Addictions

Everyone is addicted to something.  Too strong of statement?  Maybe.  Honestly though, I'm not sure that it is.  We humans are made to crave.  Addiction is an innate drive for something.  This innate drive leads to compulsive behavior.

According to Psychology Today, most addictive behavior is not related to either physical tolerance or exposure to cues.  Rather, addiction is most commonly a reaction to emotional stress. Addiction is a wily vice.  It fools you into thinking that you are in control but in reality it's dictating your life with an iron rule.

We've been created with a vacancy deep in our soul.  A vacancy that then instigates an insatiable craving.  A craving that God intends for us to fill with Him.  But instead we look everywhere else for satisfaction.

Think about it...what is it that you feel you can't possibly do without?  Your phone, computer, movies, music, coffee, Mountain Dew, a caffeine fix, chocolate, food in general, shopping, words of affirmation, acceptance from your peer group, approval from your family, and the list could go on.  These things I just listed aren't wrong in and of themselves but it's when we need them in excess that the problem begins.  There's both minor and major addictions.  The major addictions are things such as porn, sex, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gluttony, etc.

I've been battling a serious addiction for a couple of years.  At some points in the battle, I've been lackadaisical and cowardly; at other times I've been aggressively ambitious in fighting it.  Time and time again, I need to take myself to task.  How desperately I want to be free of my addiction determines how hard I fight against it.

The place of addiction can become comfortable and familiar.  It becomes our haven when life is too much to deal with.  Whatever our addiction may be, it becomes our god.  We turn to it instead of looking to God for help.  We then become self-sufficient.  We think we can handle life on our own and turn to our addiction anytime we feel the need for backup.  Addictions make us selfish because we focus more and more on how we can satisfy that craving.  Addiction when not dealt with becomes our master.

How would life change if we became "addicted" to good things?  Such as, God's approval in our life, the Bible, reaching out to others, and seeking God in every aspect of our life.  How would my life be different if I would consistently fill my inner craving with God instead of other things?