In the News
The Addiction Epidemic
Paul wrote 'I do the very thing I hate.' Two thousand years later, that's still the most honest description of addiction.
Let's not sugarcoat it: addiction is everywhere. Fentanyl is killing over 100,000 Americans a year. Vaping is normal in middle school. Porn is a tap away. And that's before we even talk about the stuff that doesn't get called addiction — doomscrolling, gambling apps, retail therapy, binge drinking every weekend. 😔
The Bible doesn't use the word "addiction." But it understands the TRAP better than any self-help book ever written.
"I Do What I Don't Want to Do"
is at his most raw. "I do not do the good I want to do, but the I do not want to do — this I keep on doing." That's the most honest description of addiction anyone has ever written. And Paul wasn't a weak person — he was the hardest working apostle in the game.
He wasn't making excuses. He was being REAL about what it feels like when something has control over you. You know it's bad. You want to stop. And you can't. The Bible doesn't pretend that battle isn't real. 💯
Slavery and Freedom
said something in 8 that hits different in this context: "Everyone who sins is a to sin." That's not judgment — it's diagnosis. Addiction is slavery. It promises freedom and delivers chains.
But then he said: "If the Son sets you free, you will be free INDEED." Not free-ish. Not managing-your-symptoms free. FREE. That's not a motivational quote — it's a promise from the one person who has the authority to make it. 🔥
Self-Control Is a Spiritual Thing
lists the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, , patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness — and self-control. That last one matters here. Paul didn't list it as a personal achievement. He listed it as something the produces in you.
That means the answer to "how do I stop?" isn't just "try harder." It's "let something stronger than the addiction work in you." Willpower runs out. The Spirit doesn't. 🧠
Your Body Matters
told the Corinthians: "I will not be mastered by anything" and "your body is a of the ." Before you hear that as shame — hear it as VALUE. Your body isn't trash. It's not disposable. It's sacred space.
The addiction tells you your body is just a vehicle for the next hit, the next scroll, the next escape. says your body is where God literally LIVES. That changes how you treat it. Not from guilt — from dignity. 🫶
He Breaks Chains
107 tells the story of people trapped in darkness and chains — "for they had rebelled against God's commands." But when they cried out, "he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness... and broke away their chains."
That's not a metaphor for the people who lived it. Recovery is real. Freedom is real. But it starts with crying out — not performing strength, not pretending you're fine, not white-knuckling it alone. It starts with honesty.
If you're stuck: you're not alone, you're not hopeless, and you're not too far gone. The same God who broke chains in is still breaking them. No cap. ✊