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Can A Christian become 'addicted" to Things like Porn/drugs/alcohol?
- Thread starter JesusFan
- Start date
calebreedgordon
New Member
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
1 Corinthians 10:12
YES, if you are putting boundries and guards in your life. Yes you can become "addicted"
When we slack up on our prayer, Bible reading, communion with fellow believers (healthy and fruitful communion), and our daily walk with the Lord, we set ourselves up for disaster.
There's a reason why the verse about the proverbial dog eating its proverbial vomit is in the Bible. And those days that we allow the flesh to lead us and not the spirit, we are headed for trouble.
Yes, a Christian, for a variety of reasons can allow a certain behavior to become prominant in his or her life to the point that it interferes with his or her relationship with God and with his or her spouse, family, or church.
God desires to restore us, cleanse us, and rescue us.
Read the following article.
http://bibleforums.org/content.php?55-Learning-To-Be-An-Overcomer
There's a reason why the verse about the proverbial dog eating its proverbial vomit is in the Bible. And those days that we allow the flesh to lead us and not the spirit, we are headed for trouble.
Yes, a Christian, for a variety of reasons can allow a certain behavior to become prominant in his or her life to the point that it interferes with his or her relationship with God and with his or her spouse, family, or church.
God desires to restore us, cleanse us, and rescue us.
Read the following article.
http://bibleforums.org/content.php?55-Learning-To-Be-An-Overcomer
I believe "addiction" doesn't take away responsibility. It absolutely starts as a choice and continues as a choice but the chose to stop is much harder once you're addicted than in the beginning. But people all around the world have broken their addictions and it's the same for anything and anyone: STOP IT!! But the desire needs to be there first.
That is why I used the word Addiction, as that would mean that the believer had become so caught up in a sin practice that it almost has become habitual habit at that point!
this would fall under a "besitting" sin, as in Bible, as one would be literally getting controled by the sin, not experiencing victory over it and getting set free...
As to the OP: absolutely
It seems to me that some people assume a Christian is strong in faith, life is going good, and then boom!! They're addicted to something. That's why they say "oh no a Christian can't do anything like that!".
But addictions don't start out as addictions. They start out with a look, a taste, and then gradually you're hooked. Sometimes it happens out of carelessness because we have drifted away from the Lord into things we shouldn't be involved in. Other times it may be because of tragedy which leads to deep depression. We may have been abandoned by someone, lost a child or loved one, or have physical pain that the strongest drug won't ease. However it happens, we shouldn't be so quick to judge that if a person is addicted to something, it's because they aren't a Christian. But I believe that God will bring the Christian out of addiction just as Jesus told of leaving the 99 sheep to go after the one.
Just my 2 cents.
But addictions don't start out as addictions. They start out with a look, a taste, and then gradually you're hooked. Sometimes it happens out of carelessness because we have drifted away from the Lord into things we shouldn't be involved in. Other times it may be because of tragedy which leads to deep depression. We may have been abandoned by someone, lost a child or loved one, or have physical pain that the strongest drug won't ease. However it happens, we shouldn't be so quick to judge that if a person is addicted to something, it's because they aren't a Christian. But I believe that God will bring the Christian out of addiction just as Jesus told of leaving the 99 sheep to go after the one.
Just my 2 cents.
I also tend to see this as being part of being in a sinful World and system...
Also think that one can be genuine saved by God, and yet thru whatever reason, can get into bad stuff !
I had a pastor and the dean of my Bible college both tell me that, "There is no sin that an unsaved person commits that a saved person cannot commit."
When we allow ourselves to be fooled into believing that we are above sin to the point that we CANNOT sin or cannot commit certain sins, then pride takes over and we WILL more than likely commit the sin or sins that we think we cannot commit.
We still have our sin nature; that isn't taken away until we're called home. However, we have no excuse for continuing to live in sin and using the excuse that "I'm just human." If we are born again, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. We can call on Him for the grace to bare and resist any sin. If we try to rely on our own strength, we will find it greatly lacking. The grace of God is unlimited, as everything about God is.
When we allow ourselves to be fooled into believing that we are above sin to the point that we CANNOT sin or cannot commit certain sins, then pride takes over and we WILL more than likely commit the sin or sins that we think we cannot commit.
We still have our sin nature; that isn't taken away until we're called home. However, we have no excuse for continuing to live in sin and using the excuse that "I'm just human." If we are born again, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. We can call on Him for the grace to bare and resist any sin. If we try to rely on our own strength, we will find it greatly lacking. The grace of God is unlimited, as everything about God is.
Well said. :thumbsup:
Robert Snow
New Member
I think we all know the answer to that question. :tongue3:
There is a tendency for dedicated Christians to think that fellow believers who fall into sin somehow get away with it. What they fail to see is that the result of such action is devastating. These bad decisions often make shipwreck all areas of life.
IMHO, the Answer is a Clear and Resounding, Yes!
As a young pastor, fresh out of College, I thought I had all the answers, especially since I was being proclaimed to be a pastor with tremendous potential.
However, dedicating myself to the job, I neglected to see the warning signs that my marriage of seven years was in serious trouble.
After 10 years of marriage, things went south, and the wife took the children and moved in with a man she had met while going out on Friday nights with her girlfriends from work. They called it "girl's night out." I thought it was good for her, since the gals were all church goers, and I had so many meetings where I was just with fellow pastors.
My broken marriage, the loss of my son and daughter and the loss of my license with the church and suspension from the ordination program sent me into a tail spin of anger, denial, and revenge.
Since I couldn't exact my revenge on her, I turned my anger to the one I felt should have had my back: GOD!
