How to fight addiction

In his book The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis imagines an excursion from Hell to Heaven. In the heavenly realm, the souls from Hell appear as insubstantial as ghosts as they encounter the inhabitants of Heaven. In one scene, the writer comes across a ghostly soul who is tormented by a red lizard which perches on his shoulder and whispers temptations in his ear. An angel arrives and offers to remove the lizard:

The ghostly soul continues to argue with the angel about the need to kill his enemy. “Honestly, I don't think there's the slightest necessity for that,” he says, “I'm sure I shall be able to keep it in order now.” He thinks the angel will kill him if he kills the lizard, exclaiming, “Why, you're hurting me now!“ “'I never said it wouldn't hurt you,” replies the angel, “I said it wouldn't kill you”.

Addiction, whether gambling, pornography, or something else, acts like that lizard, plaguing the addict’s life. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings freedom and forgiveness to all who believe, including those who have addictions. But there is still an everyday struggle with addiction to contend with. Like the lizard in Lewis’ story, the only way to deal with addiction is to fight it and kill it.

The puritan pastor John Owen famously wrote about the ‘mortification’ of sin, saying: “make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” The addict also needs to make it their daily work to fight their addiction: to do battle against the temptation to go back to their old patterns of behaviour.

The Bible calls this fight ‘repentance’. We often think of repentance as a one-time event, a change of heart and mind when someone first becomes a Christian. But repentance is something we need to keep on doing as a follower of Jesus. The image at the heart of repentance is ‘turning around’. Every day we face temptations to wander away from Jesus and walk in destructive paths instead. Every day, therefore, we need to repent and correct our course back toward God.

In the very first of his 95 theses, which kicked off the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther wrote: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’, He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Repentance is daily and ongoing, not quick or simple. It is usually a path with highs and lows, setbacks and victories, barriers and breakthroughs. It is a fight.

Addiction builds ingrained habits that are extremely hard to break. Like water running continually over a rock, over time it establishes grooves that we fall back into easily. The fight against these habits is real and difficult. But change is possible and our brains can develop new patterns. Andy Partington, in his book Hope in addiction, comments: “It's not easy, especially at first, but with time, discipline, and support, it is entirely possible to create new tracks in the road that lead us forward while avoiding the deep ruts of addiction.”

An addict can be set free by Jesus Christ, but that doesn’t mean they no longer struggle with cravings and addictive behaviours. It is important not to be naive about the battles that we face, or get complacent about our fight against sin. The comedian Robin Williams, who struggled with addiction, once described his addiction in an interview with Diane Sawyer like this:

Addiction waits. Fighting addiction is something that we continue to do in this present age. It may mean facing intense symptoms of withdrawal, especially during the early stages of fighting addiction. But if we fail to fight to kill addiction, it will be working to kill us.

But it is possible to fight against the habits and temptations of addiction. It is not a futile fight. God is with us in the battle and he gives us his armour to wear (Ephesians 6:10–18). It is in his strength we fight, knowing that he has already won the victory by the cross.

Someone who is an addict will know that there are things that act as triggers for their addiction. It might be a place, a person, or a particular emotion or behaviour that sets off an intense temptation to relapse. It might be trauma, depression, or grief that triggers our response. It could be the friend who always offers a drink, the website that leads us into pornography, or the street where you know gambling will be available.

Jesus has some clear, and drastic, words about avoiding triggers:

It is better to cut out what causes you to stumble, than to keep it and end up being ruined. If your smartphone leads you to relapse in porn or gambling addiction, then ‘gouge out’ your phone, replacing it with a ‘dumb’ phone for calls and texts only, or even no phone at all. It might seem drastic in a connected age, but better to avoid danger than to be led into destruction. You may need to reassess friendships to be able to say no to drink or drugs. You might need to avoid certain places, block certain websites, remove certain things from your home, or change certain habits in your life.

The act of ‘gouging out’ triggers is about building self-control. As Proverbs 25:28 says: “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” Building self-control re-builds the walls around your life that will defend against attacks from addiction.

Of course, committing yourself to gouging out whatever causes you to stumble is one thing; actually following through is another. This is why being accountable to others about the changes you want to make is so important. Choose those you trust and tell them what you need to do, and ask them to keep you to account. As Ed Welch notes in his book Addictions:A banquet in the grave:

James advises the readers of his letter to keep one another accountable, saying “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). If we want to see healing from addiction, we need to fight, and we need to fight together.

