Free from addiction (How to become free)

Imagine that you are driving in your car and you want to go to the left side of the road, but instead your are going to the right. Than you are not doing what you want to do, you are acting against your own will. This is what addiction is, than you are acting against your will. And that is a big problem. Paul writes: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of anything.” 1 Cor 6:12 If you are addicted to smoking, alcohol, social media, games, pornography, masturbation or whatever, than you are under a certain power. Therefore Paul writes I will not be brought under ANY power. It is given to a Christian to be completely free. It is also very necessary, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And if you are under a certain power than you are not free and do not have the spirit of Christ. One of the fruits of the spirit is self-control. Self-control means that you are controlling your own body. You should not be a slave of your own body but instead you should direct and steer your own body. Paul writes further: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.” 1 Thess 4:3-5 The will of God for man is holiness. When there is holiness, there is always also freedom, holiness and freedom go hand in hand. How can you become free from addiction? Some people are very strong. They are addicted and they follow a certain therapy, or they read certain books or follow advice from other people. And one day they decide to stop doing the things that they were addicted to. That is how they just become free from this addiction. So by using their own strength. Of course this a good thing. But the question is: if you became free in your own strength whether you truly resolved the real problem. What was the root cause of this addiction? Where did it come from? Some other people are not so strong. And it is impossible for them to become really free by themselves. In a way that is also good thing because in that case you have a need for God. That means that you are needy for God and it is a good reason to start looking for God. Because when God is making a person free from addiction, it is always granular. God is definitely doing a good job by nature. God is not shallow in his works but is doing a thorough job. In God there is no superficiality. It is the same thing with weeds in the garden. If there are weeds, obviously you just take out those weeds and you can throw it away. But if you do not pull out the root, next time it will grow back again. But if you take out the weeds and also pull out the root, than it will not come back. Addiction in itself is caused by a certain force that causes the addiction. There is a certain power working in a person. Paul writes about this force and he says: “For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do.” Rom 7:19 This verse is from Romans 7. Romans 7 describes the state of a person before being born again, this person is not doing what he would like to do. This also fits with a person who is addicted. A person is not doing what he wants to do, that is the state of every person who is not born again. Redemption is needed. Christ is the redeemer and he came to free the people from slavery. Through His work the heart of a person is circumcised through faith. And if your heart is circumcised than you are free. The bible says: “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ. “Coloss 2:11 If the heart is circumcised, than you are pulling out the sinful body. That is the circumcision of Christ. The bible says further: “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has been died, has been freed from sin” Rom 6:6,7 The old man with all his addictions, he dies with Christ. And he is raised as a new creation. This new creation has no addictions. That is something that belonged to the old man. The cross of Christ, the dying of Jesus Christ is a mighty weapon against the temptation of the devil. As the Bible says: “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be manifested in our body.” 2 Cor 4:10 If you die with Christ on the cross, than you are always carrying the death of Christ in the body. And if there is temptation than you know: I have died for this, I always carry the dying of Jesus in my body. This weapon is so powerful that the devil cannot stand this. If you believe like this, you will be free from addiction. Amen