Addiction and Truth

An acquaintance confided, “I know it’s wrong, but I am going to stick with her no matter what happens.” She was referring to her present lesbian relationship. Nevertheless, she believes in a Creator who had also created moral truths and that there are negative consequences for violating these truths.

This is just one more example of the power of sin and desire. It is like the porn addict, alcoholic, or heroin addict who knows that the addiction is destroying him but seems incapable or unwilling to do anything about it, resigned to his fate.

What can we do to help our friend? If our friend dropped his gold coin in the high grass at night, we fetch a flashlight. I think that helping our addicted friend is also about shining light upon his addiction. Firstly, our Savior is able to break our addictions. There is nothing too hard for Him:

•    Isaiah 40:28–31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

However, we often have to wait for our deliverance. Why? God has a plan for our lives:

•    Psalm 138:6–8 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Our Lord has a purpose for our lives. Consequently, we are His workmanship, but to mold us according to His plan may take a lot of time:

•    Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

However, it takes time to be molded for His service. It requires a process of humbling to teach us to hope in His purposes and promises above all else. He must become #1 in our lives (Matthew 6:33) so that we entrust our lives completely to Him:

•    Psalm 37:4–5 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

He will act on our behalf once we commit all to Him. Sadly, my acquaintance hasn’t committed her all to Him. In the meantime, she has lost all. Her girlfriend has moved on.