There is an oft-quoted adage that says: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” In our fight against addiction, speed is not as important as perseverance. We want to go far, so we need to go together.

Alcoholics Anonymous have a saying that “I can’t, but we can.” Fighting our struggles with addiction can never be done solo. As one addict has said, “no one can do it for you, but you can’t do it alone”. We need to understand that we are not alone in the fight against addiction, and we are not alone in the battle with sin.

God has given a community in which to fight sin: the church. It is the place where we can battle together as fellow-soldiers in the fight against sin and addiction. The church is a hospital for sinners, whatever their battle with sin, and an effective church will have addicts in it. The writer of Hebrews warns against neglecting the community that God has given us:

For the addict, shame can keep us from meeting with others and being honest about our struggles. But as Hebrews reminds us, we need each other to spur us on to godliness, and to encourage each other to remain in the battle. We need those alongside us in church, and they need us. Andy Constable and Mez McConnell explain it well in their book Addiction and the local church:

An addict fighting their addiction needs friends who will stand with them in the battle, and asked them about their fight. How is your level of temptation today? Have you used, or do you think you might? A friend in the fight won’t just ask once or twice, but often.

Helping someone who is struggling with addiction is not a quick fix. It requires commitment and perseverance, being willing to be in it for the long haul. It means speaking honestly about your own struggles as you encourage you addicted friend to be honest about theirs. Above all, it means being an example of Christ-like faithfulness as much as you are able. Doing this speaks just as much as the words you say. It tells them you won’t abandon them in their battle against addiction, and that God won’t abandon them either.

An addict who is part of a community risks meeting people they have hurt because of their addiction. Painful and difficult though this will be, it allows for reconciliation. It gives you opportunities to make amends for the way you have treated others. It has been estimated that for every addict there are at least ten people who have been seriously sinned against by them.

Proverbs 14:9 says, “Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.” Making amends will mean being honest about who we have hurt, and how we have hurt them. It will mean not making excuses but owning our wrongdoing. It may mean counting the cost for our actions and doing what is necessary to put things right, such as paying back money that was stolen. It will also mean knowing the forgiveness that flows to us from the cross of Jesus Christ, and then seeking forgiveness from others.

There is a comedy sketch by American comedian Bob Newhart which is both funny and insightful. Newhart plays a therapist who charges very little and only has one piece of advice. To everything that the client struggles with, he simply says “Stop it!”

While that sketch is just a joke it reveals an important truth. We cannot resist temptation or addiction simply by saying ‘stop it’. If you have tried to stop in your own strength, you will know that it fails more often than not. We grit our teeth and try our best, but our willpower does not seem sufficient.

Andy Partington in Hope in addiction describes fighting addiction as more like Spider-Man than Batman. If you know comic books, you’ll be aware that Batman has no superpowers. His abilities come from dedication, training, and financial resources. Spider-Man, on the other hand, is a normal nerdy teenager. All his abilities come from powers that were given to him by a radioactive spider.

The Batman-stuff of fighting addiction is the discipline and self-control that is an important part of recovery. But self-improvement will not win the battle over addiction. Instead, we need something from outside of us to come and give us the power we don’t have. We need to be more like Spider-Man than Batman.

The good news is that God has given us all we need to battle against addiction. He has given us his presence with us by his Spirit. This is what leads Paul to write to the Ephesians:

An alcoholic will drink to forget their struggles and remove their inhibitions. An addict will try to fill the emptiness of trauma and pain with gambling or porn. But the Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit, who enables them to live for Jesus. The drive to fill our lives with addiction can be replaced with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The desire to be devoted to the idol of addiction is redirected toward a desire for more of God.

Battling addiction is more about worship than willpower. It is only possible when we desire something – or someone – better: Jesus Christ. We turn away from our sin, and also turn toward Jesus. We battle addiction by delighting in Jesus.

Paul says to the Colossians: “set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2). When we see Jesus clearly, and we realise how great and glorious and good he is, then our desire for him will increase and our desire for addictive behaviours will diminish.

Fighting a battle is hard. There will be victories, but there will also be setbacks and stumbles. As we look to Jesus, we need to gaze on the cross and the resurrection. Jesus died to forgive our sin, our guilt, our shame, and our failures in the battle against addiction. When we feel weak, we need to see that he is strong. When we are unable to win the battle, we need to see that he has won the victory, once and for all. When addiction is a fight, we need to see the long-suffering, inexhaustible grace of Jesus Christ.