Addictions – The Great Void

(A 5 min. Read)

There is a need that all human beings have that is as important as food and drink, clothing and shelter. It was built into mankind from the beginning of creation and the enemy has been working since then to deprive us of it. It’s the need to be loved.

The enemy has been so successful in his scheme to separate us from God, ourselves and others that many people don’t even know what true love is. In fact, the enemy knows that if he can separate us from God the Father, we will never be able to receive the fullness of the love that we need. Then we are an easy target for the enemy.

Addictions are a prime example of what happens when a person has a void where God’s love needs to be, and is unable to receive or give love without fear. Did you know the root to all addictions including alcohol, drugs, food and sexual is the need to be loved?

Often times a person can be predisposed to inclinations towards addictions because their family or generations have been bound by the same thing. There is a lack of love, safety and nurturing that carries on from generation to generation. The people coming from this kind of environment are not raised to know how to properly deal with life. They may not know how to cope well and will be drawn to find some sort of escape mechanism from their problems.

Because they have not been loved properly, they may not even know what to do with love when it does come to them. They may even try to avoid it, because an unloving spirit has been assigned to them. It will do everything it can to keep them from being able to give and receive love. It will convince them of their worthlessness, their hopelessness and their unloveliness as well as their failures. Its goal is to make them hate themselves.

When a person turns to an addiction, they are looking for something to give them the feelings of being okay. Most addictions involve a release of the “feel good” chemicals, dopamine and serotonin. These natural chemicals are normally released when a person is at peace and feels loved. Unlike true peace and love, addictions come with a consequence. The need to be loved drives them towards that addiction but is never satisfied long term.

An addiction is defined as anything that a person cannot lay down as an act of their own will. They are no longer in control of themselves. Something else has taken over the steering wheel of their lives. It is now their master. God is not their master. The addiction is in charge now. Their life becomes consumed by something that is seeking their destruction. Because of their inability or refusal to deal with their problems, they not only remain, they become magnified. The issues they are dealing with will run out of control, leaving the addicted more and more powerless.

Addictions do not just affect the person dealing with them. A sad byproduct is that they can cause a person to lash out at others out of their own fear, guilt, shame, feelings of worthlessness and self-hatred. Often times that person will project anger and rage at their loved ones. They may blame others so that they won’t have to take responsibility for their own lives. They may even convince their loved ones that they are the problem. This is why abuse often accompanies addictions and can be an open door to disease in their loved one’s lives as well.

In the absence of love there is fear.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

In the absence of God in a home, there is fear and unloving spirits. The enemy will even try to counterfeit love and warp it into something that is unhealthy and self-gratifying. Then torment comes in. Addictions can also run with rebellion; there can be hardness of heart and an unteachable spirit that can be inherited. This is the battleground, but nothing is impossible for God.

An addiction is not likely to be completely defeated by sheer will. For example, a person may make a quality decision to quit drinking, but often times they will pick up another addiction like sugar or carbs which your body can convert into a low grade alcohol and actually create a similar fix. To properly deal with addictions we need to dig down to the root of the issue. There must be a willingness to admit that there is a problem and a choice to learn how to deal with life in an appropriate way.

We need to break out of the clutches of the unloving spirit and the fear associated with love and start reaching out to Father God who is the source of all love. We all must choose to believe God’s love for us and the safety He promises. When we begin to trust in love, the enemy’s stronghold in our lives will begin to shatter. We need to begin to love ourselves and accept who we are in God. Then we need to be able to forgive and come into peace with others.

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

We need to find the answer to these questions “Who am I, why am I here, and why does that matter?” We need to find purpose and hope again. This is a battle for a state of being and a state of belonging; finding a new source in God that is not chemical, but real, true and stable. To walkout of addictions requires complete dependence on God.

There may not be any quick, easy fix to recovery. When addictive tendencies are inherited, there are long term patterns of thought and behavior permanently fixed in the brain. We must be diligent to create new long term patterns of thought; a new data bank based on the truth found in the Word of God. It can’t be something we heard once and prayed once and it’s finished. We must re-program the incorrect ways of thinking. It can’t be just head knowledge. It has to be something practiced until it becomes the new normal.

We are not alone. Father God, through His Holy Spirit is with us every step of the way. He will lead those willing to be led and break down the cords of bondage that the enemy has built up. He will show Himself strong on our behalf if we are willing to submit to and trust Him and allow Him to form us into the person He created us to be.

Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength. Isaiah 26:3-4

Blessings,

The Be in Health® Team