The Bible teaches us that we cannot serve two masters ("No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" Matthew 6:24, NKJV). There are many things that can become our master besides money. I believe that anything we allow to control us, dictating our actions, has become our master. While I will not go into everything that can become our master, I want to focus on addiction. More specifically, the addiction to drugs (illicit, prescription, alcohol, nicotine, etc.) or things that we choose (food, exercise, gambling, sex, gossip, etc.) that create a neuro-psychological change in our bodies.
ADDICTION SEPARATES YOU FROM GOD
Though at first it may not seem that way, addiction ultimately leads you away from God. You lose your connection and intimacy with God because of pride, guilt, or shame. You turn away from God, no longer meditating on the Word or having conversations with God through prayer. Sadly, when you need God the most is often when most addicts pull away and sink deeper into their addiction. The darkness of addiction takes over your soul, and you are unable or unwilling to seek the light.
ADDICTION REWRITES YOUR IDENTITY
The longer addiction has a hold on you, the more it convinces you that it is who you are, not simply what you're struggling with. You stop introducing yourself as a child of God and start introducing yourself, even silently in your own mind, by the addiction: the alcoholic, the drug addict, or the one who can't stop. Scripture never called you by that name. God called you chosen, redeemed, and His own (1 Peter 2:9). Addiction wants you to forget that identity long enough to keep you bound to a smaller, darker one.
ADDICTION THRIVES IN SILENCE AND SHAME
The enemy does not need you to renounce God outright. He only needs you to stay quiet. Shame is one of addiction's most effective weapons, because a shamed heart hides instead of confesses, and a hidden struggle cannot be brought before God or His people for healing. "He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV). Addiction counts on your silence to keep growing in the dark. Confession, even when it costs you your pride, is where the light gets back in.
ADDICTION COUNTERFEITS WHAT ONLY GOD CAN GIVE
At its core, addiction is often a search for something real, such as relief, comfort, escape, peace, or a reconnection with self. Unfortunately, what you seek is pursued through a counterfeit. The drink promises to numb what only God can heal. The food promises comfort that only His presence truly satisfies. The behavior promises control over a life that only surrender to Him can actually settle. Addiction is not simply a bad habit; it is a misplaced worship, reaching for a false source to meet a need only your true Master was ever meant to fill.
ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST, THERE IS A WAY BACK
If you see yourself in any of this, hear me clearly: addiction may separate you from the closeness you once had with God, but it does not separate you from His love or His ability to reach you. He is not waiting for you to clean yourself up before you're allowed to come back. He is waiting for you to come back at all. The same God who called you chosen before addiction ever had a name in your life is still calling you that now, “chosen”. Turn back toward Him today, not in shame, but in surrender. He is still your Master, and He has never stopped wanting you home.
