A Christian can struggle with addiction, and they might not be able to break free unless they take the right steps. If you want to live an addiction-free life as a Christian, you need to know the right things to do and be conscious about applying them.

Here are some ways that a Christian can live an addiction-free life

Regular study of the word

The Bible is the written and spoken word of God; it is living and active. It contains timeless wisdom that helps us navigate the challenges that come with life. To prevent addiction from happening to you, it is important to be intentional about your walk with God.

You need to be more serious about hearing God talk to you because that is one of the major mediums through which he communicates with you. As you study God’s word regularly, you will be reminded of his promises that will benefit all aspects of your life including your health.

Praying regularly and fervently

Another way to prevent addiction from happening is to step-up your prayer life. Just as you read the word of God daily, you need to pray regularly and fervently. Prayer is the primary medium of communication with God.

You will be able to tell him your heart desires, and sometimes, during prayer, he speaks back to you too. With regular prayer, you will be able to build a strong relationship with God, which will reduce the chances of getting addicted.

Avoid hanging out with addicts

You have to be more intentional about the company you keep when it comes to the concept of addiction. If you move with addicts, there is a tendency for you to develop an addiction problem unknowingly. It is preferable to hang out with people who are sober, and who detest addictive habits.

Your best choice would be to keep company with your brothers and sisters in Christ, who are intentional about their spiritual growth. That way, you would be able to reduce the chances of getting addicted.

Alcoholism and addiction are debilitating diseases that can destroy a person’s personal and professional lives, affecting their families and communities.

When Christians are addicted to drugs or alcohol, their relationships with Jesus are threatened by the wounds of guilt and shame. To fully recover from drug and alcohol dependence as a Christian, one must incorporate Christ as the core of their new identity. They must embrace Faith and become a sober, productive member of society.

With Faith as the core of the recovery experience, the addicted are provided a framework embedded in scriptures, the very word of God. It highlights that Jesus is the core of our being and is one’s Lord and savior. Through a rigid belief in His word and His finished works, sobriety is a reality that they can encounter.

With Faith, the addict embraces prayer and meditation as a coping skill, thus actively replacing the addiction. This way, the individual is more productive to those around and the society at large.

Although, this does not erase the fact that addiction is a strong force that can shake one’s Faith. For some, it is a battlefield in their mind as there is a constant war between their Faith and addictive behavior.

After losing several family members to cancer, a woman began to question God’s mercy and soon after that turned to alcohol to cope with the pain of loss. During this challenging time, she severely questioned her belief in God.

She was, however, able to gain sobriety by enrolling in a Christian-based rehabilitation program. Through the program, she could reconnect to her Faith and get over the dark feelings that clouded her mind. As a result, she was able to obtain the healing of her mind and soul and consequentially break loose from addiction.

Faith has time and time again helped lots of people break free from their addiction. Being more of a psychological disease than a health concern, addiction thrives in the presence of more confusion and unanswered questions.

Through Faith, questions are answered and doubts cleared. People even rediscover themselves and gain a new identity in Christ.

Those addicted feel compelled to isolate themselves from everyone, a situation that is far from impossible. As a result of stigmatization associated with the addicted lifestyle, people don’t feel compelled to stay in their company.

Apparently, some of them are afraid they might get influenced by someone else’s addictive lifestyle and follow it. Many don’t want to be seen with an addict because it might make them appear to others. This is something the addict perceives from a distance and keeps them from other people as well.

Families and friends are the only ones who cannot keep themselves away from an addict. This is because they don’t have a choice.

Churches make sure that the addict’s addiction problem is kept confidential. Therefore, they wallow in silence, hoping that one day these addictions will be gone. However, addicts must understand that the church is of utmost importance to them in several ways.

As a first step, the church understands that addiction removes addicts entirely from God, so they usually restore them. More specifically, the church helps addicts get the help they need within the body of Christ.

Addiction counselors are usually steadfast in their faith and experience in addiction. A counselor’s job is to help addicts determine what there is at the root of their addiction.

Additionally, they encourage addicts to remain steadfast in their faith. As a next step, the church arranges for the addict to enter a rehab facility. Treatment at a rehab facility is designed to help the believer achieve sobriety by treating their addiction.

Additionally, the church ensures that they take turns visiting the individual at the rehab so that they would never feel lonely. There is always support available for addicts in the church, and the church is also ready to assist them.

