Addiction is no respecter of persons. It doesn’t matter your race, your religion, your age, or your economic standing. But for some reason, we can shy away from talking about addiction in the church. Why should Christians be concerned about issues of addiction?
Today we’re going to talk about two reasons why Christians should care about addiction.
I’m Angela Howard, my passion is to break the stigma of mental illness among fellow Christians. I’m here to help you live a more purposeful life with God, and with one another. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can get the first updates of new content.
Why Should Christians Care About Addiction?
Let’s look at what Jesus did when He was here on earth.
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” Matthew 9:35 (NIV)
Rick Warren says that Jesus modeled: teaching, preaching, and healing. This is our model.
Jesus cared about healing every disease. Healing was 1/3 of his ministry.
Our diseases are anything that impairs normal functioning of our bodies, our minds, our social interactions, and our relationships.
Jesus wasn’t exclusively concerned about people receiving salvation and going to heaven, or exclusively concerned about our understanding of scripture, or solely focused on our diseases. He cared about it all!
So why should we care about addiction?
#1 – Jesus Cares About Addiction
He cares about our diseases—and he goes out of his way to heal us and meet our needs.
The second reason we should care about addiction is found in Luke 10:25-28 (NIV)
“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
We need to care about addiction because each one of us is facing some kind of issue where we are surrendering ourselves over to that habit instead of surrendering ourselves over to God.
#2 To Follow the Greatest Commandments
In order to follow the greatest commandment, we must address our addictions. Period. There’s really no fancy way to dance around this. I wish there was to be honest because I can be selfish.
Maybe you’re thinking: “I don’t want to give up my addiction. I like it. It’s working for me.”
But the truth is if we want to follow God—wholeheartedly we must choose Him over our addictions—habitually. If we are going to love ourselves we need to give up our addictions, and if we are going to love others the way Christ loved us—we need to give up our addictions.
Please don’t misunderstand me here. I’m not saying it’s as easy as making one choice and your addictions are gone. We’ll talk more about some practical steps in the next video, but you don’t have to stay in the same place you are today.
Question:
What reasons would you add to the list? Comment below, I’d love to hear from you!
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