Coping with addiction

The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation (Psalm 118:14).

We are all addicts. You might not be addicted to alcohol or nicotine or painkillers. You might not be addicted to the Internet or gambling or collecting. But we all share one addiction in common—we are all addicted to sin.

There are children who are drug addicts before they leave the womb; this happens when drugs are abused during pregnancy. We are like those little children; we all come into the world addicted to sin, because our parents were life-long addicts before us. We are naturally selfish. We have to be taught to share and take turns. We have to learn to say "please" and "thank you."

We all crave sinful things. Why do you think R-rated movies are so much more popular than G-rated shows? Why do you think that sexy models are used to sell almost every kind of product? Why do we need police officers and soldiers? It’s all because of sin—we are willing to spend money we don’t have, risk our health, and trample on other peoples’ feelings, in order to make ourselves feel good.

Sin has its hooks in us but good. You can’t help wanting things the moment that you lay eyes on them. No matter how hard you try, nasty words slip from your mouth. You break promises. You tell lies to get yourself off the hook. And you do these things over and over again. You and I are addicts.

We need Jesus. He is the only person who ever walked this earth and never succumbed to addiction. Jesus shows us how much we fall short of God’s standards. But He also promises us freedom—freedom from sin’s undisputed control. Jesus won that freedom for us when He died on the cross and rose from the dead. He suffered God’s punishment for our sins, then returned to life so He could help us withstand temptation and forgive us when we fail. This gives us confidence when struggling with addiction.

Our addiction to sin is life-long—the struggle to resist your cravings will not end until you leave this world. But Jesus offers to be with you every step of the way; with His help, life can be so much more than feeding your desire for momentary pleasures.