Revisit some things we need to remember:
Step # 1 of the Twelve Steps:
We admitted that we were powerless over our dependencies (Alcohol/ drugs) ---that our life had become unmanageable.
Hard place to be in......powerless.
Even harder to admit.
Something within us keeps us looking for a different way to overcome our problems. In addiction terms, we keep looking for the "easier softer way." That is why Step # 1 is the anchor to this new life I've found in Christ. Let me put it this way.....it doesn't matter whether your in active addiction or not. It doesn't matter if you've never used or not. We all are powerless to save ourselves from the presence of sin. We all are powerless to save ourselves from the penalty of sin. And we all are incapable of overcoming the power of sin.
The Apostle Paul touched on being powerless in Romans 7:19-20.
"When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am don't what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it, the sin within me is doing it."
Paul's problem isn't a lack of desire, he wants to do the right thing.
His problem wasn't knowledge, he knows what the right thing to do is.
His problem is a lack of power.
If I am the problem, then I cannot be the solution.
Yet, even in religious circles, some people, when brought face to face with sin in their life, will neglect the admission of guilt and try to "earn" their way. "If I only read more of my Bible! If I only give more in the offering! If I only go to church more than I have". All good things to do, but it doesn't take care of the issue inside which is sin.
Acknowledging our powerlessness.
Turning to God for that power we lack.
Then daily following God by reading the Bible, praying and listening for God's direction.
(So as not to confuse, the term "listening" is more than using your sense of hearing. It is listening with your heart and mind.)
Paul goes on to write in Romans 7 about the solution to the sin problem.
Oh what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ out Lord.
You do not have to keep living the cycle of addiction.
You do not have to keep living the cycle of sin.
You do not have to keep living with all the destruction and chaos brought on by those two cycles.
The answer is found in Jesus.
Take hope for this day and begin to talk (some people call it praying) to Jesus.
Pour out your heart to him and let him come and heal you.
God on you.....
mb
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