Battling Addictions

The Fourth Step: Can I tell Right from Wrong?

Beth Livingston — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:39:17 GMT

“We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” Alcoholics Anonymous

Each step away from our addiction or destructive behavior is a step closer to looking at the real problem – US! We need to come face-to-face with our character defects, our emotional makeup, and identify our flawed thinking.

This is not the time that we start pointing the finger at our parents, our spouses, our circumstances. That would be an inventory of our excuses and justifications for our addiction. This is entirely different. It takes work!

If you are doing inventory for a retail business, you do a thorough item by item count of what you have in stock. When taking a moral inventory of ourselves, we identify the rights and wrongs in our lives. For example, if I’m spending a good portion of my income on my addiction and failing to pay bills, repay loans, and not buying enough healthy food for myself and my family, I’ve identified several moral shortcomings. This inventory would include selfishness, irresponsible behavior, deception, misplaced priorities, and negligence.

When you begin your inventory, what are the most obvious moral shortcomings you can identify? Are you violent? Have you hurt people with your words or your callousness? Each of us is different and each of us have moral defects whether we are able to admit it or not.

Conducting this inventory becomes the cornerstone and foundation for rebuilding our lives. We see what’s not right and why it’s not right. We do the best we can to isolate our behavior without blaming others and holding onto resentment or the victim mentality. Once we have our first inventory list, we have a starting point for change.

Pride can often be a huge obstacle for some people in defining their moral issues because at this point in recovery it is common for us to say that the alcohol, the crack, the internet porn, or whatever our addiction causes the moral defect and believe that once we abstain from our addiction, there will no longer be a problem. The end result of that thinking is a “dry drunk.” This is someone who no longer uses, but has all the personality traits as if they still did. How do you feel about this? Do you think that the problem exists in the substance or within the person?

Are you ready and willing to search your actions and life choices and begin your moral inventory?

If recovery ended with the inventory and there were no further steps, we’d be awfully depressed. However, just like the retail store, items that don’t sell well are identified and eventually phased out to make room on the shelves for items that do sell well. It is in this phase that we figure out what we do that doesn’t serve us well and needs to phase out of our lives. Through faith and adopting new moral codes, we can begin to see small victories that set us on the path to freedom.

What has God shown you that you need to admit is a moral problem in your life? This is a safe place to share and begin your inventory.

Step Three – Decision Time!

Beth Livingston — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:50:04 GMT

“We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.”

This third step of Alcoholics Anonymous addresses a major obstacle to being free. If we could will ourselves to be done with our addiction or behavior, we would not need God and would have been free from our addiction the first time we willed ourselves to quit. However, that has been the way we have tried in the past. We made a New Year’s Resolution or picked a “quit day,” and told ourselves that we would never partake again. Then we did OK on our own for a length of time until some circumstance or chaos drove us back to our usual behavior.

This can happen even when we have sincerely taken the first two steps: 1) Admitted we were powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become unmanageable, and 2) Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Now at the precipice of change, we have to decide to turn our lives and our will over to the care of God. This is action based on our trust in God to be able to release us from this bondage. It’s more than admission and belief. We have to physically, mentally and spiritually decide to turn our lives and will over to God. How does a person do this? For me, it was through prayer. For example, when I wanted to smoke, I would pray instead. I would say, “Lord Jesus, this is your battle. Your Word says you are strong when I am weak. I’m feeling mighty weak. Please take me through the next few minutes without smoking.” Then I’d thank Him and trust that He was fighting that battle for my freedom and that He was capable of winning. For me, that was demonstrating my choice to turn my life and will over to God and it worked. I would pray through the surge of desire to go back to my old ways of coping and embrace the new way of verbally and mentally handing the struggle over to God.

Other times I would remind myself that I belong to Christ; that our bodies are His temple. When we are carrying the Holy Spirit of God in our bodies and acknowledging that we are children of Almighty God, our lives have been turned over to Him. Again, this was an action based step. Saying it out loud helped me. I’d walk to the other end of the house or hide out in the bathroom during times of temptation and tell God I needed Him to help me.

