Why Faith Based Rehabilitation?

There is one thing that all addictions have in common. Isolation and loneliness.

For many who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, overeating, pornography, gambling, any many other addictions, they are all alone. We get into addictive behavior because we don't want to be alone anymore, so we succumb to peer pressure, or we try something new to alleviate pain, boredom, or emptiness.

While our pleasure / reward center may be temporarily stimulated, we are short circuiting our natural reward system and before we know it we have to feed and increase our addiction to just maintain a sense of satisfaction.

Rehabilitation

To address addiction through rehabilitation, there are only two premises that you can come from.

1. Man is the source of all of his solutions. If you look deep enough within, or take the appropriate steps to walk out of a problem and into a new set of healthy decisions, then you can create your own solution.

2. Man is dependent on God and He is the solution to all the problems that we make. Man is depraved by nature, but through repentance and reliance on God, we can overcome obstacles in this life, even the obstacles we make for ourselves.

I submit that the deeper we look into our own self to find answers, if we're honest, we will not like what we see, we will not find answers, and we will become more depressed and more prone to fall back to our addictions. Having Psychotherapists tell you that your sin isn't your fault and that you have a sickness does not help in the long run any more than a doctor prescribing aspirin to cure cancer does. Exchanging one drug addiction for a prescription drug addiction is also no cure at all.

Discipleship is the Key

I often talk about discipleship in the classes I teach as well as at the shelters I minister to. Why? Because it's through relationship that we overcome wrong thinking, we overcome loneliness, we find purpose, we find companionship, we break the isolation that our enemy uses to trap us.

Being a disciple of Jesus means to learn about him, follow the example he has laid out through the Bible, and to put into practice what we learn. Ideally you would want to be discipled by a more mature believer and at the same time be a discipler to a less mature believer. If all the people around you have the same life experiances, then who can you turn to for help and who would you be able to help?

7 Priciples of Discipleship

1. Commit yourself to God: Matthew 22:37

2. Relationship with Others: Matthew 22:39

3. Be Teachable: 2nd Timothy 2:2

4. Chose Honesty and Authenticity: James 5:16

5. Practice Gratitude and Thankfulness: Philippians 4:6

6. Display Courage and Faith: Hebrews 11:6

7. Develop a Work Ethic and Good Stewardship: 1st Thessalonians 4:11-12

It's through these deliberate actions of following Jesus, and following others as they follow Jesus that you can break the chains of sin that bind us and walk in the light of truth.

I'm not saying that rehabilitation is easy, in fact it is hard, but remaining in isolation and trying to hide your problems will never work. It's time for God's people to stand up, hold out the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and bring those struggling into the light.