I Corinthians 6:20
For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
It's amazing how much money we spend in our lifetime on things that crumble and fade away. Trinkets and souvenirs of times and seasons, that we mark and define ourselves by. Throw an addiction into the mix and the money thing goes up a notch. No such thing as a frugal addict. One who is wise in his decision making, with an ability to save money. Addiction will spend all you have, plus all your family has, plus what you can find to steal or sell.
Everything has a price along the way. The price for satisfying the internal craving and desire that sin brings to a person, in the form of addiction, is higher and more costly than we care to think about. Not only in dollars and cents, but in the human cost as well.
Mother's and Father's loose their son's and daughter's.
Husband's and wives's loose spouses.
Children loose their parents.
Families loose brothers and sisters.
All of this lost for what?
The insanity of simply wanting to 'feel' different. I don't want to deal with the pressure. I don't want to deal with my problems. I hate myself. I don't want to think about everything that is happening to me. So I'm going to introduce this chemical into my body and it will alter my perception of reality. The ultimate act of selfishness is the dark price a person pays for addiction. Nothing and no one matters except me is the battle cry of addiction.
The deeper one goes into addiction, the view they have of themselves declines also. Low self-esteem......low self-worth is how they define themselves. We are a nation of people who have been raised to view themselves based on what they have done. In other words, how I see myself is based on what I have done in the past, plus what others think about me. This is a deadly combination that will hold a person in a vise grip of depression unless broken. So how did all this happen?
Well, let me ask you something. When you were a little tyke, and you did something wonderful for your mother like setting the table for supper or cleaning up your room without asking, what did she say? The usual response was "You're a good little boy or girl." But lets say you broke some of her fine china or tracked mud into the house all over the carpet. Then the words changed..."You're a bad boy!" Over the years, such repeated behavior creates the thought that I am valued by what I have done. If I do good things, then I must be a good person. If I do bad things, then I am a terrible person. Well, by time someone finds themselves in addiction, the bad things that they have done have multiplied to the extent that they see nothing good within themselves. Such a view only creates shame and guilt. I call these the twin toxic emotions.
This is why we need to understand that we have been bought with a great price. God himself, sent his Son, Jesus, to pay the eternal price that our sin demands. All our rebellion.......all our selfishness......all our rejection of God himself and his ways....God looked beyond such and saw an incredible value in us. In spite of what we did...in spite of how we felt about God, His love never wavered for us. Jesus didn't die for worthless people. He died for His creation that carries around His image. An image that has been covered over and tainted by our own sin. His death and resurrection, coupled with our acceptance of His offer to be saved, breaks the cycle of low self esteem and low self worth. We become new creations, according to II Corinthians 5:17. Did you catch that? New creations? Not refurbished or re-tooled or restored..but brand-spanking-off-the-show-room-floor-new.
How can you not feel the love of God when you consider that He found you worthy to die for and offer a new way of living? That is some kind of God.
God on you...
mb
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