What are some ways that show your decision to turn your life and will over to God? We can all benefit from sharing how we surrendered ourselves to God. I’m no expert. I’m just sharing how I turned my life and will over to the care of God. Undoubtedly, God has shown other people other ways to do this that worked. How have you been able to do God’s will instead of your will?

This is not an easy step. It’s a battle of the wills. Our enemy, the devil, beckons us to accept defeat and give up. Our flesh sometimes craves the old behavior pattern. It is only when our lives and our wills are safely entrusted to God that we will be victorious.

The Second Step

Beth Livingston — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:24:03 GMT

“We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

When I read this step from Alcoholics Anonymous, initially I feel a bit uncomfortable. In the first step, we admitted we were powerless over our addiction or compulsive behavior and that our lives had become unmanageable. Makes sense. We can’t stop on our own = it’s out of control. In this second step, the goal of “sanity” enters the picture. Hey, wait a minute! I never said I was lacking in sanity!

Let’s take a look at insanity by asking ourselves some questions*. What things did we do in our addiction that we can hardly believe when we look back at them? Did we put ourselves or others in dangerous situations? How did we behave in ways of which we’re now ashamed? Did we quit jobs, avoid family, leave friendships or church because those things interfered with our addictions?

When I think of the risks that I took behind the wheel and under the influence, literally seeing double, I shudder. That was crazy, senseless behavior, but typical of an addicted person. I could have killed someone. How about the choice to smoke or take illegal drugs while my young children were at home with a babysitter? Was that sane? I thought it was. After all, the responsibility for child care was checked off in my mind. In fact, my actions could have resulted in me going to jail and my children being put in foster care. That just seemed too far-fetched, so I ignored it. Disregarding the truth is not smart or sane. Now that my children are young adults and hindsight is so clear, my thinking that they would not be affected by Mommy having her “night out” was whacked out too. Oh, so much restoring to sanity needed to take place in my life.

Do you have any trouble with the goal of being restored to sanity? You’ve admitted you are powerless over your addiction or behavior; are you ready to admit your need to be restored to sanity? What will sanity look like for you?

What could restore us all to sanity? The second step says, “A Power greater than ourselves.” No power other than Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Lord can restore us to sanity. There is no greater power. There is no other God. He is so capable and so willing!

However, not everyone believes in Christ. It can be a scary thing to believe in a God that we cannot see. What fears might you have about believing in Christ? Has your belief in God and hope for recovery grown since you started trying to change? What things have you done that you feel are an indication that you are trusting God for your recovery?

For me, it was and still is reading the Bible, praying, and believing that God is able and willing to work this out of my life, as well as, being truthful with myself, God and others.

Belief is the key. If I believe a chair will hold me up, then I can sit in that chair. If I believe that God will help me get free from my addiction, then I can seek Him and keep seeking Him. This is a process for most of us. That’s why we call them “steps.” Believing God loves you and is bigger than your addiction is a great step. Are you taking this step? What can you tell others about your personal story in taking the step to believe that God is greater than you and can restore you to sanity?

*Used with permission from materials provided at Recovery for the City .

Taking the First Step

Beth Livingston — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:13:13 GMT

Many recovery groups use some semblance of the 12 Steps originally coined by Alcoholics Anonymous as a guide for breaking free from addiction and unhealthy lifestyles. The first step is "We admitted we were powerless over ___________ (fill in the addiction or behavior), that our lives had become unmanageable."

I believe that this step contains three specific areas of difficulty for someone who's addicted:

Admitting - I think there's a big difference between saying, "Yeah, I have a problem with _______," and believing it deep down in our hearts, like a confession. Do you see any difference? I can remember saying, "I really need to quit smoking," as I'd laugh and light up another cigarette. That's not the kind of admitting that produces change. Have you spent months or years denying you have a problem? Then admitting you have one is a BIG step. Have you taken this step yet? Can you explain why it's so important or so difficult? Have you been hiding some behavior from your loved ones that you want to get rid of? There's no time like the present to take the first part of the first step and confess to God and admit to yourself that you know this is a problem that needs to be dealt with.

