The first question in the Heidelberg Catechism is: “What is thy only comfort in life and death?” The answer to this question, according to the catechism, is to “belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.”
I know that there are many things in my life that give me comfort that are not inline with this idea. All the things that give me comfort outside of Christ point to places in my life that I may be struggling with an addiction.
I believe that we are all addicts, because we are all imperfect. We often think of addictions as simply things like drug addictions, sex addictions, alcoholism, or tobacco. However addiction is a much wider field. According to Gerald May
May
Aversions: We can also become addicted to our aversions. These are the things we avoid. We might avoid bugs, germs, water, politics, sex, religion, doctors, death, darkness, bridges, elevators, snakes, spiders, high places, being alone, crowds, intimacy, rats, rejection, traffic, tests, and many others.
Addiction is much bigger then sex and drugs
- Cut Down – Do you ever feel like you need to cut down on an activity
- Annoyed – Do you get annoyed when people question your activities in an area
- Guilty – Do you ever feel guilty about what you are involved with
- Engage – Do you ever feel driven to engage in something to help you “deal” with life
The process people go through in addiction is as follows…
From Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions
Fighting addiction:
Fighting addictions can be hard; I know from experience. I used to have a pack-a-day smoking habit. Quitting that habit took a lot of hard work and will power as well as an understanding of my own danger zones, and creating a concrete plan. Here is a helpful acronym I learned from Richard Carlson at North Park Theological Seminary. It points at some danger zones that can affect all people who are struggling with addiction:
HALT
Hungry – You may be looking at something that will eat you
Angry – We can leave ourselves a carcass stripped of life if we let anger reign
Lonely – Some companions will lead you toward your own destruction
Tired – Your convictions can be drowsy too
When you see an area like this in your life stop! Proceed with care.
Live in Gratitude –not– Resentment
One of the main ways to fight addiction is to recognize that what you have is a blessings, and who you are has value. Living with thankfulness is a good step toward recovery. As long as we live with resentment we can’t live at peace with the healthy rhythms, but will supplement them
Even though we all live with addictions we don’t need to live with them passively.
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