcome addictions, finding someone whose standard is greater than ours is essential,
Paul instructed Timothy, “Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ( 2 Timothy 2:22), as he mentored his son in Christ.
If we study the fathers set before us, we learn quicker.
As we do the work of studying ourself, identifying our triggers and valuing the superior, patience will have its full effect! Our consistency will reap greatness!
To hear more of this Mentorship Gold master class on Uprooting Addictions, watch Part 2 and Part 3.
May you live as an empowered Child of God by the Holy Spirit as you nurture the Grace of God on your life!
Shalom,
Shyju
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