Powerless - Ouch! That means we have to put the familiar lie to rest that we can stop the behavior anytime we want. How many times have you tried to quit and were not able to quit? That's the most telling sign of powerlessness for us, don't you think? We thought we were choosing to do something, and over time our minds (and sometimes our bodies) have developed a dependence on this behavior; now we choose not to do it, but find ourselves doing it anyway. Something rules over us! As independent and self-reliant as we think we are, this shows that we aren't. Have you admitted you are powerless over some behavior? Are you ready to tackle this? Have you believed in your heart and spoken the words, "I admit that I am powerless over _______?" If you've been holding off, please make this the moment that you confess this.

Unmanageable - A lot of us have a hard time admitting that our lives have become unmanageable because we manage to keep a job, a place to live, etc. It's easier to admit this if you've been in trouble with the police, your spouse, your business. People who get in lots of trouble with their drug of choice can admit their lives have become a mess because it's so obvious. That doesn't make it any less of an important aspect of recovery to admit; it's necessary to agree that your life is unmanageable. However, for the not-so-obvious, I believe that when we hide a behavior from people we love, are ashamed of what we are doing, tell lies to cover up what we are doing - these are signs of unmanageable lives. Would you agree?

"I believe that I am powerless over biting my fingers, that I have no control over this self-injury." This is my current area of powerlessness, a habit I have not been able to do away with since childhood. But today, I am taking the first step to turn it over to God and will pick up a "Surrender" chip at the recovery meeting tonight. To someone reading this who's dealing with a heroin addiction or something real severe, you might think, "You've got to be kidding. Why would you need to work through steps to stop biting your fingers?" Well, for me, this is the behavior that I'm ashamed of, that I can't control. God has cleansed me of many, much worse behaviors and addictions, but He never stops helping me figure out what I'm still powerless over and that He has the power to set me free.

Maybe there's someone else who's been convicted in their heart of a need to seek God's help in getting rid of a behavior through the twelve steps just like people with addictions. I can testify that there are many, many people who have found that God can use these basic steps to cleanse more than addictions from our lives. There are people in our group working through steps to get rid of anger, codependency, pornography, pride, and overeating (to name a few). What does God want you to get rid of? Start today and if you feel like it, tell us about your decision.

Profile of a Porn Addict

Beth Livingston — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:23:41 GMT

So many families and lives are being tossed upside-down because of the impact of pornography. I asked Dr. Paul Hardy, founding director of Recovery for the City for some feedback about this problem. Here is our interview:

This is Dr. Paul's profile of a porn addict: He is 12-years-old and began experimenting with looking through search engines. Sex and sexual terms are most searched for in the internet! By the time he is 30, he has years of uncontrollable lust. He may have never acted out illegally, but the pressure is on. The family has discovered the secret and it’s time to change!

Question: At what point should a person seek help who's dealing with this problem?

Dr. Paul: As with ANY addictive issue, an individual has to become convinced themselves that their behavior has become an issue. NO ONE can convince you that you have an addiction. A few important questions for someone who is struggling with any addictive behavior are:

“Do I do this all alone, is it secretive? Do I ‘hide’ the behavior?”
“Do I require more and more of it to get the same sensation, as if I were building up a tolerance?”
“Do I become dependent on the substance/behavior, in order to alter my mood?”
“Has it become an issue in my functionality in life, i.e. produced dysfunction in my roles?
“Has it eroded any of my relationships?” (spouse, children, etc)
“What long term effects would this have on my physical, emotional and spiritual well being?”
“Can I envision the Lord Jesus doing this?”

For fun, replace the word “porn” with ice cream or shopping or anything that may be an issue!

The second part of the need for help is when the family pressures the person to get help. This may require a professional intervention. A person may think that looking at naked bodies only affects them because they continue to be high functioning. When a broken-hearted spouse decides that this is no longer acceptable and that accountability is required lasting change can begin.

Question: Who should they go to?

Dr. Paul: Half of the pastors in our country struggle with looking at porn. They are still a viable resource of help. Men’s groups at church are best because they can provide an accountability system that works. A trusted friend who will hold a person to their commitment long term can be the best resource. Christian counselors can provide professional structure as well.

Question: How can a person who's trying to avoid the porn that they used to look at, have time online that's not risky for them?

