21 Jan De-Hooked – Learning to overcome addiction in your life PART 2
Without knowing it, we begin to turn a good thing into a god thing. We turn to it in time of need (instead of God) and ask it in essence to “deliver us”. Let me explain further by sharing with you “Four Addiction Aspects”:
- We turn to something in time of anxiety
- We try to get something from it that it does not have the ability to provide
- We then turn to higher levels of it to gain the same experience (or high)
- Addiction occurs when you no longer have it…now it has you.
The Bible tells us, “He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengthens for himself among the trees of the forest; he plans an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn; for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; yea, he makes a god and worshippeth it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down thereto. He burns part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied: yes, he warm himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire; And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falls down unto it and worships it, and prays unto it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god” (Isaiah 44:14-17).
In these powerful verses, we can see how man takes a good thing such as fire and warms himself. Warming yourself is good. He then makes bread with it…also good. He then roasts meat with it…again, good. Lastly he makes an idol out of it…not good. Remember this: Idolatry occurs when we take good things and turn them into god things.
If you will indulge me please allow me to show you how to get “hooked” on something. I need you to identify the entry points before I can help you get “de-hooked”.
Four Hooked Horizons:
- Don’t admit you have a problem (Jer. 3:13). Simply begin making excuses for yourself.
Here are 3 Excuse Excursions:
1.) “I can quit anytime”.
Remember this: It’s always easier to go from failure to success, then excuse to success.
2.) “This is just how God made me”.
Remember: Never create God in your image. Remember He created you in His (Gen. 1:26).
3.) Run to permission not to correction
As humans we tend toward cognitive bias. This is just a fancy term that means we tend to run to our own “echo chamber”. I see this in politics all the time. Rather than pursue intellectual honesty, we pursue only information that supports our position. In other words, we tend to only see what we want to see. We tend to only hear what we want to hear. However, may I humbly suggest that it takes a wise man or woman to pursue what they need to see and need to hear.
The Bible tells us, “A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, nor will he go to the wise” (Proverbs 15:12). There will always be someone on the proverbial “ladder of morality”, sitting on the rung below you telling you, “It’s ok, we all do that down here.” Misery truly does love company.
Join us next week as we continue our series…