ADDICTION CAN BE OVERCOME
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: “Verslawing kan oorwin word”
In this writing I am answering a lady because a lady wrote to me but everything I write here applies just as well to a man.
Someone who had wedding plans, as I understand it, wrote to me as follows:
"My heart is incredibly sore this morning because I discovered over the weekend that my friend is addicted to drugs. What shall I do now? I don’t know how to handle the situation."
I gladly share my answer to this person with you:
I am sending you something I wrote about drugs just after this.
For now, just the following as I perceive under the guidance of the Holy Spirit:
The first thing that really matter and that you now need to take clear notice of, is the fact that you are only now finding out about the drug problem in your relationship.
The person you want to marry was dishonest towards you and you are not even married yet!
You are now dealing with a huge problem and the one fact that is standing out is that you may not even think about getting married to this person.
You will have to find out where the nearest rehabilitation centre is and he will have to get in there as soon as possible.
Drugs are a dead end, eventually destroying anyone who could not or would not turn around and get rid of it.
It's a huge tragedy but there's an even greater tragedy –
It also makes everyone who is intimately involved with the addict and who does not keep their head, become part of the statistics of that tragedy.
You mentioned that he knows God.
In such a case, the rehabilitation he has to go through is something that can be carried out with great success.
It bothers me that he knows God but you only just find out about the drug problem.
I should also just mention here, that there are a large percentage of people who say they know God and many of them even sit in church regularly but actually they only know about God and knowing about our Lord, do not make yourself a child of God.
I can be full of religion and at the same time be completely without a relationship with our Lord in my life.
To truly know Jesus, you must be in a loving relationship with Him.
What is the visible evidence that I know Jesus and have a love relationship with Him?
JOHN 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."
MAT 7:16-20
16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Pious talk does not count in God's kingdom
MAT 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
I've never been addicted to drugs, but (and I know it's not as bad as being addicted to drugs) I was addicted to smoking.
So, I'm not talking about hearsay when I say that our Lord wants to save a person and will also save you from addiction, if you really want to.
How does a child of our Lord look at this kind of thing?
Well first and foremost, in this writing I refer mainly to Christians in South Africa. I do not know the laws of other countries.
We must obey the laws of the country, where it is not contrary to our Lord's law and to have drugs in your possession without a prescription, are against the law:
ROM 13:1-3
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
Furthermore, we try our best not to offend the people around us:
2 COR 6:3 We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,
With all this, we know that we do not belong to ourselves.
We were bought with a very – an extremely high price:1COR 6:19 Don’t your realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
1COR 6:20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (NLT)
Now I just want to put something strongly on your heart.
I do not know if you have read anything where I mentioned it, so I mention it again – I have mentioned it a lot in some of my answers to people:
Never give your heart to someone, unless you are absolutely sure that that person first gave his heart to Jesus.
There may be cases where a Christian did do it and where the marriage worked out as it is right in the eyes of our Lord but I do not know of such a case.
All the cases I know of have, knowingly or unknowingly, only resulted in great sorrow for the Christian.
I say knowingly or unknowingly. Because you see many times the Christian then later, to adapt to the unbeliever, becomes completely detached from Christ.
This, I believe, is exactly why our Lord gave us the following words:
2COR 6:14 -16
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Do not say that you will lead him/her to our Lord after your marriage.
There are many ministries in the Word of our Lord but it is not one of the teachings that a Christian should marry someone and thus lead the person to our Lord.
What is clearly written for the Christian, for example regarding marriage, is what I just shared with you and let’s read it also from the New Living Translation:
2COR 6:14-16
14 Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?
15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. …
Finally, I would just like to mention the following to all drug or any other addicts:
If I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour, it does not matter how bad my circumstances look according to myself or the criteria of the people around me, for –
Our Lord looks at you and me who accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and He sees His child – a brother or sister of Jesus Christ:
ROM 8:29 For those whom he foreknew (we who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour) he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,(us who accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour) in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (you and me)
I want to share a passage from the Word to show that you can be cured of addiction:
1COR 6:9-10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Those of whom you have just read are on their way to hell but – praise the Name of our Lord, because we also read:
1COR 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.(Because some of us have sincerely asked forgiveness or redemption and received it)
Therefore, if you are addicted to whatever and even if your circumstances due to it are really bad in your own or the eyes of the people –
You can be helped if you trust in Jesus and if you make use of the resources and support that He has set there for us – you can and shall come out of your circumstances –
For this is what Jesus says to us in His Word:
MAT 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."MAT 12:20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
If you read this writing and you experience it as for you today, then our Lord now speaks to you in your heart and the problem in your life does not necessarily have to be drugs.
He now also says to you through this writing:
ISA 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. “
Greetings,
Sakkie