Dr. Paul: We have men who have lost jobs, family, security clearances and are homeless because of pornography addictions and lust. There are numerous options for you and your family’s protection:

Download xxxchurch.com. This free service will load onto your computer and ask you for two email addresses. Then, those two people will receive systematic reports on any objectionable websites that have been visited on your computer.
Another, which is not free, is Covenanteyes.com. Their Filter Service blocks objectionable websites from your computer.
Another positive solution is to put a login with password that only one person can type in.
A free software logmein.com will allow you remote access to you computer from anywhere at any time. You can let the family know you will be checking in on the computer at any time. Good deterrent.
The most obvious solution is to put the computer in a family safe place and use it together as often as possible. Educate the family about the dangers out there. Talk about misuses as a prevention method.
Be aware that someone who is addicted to porn will go to any lengths to get to the emotional high they experience. No amount of filters or policing will stop them until the heart issues are dealt with.

Question: What are the most common problems that people encounter when trying to stop looking at porn?

Dr. Paul: Porn addiction has similarities to all addictions and some uniqueness as well. The similarity is the mental, emotional and physical dependence the constant looking at sexual acts creates. This is spiritual warfare!

There are generally three phases:

The withdrawal phase: the person must go through a period of total abstinence or a fast from sexual input. This may mean a time period with no media, television, entertainment, etc. This produces a type of reset. (example from previous ice cream addiction, a month with no dairy products)
The accountability phase: is a lifelong quest to be sober and vigilant. It never goes away. One must become re-sensitized to the world around us and avoid sexually explicit situations (movies, commercials, etc.)
The re-integration phase. We use the Biblical 12 Steps to help people re-think their relationships and reinstate their emotional and spiritual health. This requires a bonding with the spouse involved if that is possible.

Pastor Paul Hardy quoted 1 Peter 5:8-9 - 1 Peter 5:8-9 - Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

What do you think of Dr. Paul's point of view on this problem? Are you seeking help with porn addiction? What steps have you taken to deal with this problem? If you haven't taken any steps, but have found that you are getting deeper and deeper into it; do you want to stop now? Why or why not? Please leave your comments and let's pray for each other and help rid our lives of what seeks to destroy us.

Quitting Again?

Beth Livingston — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:38:21 GMT

My husband is trying to quit smoking for about the 100th time. My hope in his smokefree life becoming a reality has been dashed so many times, that I must admit that I'm not being the best in moral support. I've got the attitude of "It would be great if you could be free" and have verbally encouraged him. Unfortunately, in the back of my mind I am thinking, "Here we go again." I confess this to God, to all of you, and to my husband.

Why do I think it's a sin that needs confessing? Because I'm not giving grace to my husband. He has to work through his bondages in his own way and in his own timing. He has to choose whether or not he's going to make it this time. And most of all, he has to decide if he's going to allow Jesus to help him with it. It's out of my hands and I definitely should not be his judge or critic. My hope needs to be in Christ alone; knowing that Christ can set him free and will be there to help him even if it takes 2000 times of trying. Why should I be any less willing to be that patient and supportive?

During his recovery, I have praised his accomplishments. As he counts each day and is happy to announce that he's gone nine days without a cigarette, I tell him that's great and how each day is a reason to be thankful. My doubt does not come out in my words to him. It's something that sits there in my heart. I want him to be free so desperately, that I'm all wrapped up in it and have been each time he's tried to quit. My desire for him to be free may even be greater than his own desire. I'm not an expert on codependancy, but I think that's what this is called. A healthy relationship would probably be me truly hoping he can be free, but not getting emotionally connected to his success or failure. I'm working on it. Are you working on this too?

Those of us who love someone who's trying to quit some addiction or bad habit want our loved ones to be free. Would you agree that it's difficult to stay hopeful? Have you managed to stay emotionally detached from their recovery? That's a huge accomplishment if you have. Please share with us some of the things you've done to be able to walk that fine line.

For those who are trying to quit and have a loved one pulling for you, what have you found to be helpful? What have you found to be annoying? If we all want the same result, freedom for the one in bondage, how can we best go about this in our relationships?

What's in YOUR Cooler?