And in an effort to show God how disenchanted I was with His failure to protect my ministry, marriage and children. I worked to drive a spiritual wedge between Him and I, and I did it through sexual promiscuity and pornography.
Because I didn't want to be involved in another personal relationship and be hurt again, I chose to pay for sex and watch it on celluloid. That way, I was free of personal commitments, and able to strike a serious blow at the heart of the God I chose to serve.
My sexual indiscretions went on for nearly 15 years. Of course, I had many run-ins with guilt, and repented numerous times. It's just that with every repentance and failure to hold Holy ground, I fell deeper in a self dug pit, and that brought me to a serious, but failed attempt, to end the misery of my sinful ways and subsequent guilt at the end of a rifle barrel.
That moment of reality caused me to seek out God a few nights later, and I found forgiveness, big time, and a gradual return to the ministry.
I also witnessed God bring my new wife (of seven years), and I was closer than I ever imagined I could be with a woman again. When I entered this marriage, it was more of a convenience, and I hid my addiction to porn from her for seven years. The truth is, I didn't care if she found out and left, because I wanted to hurt a woman as badly as a woman once hurt me. :tear:
So, YES, a believer can succumb to the things mentioned in this post, and even become addicted to those things, because even though I loved God, I had a lapse of judgment, allowed anger to rule the day, and found myself in a pit I could not get out of without His complete help.
Kind of like Peter, While I found myself walking on the water, I also found myself nearly drowning, until the Savior reached down to where I was, and pulled me back to His bosom.
As Robert said in the post before this one, I went shipwreck in all areas of my life. It was the only the fact that God NEVER gave up on me, that helped me to come back as the once prodigal son, returned and restored to the status as son of the family I freely left.
Shalom,
Pastor Paul :type:
As a young pastor, fresh out of College, I thought I had all the answers, especially since I was being proclaimed to be a pastor with tremendous potential.
However, dedicating myself to the job, I neglected to see the warning signs that my marriage of seven years was in serious trouble.
After 10 years of marriage, things went south, and the wife took the children and moved in with a man she had met while going out on Friday nights with her girlfriends from work. They called it "girl's night out." I thought it was good for her, since the gals were all church goers, and I had so many meetings where I was just with fellow pastors.
My broken marriage, the loss of my son and daughter and the loss of my license with the church and suspension from the ordination program sent me into a tail spin of anger, denial, and revenge.
Since I couldn't exact my revenge on her, I turned my anger to the one I felt should have had my back: GOD!
And in an effort to show God how disenchanted I was with His failure to protect my ministry, marriage and children. I worked to drive a spiritual wedge between Him and I, and I did it through sexual promiscuity and pornography.
Because I didn't want to be involved in another personal relationship and be hurt again, I chose to pay for sex and watch it on celluloid. That way, I was free of personal commitments, and able to strike a serious blow at the heart of the God I chose to serve.
My sexual indiscretions went on for nearly 15 years. Of course, I had many run-ins with guilt, and repented numerous times. It's just that with every repentance and failure to hold Holy ground, I fell deeper in a self dug pit, and that brought me to a serious, but failed attempt, to end the misery of my sinful ways and subsequent guilt at the end of a rifle barrel.
That moment of reality caused me to seek out God a few nights later, and I found forgiveness, big time, and a gradual return to the ministry.
I also witnessed God bring my new wife (of seven years), and I was closer than I ever imagined I could be with a woman again. When I entered this marriage, it was more of a convenience, and I hid my addiction to porn from her for seven years. The truth is, I didn't care if she found out and left, because I wanted to hurt a woman as badly as a woman once hurt me. :tear:
So, YES, a believer can succumb to the things mentioned in this post, and even become addicted to those things, because even though I loved God, I had a lapse of judgment, allowed anger to rule the day, and found myself in a pit I could not get out of without His complete help.
Kind of like Peter, While I found myself walking on the water, I also found myself nearly drowning, until the Savior reached down to where I was, and pulled me back to His bosom.
As Robert said in the post before this one, I went shipwreck in all areas of my life. It was the only the fact that God NEVER gave up on me, that helped me to come back as the once prodigal son, returned and restored to the status as son of the family I freely left.
Shalom,
Pastor Paul :type:
Last edited by a moderator:
Pleasant_Bill
New Member
righteousdude2, great post. Clearly, from the heart. Praise the Lord for guiding you back.
Twenty years ago the pastor of a church we attended became entangled with porn, left his wife and two kids with no money as he emptied the bank account. He went back home and took up with his high-school girl friend and that lasted about a year or so. Then, he had a stroke..., and then another, and now is in a nursing home.
For sure, all of us can be overcome with sin and any time.
Twenty years ago the pastor of a church we attended became entangled with porn, left his wife and two kids with no money as he emptied the bank account. He went back home and took up with his high-school girl friend and that lasted about a year or so. Then, he had a stroke..., and then another, and now is in a nursing home.
For sure, all of us can be overcome with sin and any time.
You are welcome brother. I gave my testimony for years, and after being asked at church after church, I sat down and wrote Prodigal Daze, and the book became popular to the point, that I reviewed and edited the first edition last year, and with a fresh new cover, and some updated info, the book is available through Amazon or CreateSpace.
If you liked the brief testimony I shared, you will lve reading my testimony in full length.
Thanks for your kind words. I was never proudof where my sin took me, but Iam very blessed with His all consuming love and the ability to forgive such a sinner as I.
Lukasaurus
Member
I read your testimony and it moved me to tears. Thank you for it. I think you must have returned here because I clicked Friendly on it this morning 