Insatiable cravings. Nasty habits. Vices. Addictions. We’ve all got them. We all love something too much. We all want more. More pleasure. More love. More chocolate. More affirmation. More money.
Most of us know that an unquenchable desire for drugs, alcohol, nicotine, food, shoplifting, and gambling can destroy lives. However, multitudes of people are hooked on things that don’t fit the addiction stereotype: love, work, sports, people-pleasing, shopping, exercising, dieting, watching television, even pain and chaos. Add to the list: technology, religious activities, risk taking, celebrity worship, gaming, tattooing, tanning, even love for pets and children.
It has been said that to be alive is to be addicted; that life in America is so stressful that it is impossible not to become addicted to some object. One Christian psychiatrist suggests “we are all addicts in every sense of the word.”
We live in the great age of excess which breeds an unsatisfied yearning for more and more. You need. You deserve. You must have. Misplaced affections and insatiable cravings often become addictions. Completely unaware, we harbor an infestation of hidden dependencies because they have silently invaded our lives. And they don’t have to be grandiose or visibly evil to do great damage.
Behind every craving is a compelling urge to pursue pleasure—to feel terrific while avoiding pain, physically and emotionally. From the brain’s perspective, whatever we do to produce feelings of euphoria, is worth repeating. Ultimately, we end up mastered by those things.
Surely you’ve noticed that the number of television shows developed around the topic of addiction and compulsive behavior has increased. Today we’re restless, stressed, irritable, discontent, and obsessed. We distract ourselves and medicate our anxiety with activity, mood-altering substances, entertainment, and relationships, because we’re unable to simply be present with ourselves. We may love God, but deeply rooted habits take control. Our focus rests on our objects of attachment instead of on him.
The church culture is not immune either. Christians, as well, hide and deny their behaviors. Many believe the church propagates addiction. The church, however, is in the unique position of becoming its own recovery center.
I have a message of hope: We are not confined to or defined by our insatiable cravings and compulsive behaviors. God is genuinely interested in your problems. He is in the business of changing lives. Turning to him empowers healing and transformation. We study the Holy Bible because it is God’s personal Word to us, literally “God-breathed” (see 2 Timothy 3:16).
Unlike what the pop culture presents, the Bible always tells the truth. It gives us exactly what we need. God intends for us to learn from the people portrayed in the Scriptures (the text of the Bible is referred to as scripture). We can see reflections of ourselves in their messy and troubled escapades. We share the same Father who declared, “I am the LORD, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26).
This is an excerpt from the book "Something Happened On My Way To Hell" by author Kimberly Davidson
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