Beth Livingston — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:11:39 GMT

Certainly, if you’ve been a drinker, your cooler had iced cold beer in it as you headed to the beach, or the lake, or the campground, on the boat, to the ball game. You name the summer activity, it was with you. And depending on the size of the gathering, there were either coolers with beer or kegs of beer. We were part of this crowd. Are you? Were you?

When we gave our lives over to Jesus Christ, the beer didn’t disappear. He met us and saved us just like we were, drunks and all the other stuff. He walked with us as we learned His truths about many things, but never demanded that we give something up right then or he’d leave us. In fact, He promised to never leave us or forsake us. Do you ever feel like God wants you to quit doing all the partying stuff to be able to come to him? Do you ever shy away from making a commitment to Christ because you think you’ll have to stop having fun? Brothers and sisters, Jesus knocks at our hearts door and asks to come in and be with us. He wants to teach us His ways, not condemn us for what we are like when we say, “I need you Jesus. I need a Savior. I need to be forgiven.”

Surely, the Bible speaks clearly about drunkards. God doesn’t want us to be drunks. He wants to help us be able to see our drunk selves the way He sees us: stumbling, often driving and endangering others, losing our moral compasses, saying and doing things we regret, setting in motion a legacy of drinking as a way of life for our children and grandchildren to come, not to mention the hangover, the nights we mix liquors and end up hugging a commode somewhere. When we take a good look at those aspects, is it any wonder that our loving Father would want us to stay away from those dangers?

He’s not shaking his finger at us, He’s longing for us to want to change. He’s longing for us to put something healthy in our coolers and learn how to have fun anyhow. If you’re ready to clear your cooler of alcohol and fill it up with some other cold beverage that has no chance to get you drunk, then please tell us what you plan to do. Tell us how it works out.

My cooler has ice cold Cokes, Coke Zero, Water, and Gatorade (some might not think that’s healthy, but it’s a start). I’m not worried any longer about being embarrassed about breaking some local ordinance with what’s in my cooler or not having drinks suitable for children. Let’s make a pact to pack our coolers expecting Jesus to have a cold one with us.

Pain Killers – The Respectable Addiction

Beth Livingston — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:10:24 GMT

With Michael Jackson’s recent death surrounded with hints of heavy narcotic use and Heath Ledger’s accidental fatal overdose of narcotics last year, I think it’s time we talk about this addiction.

My own mother suffered for years with this. The day she died she was found on the floor next to her bed with a syringe and a vial labeled Demerol on her sheets. Her passing was sad, but after witnessing so many close encounters she had with death because of her addiction, it wasn’t surprising to us that she left this world that way.

Personally, it appears that this addiction is as hard to break as crack cocaine. The major difference is that narcotics are legal and purchased at the local pharmacy instead of on the streets (at least in the beginning).

A person usually begins taking a narcotic during the treatment of a legitimate medical problem that needs more than an aspirin to kill the pain. And if you have a chronic pain condition, the heavy duty pain killers that work (namely narcotics like Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet, Demerol) become your sole source of life without pain. And since they’re prescribed by a doctor, covered by health insurance, effective for pain relief and available at the pharmacy – why not take them?

I currently suffer with chronic pain. Do you? Do you find yourself thinking that it’s not worth the fight? Why not just take the _______ (fill in the blank with your pain killer) and feel better? Why deny yourself the relief? It’s a grey area at times.

But this I know to be true: being doped up is easier for other people to detect than the person taking the drugs; you think you can _____ (fill in the blank with activities like drive, take care of your children, etc.) fine when you’ve taken the pill(s), but you are impaired whether you want to admit it or not; it gets easier and easier to tell yourself that you NEED the pill as time goes on.

What then are we supposed to do? Be in pain all the time?

I say NO! We are supposed to be careful! We are supposed to take milder pain killers like Aleve, Tylenol or Advil while we work, drive, take care of children, ______ (fill in the blank) and as often as we can in place of taking the hard stuff.

Please don’t wreck your life and possibly others by toying with narcotics. Only use them when you absolutely have to. They can become an idol in your life that you believe you can’t do without.

If you are there already or know someone who is, please don’t let your addiction to narcotics kill you like it has so many others. Will you seek professional help? Can you take steps to be free?

