Every addiction on planet earth is an attempt to move from feeling bad to feeling good. And after a while, we are willing to settle for feeling numb – anything but feeling sad, lonely, angry, rejected, unworthy etc. Unfortunately, all of our efforts to avoid our pain end up reinforcing it, even as we are often willing to settle for any distraction that helps us feel numb.
What do all the following behaviors have in common? And what is the most important question we can ask ourselves if we are going to overcome them?
| Alcohol Cutting Anger/Rage Hiding who I am Affirming others to gain their approval | Drugs Affairs Pornography People Pleasing Seeking to be the center of attention | Fear Food Being Religious Being Compulsive Rescuing others to gain their approval | Trying to look good Trying harder to do more and/ or get everything just right Being controlling/manipulative, etc |
They are all addictions designed to distract us from negative feelings growing out of the negative beliefs in our hearts.
The Most Important Question:
When it comes to overcoming all these struggles – and every other addiction, which is stronger?
How can Jesus identify with us trusting in our own strength to try and feel good instead of turning to God? He can’t because He never sinned. But the writer of Hebrews tells us:
Jesus fulfilled prophecy when they placed a wine-vinegar mix on His lips, (Psalm 69:21), tempting Him to trust in His own strength to protect Himself by numbing His pain as He was hanging on the cross, after He:
Because Jesus said no to this temptation to numb His pain – choosing to trust in His Father’s love, He has earned the right to heal us and set us free from every temptation to numb our pain – including, but not limited to pornography.
Pornography is sin. And 50% or more of men IN church struggle with pornography. Adam chose Eve over God and men have been falling in this area ever since. Fortunately, God’s Word tells us there is a belief system behind the behavior of looking at pornography. As I prayed with Rick, who was struggling with a 20 year addiction to pornography threatening his marriage and family, he realized he was focusing more on trying to stop his sinful behavior than receiving healing from Christ. Rick allowed Christ, the ‘Wonderful Counselor’ to:
| Rick’s Pattern of Sinfulness and Brokenness Rick’s sinfulness Rick choosing to trust in pornography to numb his pain instead of trusting God Rick’s rejection | Fruit & Root of Sin Rick’s Behavior Of Porn = Sinful FRUIT Rick’s Negative Beliefs = ROOTS | Rick RECEIVING Jesus’ Resurrection Power Jesus being made ‘sin’ for Rick to identify with his story of sin Jesus’ forgiveness for Rick choosing to trust in pornography instead of God Jesus’ purity in place of Rick’s pornography Jesus acceptance in place of Rick’s rejection |
As Rick received more and more of Jesus’ life living inside his body, mind and soul, Jesus’ story of saying ‘no’ to numbing His pain, was stronger than biology and the pull of sin. Jesus’ purity and victory over temptation was much more powerful than Rick’s sincerity. Jesus’ the 2nd Adam (Romans 5) was living inside and through Rick allowing him to rebuild trust with his wife as well. (Click here to read his full testimony on our ‘Testimonies’ page)
Next Week – Jesus Personal Identification With A Painful Question:
A friend of mine, author Cheryl Ricker, has a blog, www.cherylricker.com. An old friend of hers wrote in to ask where was God when a young girl was raped and killed. And if God is a God of love, why would He allow this to happen? Next week we will see how Jesus identifies with Cheryl’s friend and his critically important question – in a very personal way.