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.

Sadly, addicts are met with rejection in many places they go. Our culture, despite its growing awareness of what addiction is, can still be harshly judgmental of addicts. People stigmatize addiction and villainize it, ostracizing addicts and isolating them. Addicts need acceptance, like any human does, which is why every addict should find themselves a church family. A Christian church community will not judge an addict for their choices, but will instead offer them forgiveness, acceptance and love.

One inaccurate stereotype of church members is that they are a closed off community. This is far from the truth. One would have to visit a secluded town or search hard to find a closed off church community. The modern church community is open and available to everyone who walks through its doors. Church members come from a very mixed background, representing a great many groups and subcultures, and the average church group in modern times loves diversity. They are not going to pass judgment on someone struggling with addiction, as they have already formed relationships with struggling addicts repeatedly in the past.

Addicts who are looking for a place to belong, either because they need to separate from their traditional support system for safety’s sake or because they could simply use additional support, should find a church they like and plug in to the community. A church environment is one of the safest and most secure places to build a support system in the world. Upon entering a church community, people find forgiveness for their short comings, acceptance for who they are and love from their peers. Everyone knows that entering a new community of people is intimidating. But when the community of people takes love and acceptance very seriously, one should not be intimidated to approach them. Christian church communities are among some of the most accepting there are. The people you will meet at a Christian church come from various backgrounds and different walks of life. They are there together because they share the same loving belief system.

God promises that anyone who comes to him with even a grain of faith can and will experience his presence and feel his peace. If you or someone you care about is struggling with addiction, you should know that it is not hard to find a prayer group or prayer partners. Almost any church you walk into will offer church members who are happy to pray over any life circumstance you are going through.

Many rehabilitation centers, even secular ones, acknowledge the benefits of addicts surrendering to a higher power for strength. There is a reason that Christians spend a considerable amount of time in prayer. Prayer has been found to have a number of spiritual and psychological benefits. One of the twelve steps in the infamous ’12 Step Program’ is admitting that you cannot control your addiction by your own will power alone, but only through the strength of your higher power, known to many as God. It is meant to make a person feel vulnerable, because it is only through vulnerability that a person can connect with their inner strength. Prayer and meditation is a highly encouraged practice for addicts and substance abusers as it reminds them to stay humble, guarded and strong.

Prayer for another person is a genuine sign of love and consideration. The power of prayer is equally as strong when it comes from others. In the Christian church, praying for someone is a sign of selfless love. It means you are letting another person into your heart and caring for their well-being. It also means you are caring enough to take the matter up with God, who has promised to be present in spirit when he is called upon by His believers. Prayer is one of the most integral practices of the Christian faith. It is much more than simply speaking sentimental words out loud. It is quite literally communicating with God. God can do amazing things with prayer, including creative miracles. One of the best things a person can do for an addict is pray for them.

Recovering from addiction is one of the hardest things a person will face in their lifetime, and the last thing a recovering addict should feel is that they are alone. When battling the hardships of addiction, the church can be the best place to seek the support that is needed to resist triggers and avoid relapses. There are those who attend church regularly and those who do not, but in the midst of battling an addiction, the church can help anyone who enters its doors by giving them a strong support system, offering them a way to fill their time and by fighting the addiction with them through the power of prayer.

The professional counselors at Christian treatment centers for depression advise that reaching out to a positive support system is vital while recovering from addiction. This is because triggers and relapses will get the best of you at times, and when they do you will want to discard the lessons of your addiction treatment or self-help in order to satisfy your cravings. A support system is there to lift you up in your moments of weakness and be strong for you in the moments that you cannot be strong for yourself. The congregation of a church often calls themselves a church family because of how close and caring the relationships are. The church serves as an excellent support system that offers compassion and selflessness to those in need.

Another critical element to successfully battling addiction is to keep busy with meaningful activities. An occupied mind is much less likely to wander back to its addiction than an idle mind. A church is much more than a Sunday meeting place. It is a community center everyday of the week, with a variety of activities and ministries for all ages. A person can easily fill their schedule with church events, or simply select their favorite events to attend. Either way, they are spending time doing something communal, positive and productive instead of thinking about their addiction.

And lastly, the power of prayer is not to be underestimated. Lives are changed everyday by prayer, and it is certain that anyone you meet in church will be happy to pray for you, including individuals, groups and even the pastor of the church. If you are already a person of faith, you are aware of how powerful speaking directly to God can be. If you are not a person of faith, you should try prayer yourself or let someone else pray over you. If it is strange to you at first, you can simply think of it as speaking your mind and your hopes out loud. Over time, you will come to understand that this deeply personal ritual is one of the strongest ways God bonds with His children, and you will surely feel His presence in your life.