The Double Life of a Sunday School Teacher

Beth Livingston — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:17:45 GMT

Certainly, we’ve all heard about the scandals of some of the famous preachers (Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard, etc.) who had their secret sins exposed and they stepped down from the ministry. But what about your everyday Christian, serving in God’s work as a minister, Sunday School teacher or other leadership position - how does it affect the body of Christ when their secret lives are exposed?

Personally, I think there are a lot of people serving in God’s ministry who have addictions of some kind. I was one of them. You may be one of them. If you were exposed, would you keep going to church? Or would you be so embarrassed that you’d stop going or find another church?

How does it feel to be hiding something about yourself to your Christian friends? For me, it was no different than the other people who knew nothing about my addiction. I taught Sunday School to five-year-olds. They loved me and I loved them. I didn’t ever go to church and teach with a buzz, but during the week I smoked pot. Funny thing is - until I thought about the possibility of being exposed, I didn’t think much of it.

I love how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. He began to show me how the children would be affected if I were exposed in our church body. They looked up to me. They trusted me. They saw Jesus in me. Their tender hearts would be confused and discouraged if it got out that Miss Beth smoked pot. Of course, there would be the public shame to go along with it – and the shame that my own children would feel for having their mother exposed as a pothead. I began to take this to God in prayer regularly to please help me.

My life was still steeped in the addiction, so the Lord laid it on my heart to voluntarily step down from the ministry before any damage was done to the young hearts He was building up for His Kingdom by my secret life being exposed. This was one of the toughest things I ever did. My heart broke over leaving a ministry that I loved and broke even more when I realized that something had such a hold on me that I would give up leading these beautiful young children because of it.

However, God used that small step of righteousness in the process of healing me and setting me free. If I could not give it up, I needed to cleanse the ministry of myself. My question to you is: are you serving with a secret that would damage the church, the body of Christ? Are you willing to face it head on and get rid of it and keep on serving? Or do you need to do like I did and step down before you’re cut down?

My brothers and sisters, what does God want you to do?

Must You Call Me Addicted?

Beth Livingston — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:07:19 GMT

“Hello, my name is Beth, and I’m a recovering alcoholic.” That’s what I said at several AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings. But, I should have said, “Hello, my name is Beth and I drink a lot, I smoke pot daily and smoke cigarettes like they’re still 85 cents a pack. I’m not sure why I’m here, but I know I need to make some changes in my life. I’m not happy with the example I am setting for my children. I've heard people get help here, so I'm here.”

I never understood why we had to say we were alcoholics just because we drank a lot. I didn’t think I was addicted. In fact, I really thought I could quit any of those things anytime I wanted. I just chose to do them. But, when the time came that I did try to quit, I had trouble with each of them. Have you ever been there? Where you thought you could give something up when you chose to and then found out you couldn’t? Are you still there?

Random House Dictionary (Copyright, 2009) defines addiction as “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.” It also states that the origin of the word meant “a giving over, surrender.”

Some addictions are easier to pinpoint than others. Some are easier to get rid of than others. Wouldn’t you agree? Twenty-five years ago, only alcohol, narcotics and street drugs like heroin were commonly called addictions; mainly because of the physical effects of quitting – DT’s (delirium tremens or "the shakes") for alcoholics and week long withdrawals including shaking, panic, chills, etc. for drugs. These often require a rehab program in a hospital or recovery center.

Today, addictions include eating, smoking, pornography, work – the list goes on. Why? Because we are finally aware that we’re doing a lot of things that we’re ashamed of – things that hurt us or our families. And we can’t stop. That’s why it’s being called an addiction now. Anytime we do try to stop, we may not shake or sweat, but we think we need whatever to cope with our lives, our family, our stress. Can you relate to this? We stop for a while and then something happens and we go back to it. Why do we do that?

What is the craving that you have that you just can’t stop? Does it make you mad when someone says you’re addicted to that? Christ came to set us free from all that binds us and keeps us captive in this world. He really does care about us and wants us to be free. How can He help? He’s waiting for us to ask Him. His ways are gentle and kind and above all else, He is a mighty warrior in the battle for your soul. He doesn’t want to leave us “surrendered” or “given over” to anything but Him.