Breaking Addictions Through a Relationship With Christ

Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous teach that once an addict, always an addict. People spend years—decades even—sitting in a circle talking about how powerless they are against their addictions, including people who might have abused alcohol and drugs for a period but have since been clean and sober for years or decades.

If sitting in a circle with other people with a history of drug and alcohol abuse declaring that you are powerless over your addiction and you’re just a worthless worm who will always be addicted to alcohol and drugs helps you stay sober, then by all means, do it.

But that is an absolute lie that runs contrary to the promises of God—it also discounts the transformative power of God’s Word.

Make no mistake; you are selling yourself a lie. No, I was enslaved by alcohol and drugs. Today is a new day, and yesterday is gone, so wave goodbye to it. Today I am free from that addiction.

I choose to focus on the promises of God, not the lies of Satan. God’s grace can wipe away addictions like they are nothing.

My first love was alcohol. It was an intense love affair that burned white hot. On a good day or a bad day, alcohol was there. Long day or busy day, alcohol was there. On quiet nights at home or vacation, alcohol was there. Whenever I was lonely, sad, or happy, alcohol was there.

In every situation—the good, bad, and ugly—alcohol was there. I loved it, and it scratched that itch. Did I mention that I liked to drink? I was smitten, in love.

I was psychologically and emotionally dependent on alcohol. It had a death grip on me. Trying to imagine a life without alcohol was like imagining a life without oxygen.

In my 20s (pre-prison), I would binge on cocaine and Adderall in addition to alcohol. In my eyes, life was just so much better with alcohol.

And as a separate matter, during a period (in the past) while I was incarcerated, I became enslaved to synthetic opioids. It’s all that got me out of bed. All these substances offered an escape from the reality of a very long 30-year sentence and a gloomy prison life. Without them, life was grey, dull, and lifeless. I was hopelessly hooked.

That was then; this is now. When I was 18, 21, 25, and 30, alcohol owned me. But it’s 2023, not 2003. Alcohol has lost its allure, lost its effect. I did not try rehab again and again. I didn’t work the 12 steps. By God’s grace—poof—my addiction to alcohol and drugs was gone.

One of my favorite preachers, Tony Evans, emphasizes that everything in the physical realm has a spiritual root—alcohol and drug addiction, depression, etc. And the Word of God, God’s Grace, and prayer can do anything—nothing is impossible. Don’t ignore the physical realm, but start with the spiritual realm, because that’s the root cause.

In his sermons, the late John Olsteen talks a lot about not just reading the Word of God but rather using it to combat addictions, illnesses, and depression. God’s Word instructs us to speak to the problem directly, using the authority given to us by God.

I’m not saying to simply wish away addiction with positive thinking or empty religion. Perhaps if you have problems with sexual immorality, don’t go to a strip club. If you have a problem with gambling, Vegas isn’t the best environment for you.

And similarly, if you do have a problem with alcohol or drugs, take the necessary steps so that temptation is not in your daily life.

For me, after I immersed myself in God’s Word and learned to pray effectively and continually, alcohol and drugs just lost their power. The desire to use is completely gone. I never prayed for the stronghold to be broken. I wholeheartedly and diligently pursued the Word of God, and strongholds, including alcohol and drugs, that previously had a death grip on me became powerless over me. I made absolutely no effort.

To be sure, I’m not fighting to “stay sober.” I’m not resisting temptation because there is no temptation—it’s gone. I used to have this overwhelming scratch that I needed to itch. Now I don’t.

And people cannot deal with that.

They want to wag their fingers at me and tell me that I’m this no-good, powerless person who will always be some addict and who needs to continually sit in a circle and tell others how alcohol and drugs made me do this or that. That’s a lie. I’m 100% free from those “addictions.” The overpowering force that had a death grip on me for a lifetime has simply evaporated. People can’t deal with this truth.

And yes, I’m in prison, but prison is a hotbed for addiction—so, no, I’m hardly isolated from alcohol and drugs. Alcohol and drugs abound in prison. I want to stress again. I am not struggling to stay sober. There is no fight. I can be around alcohol all day and night, but my desire to drink is gone.

In prison, people cling to drugs and alcohol out of loneliness, boredom, frustration and to escape the reality of prison life. It’s everywhere. Everywhere. Prison is infested with substances.

Move forward. Pray. Stand on God’s promises. Use the Word of God. Refuse to be enslaved by drugs and alcohol.

God’s Word does not say that anything is possible…except overcoming addiction. It says that nothing is impossible with God, to renew your mind with God’s Word and watch the strongholds that have plagued you for a lifetime be obliterated.

Get out of that AA/NA mindset. Learn God’s promises. Learn what God says about your situation because there’s a promise for every problem known to humanity. And stand on those promises as you claim freedom. Prayer is for more than praying for the victims’ families of mass shootings or for praying when a loved one is on their deathbed.

Your dad was an alcoholic, and so was his dad, so that’s just who you are—that’s a lie. You just have an addictive personality—that’s a lie. Once an addict, always an addict—that’s a lie.

Addiction is a lie.

If you need drug and alcohol treatment, seek treatment. If AA/NA work for you, do it. But put God’s Word and His promises first, then the results will follow. God’s grace is more powerful than anything.

For the record, I am not against rehab. I think rehab is great because people are creatures of habit, and rehab can isolate the person and change their routine so they can take a breather and reenter life with a fresh perspective so that they can break that habit. I am against the faulty thinking that just because a person abused alcohol and drugs in the past, they are forever enslaved to those substances. God’s promises say otherwise.

I want something to be unequivocal. I'm not pushing religion. That is not what I'm pushing. Religion can be empty and cold and lifeless. I'm saying that in God's Word is full of life and peace and joy and so much more, as well as weapons to combat discouragement and depression and anger and bitterness and envy and unforgiveness so we can live an abundant life, so we can have the capacity to enjoy the things and people in our life, and so we can withstand the storms of life—so we can thrive and grow even during adversity.

That's what I'm talking about—not "religion."

Put effort toward spiritual growth through cultivating a daily relationship with Christ, and everything else will fall into place. So please don't buy into lie that you cannot overcome your addiction.