Christianity has had a major impact on the lives of those struggling with addiction. From providing spiritual guidance to offering physical resources and support, the role of faith-based programs within the addiction recovery journey can be invaluable. With an estimated 72% of Americans identifying as Christian, it’s not surprising that many addicts turn to Christianity when seeking recovery.
Christianity and Addiction

At its core, Christianity is based on the principles of love, acceptance, and service to others. These principles are integral to maintaining sobriety as they promote personal growth and focus on the spiritual journey of recovery. Christianity can provide a sense of community and provide a foundation of support that can be hard to find anywhere else. Faith-based programs also hold addicts accountable, by encouraging them to take responsibility for their actions and to focus on the long-term consequences of their addiction.

The 12 Steps

The 12-step approach is based heavily in Christianity and is widely accepted as an effective method for overcoming addiction. The 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, for example, focus on placing faith in order to accept the power of a higher being to restore hope and help implement positive changes in the addict’s life. This technique encourages addicts to seek and accept help from others, and to practice self-reflection and humility. The 12 steps help to provide an emotional and spiritual healing which is necessary for long-term recovery.

Christian Community

Having a strong support system is essential for achieving sobriety and preventing relapse. Christianity offers a massive global community of support, with the power to reach anyone regardless of their size, wealth or location. Churches and Christian organizations are full of recovery resources such as faith-based meetings, sober housing, education and job opportunities, and mental health support.

The Bible and Addiction

The Bible has many passages that provide hope and advice to those seeking recovery. The book of Isaiah speaks of “the good news of deliverance” as well as the “enduring promise of restoration.” While the words of God in the Bible may not always provide immediate answers, they do offer the addict the assurance that they are not alone and that God is with them on their journey. There are a variety of Bible-based programs that focus on providing hope, strength, and courage during times of struggle, drawing strength from the words of the Bible as a roadmap for recovery.

Hope and Healing

Ultimately, Christianity can provide hope and healing to those struggling with addiction as it offers a greater understanding of the struggles of recovery. Through faith, accountability, and, and the power of community, followers of Christianity can find both personal and spiritual healing that can be vital to the recovery journey. Whether through a 12-step approach or through a spiritual journey, Christianity can provide boundless support and strength to those seeking recovery.

Addiction plagues church members in almost equal numbers as it does in the secular world. A reaction of shock and disgust is common when people learn the statistics on addiction within the Christian church. This means for every sex addict, alcoholic, drug addict and so on who is not a Christian, there are equal numbers of sex addicts, alcoholics, drug addicts and so on within the Christian population. People are shocked to learn this because becoming a Christian entails parting with things like addiction. One who surrenders his life to Christ should have no need for a false idol such as alcohol, drugs or sex. The question is, why is addiction thriving within the Christian church?

Christians become addicts because they have not allowed transformation to occur within themselves. Or perhaps they have put things on the altar that are of lesser importance to them but have refused to part with the things they cling to the tightest. The tighter we cling to our prized possessions, the more they get in the way of our relationship with God, which is why God does not want us to hesitate to put these things on the altar first. Christians are imperfect humans who prefer the path of least resistance just as much as the next guy, but for he who submits to Christ in the way that we are intended, the power they receive over their addiction will be limitless.

The answer is simple. A martial artist needs to learn to master their craft over a long period of time under the guidance of their teacher. The same is true for Christians. The growth of a person’s strength in Christ, their savior, is achieved over time. There is no set amount of time that this evolution takes place in. Every person’s journey is unique, and every person’s heart makes different choices. Christ intended for us to be ever striving to know him better and continuously moving closer to him over the course of our entire lives. However, many Christians do not grasp this concept, or if they do at some level, they shy away from it because they do not want their life to change as drastically as Christ wants their life to change. This is not unique to Christians. This is a trait deeply ingrained in humanity. We want to stick to what we know, we would prefer not to be challenged and we resent what or who rocks the boat.

Statistics indicate that Christian addicts exist in roughly the same percentages as secular addicts. Christians are expected to lead cleaner lives than the average person does, but many people are surprised to learn that Christians struggle with addiction in the same ways that the rest of the world does. This means that Christianity as an institution has been largely ineffective in offering the type of transformation that it claims to provide. Many people, including this blogger, believe this is due to the institution of Christianity undermining the spirituality and relationship that Christ offers. Some of the most common addictions that Christians struggle with are as follows.

A certain amount of alcohol is negotiable in Christian culture because Jesus drank wine, but drugs are almost entirely universally frowned on in Christian culture. Abusing drugs, whether they are street drugs or prescription drugs, is illegal, and the bible is quoted to say that followers of Christ should obey the laws of the land. There is very little justification for drug use among Christians. Therefore, much like in the case of sex, many Christians become fascinated with the concept of drugs because they are a forbidden fruit. When they finally do try them and realize that they are fun, they become addicted to them.

Of all addictions, this one hits Christians hardest. It is not hard to understand why. Christian faith strongly encourages its followers to wait until marriage before having sex. Waiting until marriage is a very strong ethic of Christianity that is handed down from the highest of church leaders. However, despite the good intentions with this ethic, a large number of Christians go about trying to enforce it, in themselves and in others, very incorrectly, and end up turning this moral into a source of resentment, rebellion, secretiveness and repression. Sex is highly addictive to many people, Christian and secular, and for those Christians whose sexuality became repressed, sex addiction is a common road to walk down.

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