FAQ: How Can I Share My Faith When I Have an Addiction?
It can be so easy to disqualify yourself because of something that is happening to you. “I have an issue,” you say, but the truth is, we are all a work in progress. God doesn’t disqualify you, He cheers you on and wants to see you set free.
If life stopped because of issues, no-one would do anything! There are issues everywhere. That’s the reason Jesus came!
It’s interesting how humans can put addictions into categories, some being worse than others, and we use a scale to measure them. Addictions come in many shapes and forms and if left unchecked and not dealt with they end up crippling you.
A few years back, I met this little old man, his name was Len. At the time he was 89 years old. We had started chatting and I ended up visiting him regularly. The story ends well — after about 2 years he gave his life to Jesus, and he’s now with Him.
Len used to struggle with the concept of Jesus dying on the cross and how God could let that happen. I had been praying for Len together with one of my friends. The strategy we had felt God give us was that I simply needed to say the words “Jesus Loves You” to him. The night that I did, his face spun around to me and his eyes looked into mine. ”Does He?” he enquired, as his eyes longingly started to pierce into mine. “Yes! He does” I replied.
As those words flowed easily out of my mouth with such conviction, it was like light beams pierced the darkness of Len’s spirit and then came bouncing back to mine. Suddenly I realised that I had been saying these words but I hadn’t fully believed them! I had been holding back and I hadn’t even realised it. I managed to finish the conversation, say a hurried goodbye, and fumble my way out of the room as I became overwhelmed with emotion. My eyes welled with tears and as I walked out into the night I burst into tears and broke down.
That night, and over the next few days, God revealed His truth to me and helped me realise that something that had happened to me as a little girl had caused me to withdraw from fully trusting Him. God took that trauma, and set me free! I have been free ever since.
I didn’t go to a self-help programme to reveal that, I simply dug into God and trusted Him in the best way I knew how. Deep down I could feel something astray but I continued to reach beyond myself, connect with Jesus and share Him with others.
It was in sharing my faith, and speaking truth that allowed His truth to set me free.
Addictions can be slippery; they have a habit of trying to master you, shut you down, and make you ineffective. There are spiritual and practical aspects to breaking addictions that must go hand in hand. Don’t sit there inactive with addiction any longer!
The reason addictions exist is because you give yourself permission to allow them a ‘platform’ in your life. Here is a very simple 2-step process for you to change that:
Say sorry to God for doing that, and ask Him to forgive you
Turn away from doing what you are doing — that means getting a strategy and having something to replace it
It’s often more about action than it is about anything else. That is choosing to do a different action, making a different choice. Why not get pro in sharing your faith instead, by sharing the good things God has done for you!