Are you wondering how to conquer addiction once and for all? It would interest you to know that God’s power is always available to help you defeat addiction. The issue now is, a good number of people don’t know how to trust God to help them defeat addiction and it leaves them struggling with it.

Below are ways to trust God for an addiction-free life

Repent and acknowledge your sins

Addiction breeds a sinful lifestyle and it takes you further from God. To defeat this challenge, you need to admit that you have sinned and ask God for mercy. We serve a merciful and loving father who is always willing to welcome back sinners.

Study the word

Our Bible is the tool we need to navigate the challenges of life. It would interest you to know that every problem and questions we might have, all have answers in the Bible. And the only way to know these answers is by reading our Bible regularly.

When you read your Bible, you will discover that you are the son of God and addiction should have no place in your body. God also speaks to us through his word by in-depth study of the Bible.

Pray

Alongside studying your Bible, you need to learn how to pray fervently. Prayer is one of the proficient ways to talk with God and hear his plans for your life. As you fellowship with him through prayer, you are assured that your addiction lifestyle would be a thing of the past.

Join a local church

The church as the body of Christ comes with several quintessential benefits. One of which is the brotherly support and love they extend to you. There is no stigmatization in the church as you are assured everyone is committed to helping you conquer addiction.  

With all the ways listed above, it is certain that addiction would be a thing of the past. You just need to trust God to help you surmount this challenge.

When someone is addicted, they feel the need to withdraw themselves from everybody and the reason for this is not far-fetched. The addicted lifestyle comes with stigmatization, people do not feel the need to associate with them.

Some of them have the feeling that they could get influenced by the addicted person’s lifestyle and follow suit. Others do not want to be seen with the addict because of what people would say about them. The addict senses this from a distance and also keep themselves away from other people.

The only set of people who find it impossible to stay away from the addict is the family and friends. And the reason is because they do not really have a choice.

If the addict belongs to a church, they ensure that no one is aware of their addiction problem. So, they wallow in silence hoping that one day the addiction will leave them. The church is of utmost importance to the addict in several ways, and it is essential that the addicts know this.

First off, the church is aware that addiction takes the addict far from God, so they would typically work on restoring them back to God. More so, the church helps the addict gets counseling within the body of Christ.

Usually, these counselors would be those experienced in addiction and steadfast in the faith. What the counselors do is to help the addict uncover the root cause of their addiction.

More so, they encourage the addicts in the faith. Next, the church helps the addict get enrolled in a rehab. The purpose of the rehab is for the believer to receive good treatment that helps restore them to sobriety.

The church also goes the extra mile to ensure they take turns in visiting the individual at the rehab so that they would not feel lonely. Addicts need to know that they are safe in Christ and the church is always ready to assist.  

One of the hardest situations which an individual can face in their lifetime, is recovery from addiction. Now, the last thing they should feel during the course of addiction, is staying alone.

When someone is battling addiction, one of the best things they can do for themselves, is to seek support, and one of the best places to achieve this, is in the church.

The church is one of the most profound places, with a proficient structure, which helps to kick against triggers and resist relapses. The church plays a pivotal role by providing a sound support system, and offering a way to judiciously utilize their time, by warring against addiction with prayer and sound counsel.

The counselors in a Christian treatment center, are those who work in the conventional world. So, you can expect they would proffer the same solution for addicted individuals. What makes it more interesting is, these counselors would offer the same kind of care, as they would give their conventional clients.

Professional counselors usually advisee that, it is essential to reach out to a good support system, as it is vital for fighting against addiction.

This happens because, there are times when relapses and triggers would want to weigh you down, and on your end, you will be unwilling to put away the lessons which you have learnt at your addiction treatment center.

Hence, this is why you need a sound support system which will inspire you at your low. The congregation of a church is usually called a family, because of the level of closeness and care which is exhibited in the church. The church is an excellent support system which offers ample compassion and empathy to people who need it.

The church also provides meaningful activities which would keep the mind of an addicted individual occupied, so that they would rarely remember their addiction.

To wrap it up, addicted individuals should not undermine the place of prayer in defeating addiction. Praying on a regular basis, helps to subject your addiction to a higher power, and you would be surprised at the level of progress you would have made in a short time.