Drugs and Drinking no more, A 40 day program: Day 27
Paul Hudson wrote a great article about what things people with passion do. I have added 4 of his idea’s which are great for overcoming addiction here:
“Passions give us purpose, but more than that, they make us feel that we have purpose in our lives. Being passionate isn’t just about knowing – it’s also about feeling. That’s what makes passions so important; they make us feel that we’re on the right path in life and give us hope for a happy and exciting future. Passionate people lead significantly different lives from their less-than-enthusiastic counterparts.
1. Always have their passions on their mind.
They’re basically obsessed – hopefully in a healthy manner. Healthy passions are healthy obsessions. You can’t keep your mind from returning to the topic and can’t help but get excited by those thoughts. Passionate people live in a world in which the few things that matter to them in life basically involve the passions they love.
2. Willing to risk more and put more on the line.
If you’re passionate, you have a clear understanding of what your purpose in life is – if only your purpose for that very moment. For this reason, you give much less importance to other things. Therefore you’re willing to risk more for the thing(s) that you find most important, that you are most passionate about. Those that are passionate are much more willing to give up things that don’t fall in their scope of passion.
3. Devote their lives to their dreams.
Life is filled with things worth doing and things not worth doing. That which we are most passionate about is what we believe to be worthwhile, everything else seems to be wasteful and lacking. Passionate individuals gradually gravitate towards their passions and away from the rest that life has to offer. They know what will make them happy and are willing to ignore the rest.
4. Always think positively about the future.
Their minds are always looking ahead, looking at what can be instead of what is. This has its good sides and bad, but nevertheless, they are always thinking about their next move.
The one great outcome is that they always have something to look forward to and are excited to make it happen. As long as they remember to hang around in the present from time to time, they don’t run into too much trouble.”
For More Of His Thoughts And Ramblings, Follow Paul Hudson On Twitter And Facebook.
Wes MCAdams gave a great sermon on passion:
“Romans 12:9-11 says, “Let love be without hypocrisy Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
That is a passage full of passion and excitement words. Words like abhor, cling, devoted, diligence, and fervent. I see at least four things in this passage about which every one of us should be excited!
1. (Abhor) Hate What is Evil. Christians have a hard time using the word hate. Instead we use words like “dislike.” Well that’s not good enough! God expects us to HATE evil! Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.” It is time that Christians starting hating evil. Of course I’m not saying we should hate evil people! I am saying we should want no part of their evil. We should not welcome it into our homes, our schools, or our minds!
2. Cling to What is Good. We usually “like” what is good. But that is not good enough! We must be glued to it. We must be so committed to good that we are inseparable! Paul says we are to, “hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). Things like moderation, discipline, fellowship, prayer, worship, and service are “good” things; be glued to them!
3. Be Devoted to One Another. It is time that Christians learn to be devoted to one another in brotherly love. That doesn’t mean you tolerate each other for a couple of weeks during worship! That means you are family! You are passionate about helping, serving, teaching, and even admonishing one another. When you see a brother in danger of losing his soul you don’t gossip about it; you go and talk to him! Church, be devoted to your family!
4. Serving the Lord. Paul said not to be lagging in diligence and to be fervent in our service. The word fervent literally means to be boiling over! Can you really say you are boiling over in your service to God? In 1 Corinthians 15:58 Paul wrote, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” Can you really say you’re “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” When was the last time you truly wore yourself out in service to the king? If you’re not busy, then it’s time to get busy! You are never more useful than when you are selflessly serving the Lord with everything you have to offer!
Let’s commit ourselves to not being lukewarm! Let’s commit ourselves to giving everything we have! Let’s commit ourselves to being passionate in our Christianity!”
Passion is a key to quitting addiction. Have a passion for your work. If you don’t currently have a job it is important to have a passion for helping others or for working for your church or charity. If your job stinks have a passion for working hard and doing your job for the glory of God. Have a passion for your hobbies and activities. Just going through the motions leads to boredom which leads to depression which leads to addiction. I play golf with plastic balls in my backyard. This year I am not improving – that makes it less fun – less of a good distraction from addiction. Today I am going to start improving my passion, watching golf videos, upping my effort. Do I care if I am ever good at golf? I really don’t. I do it for a bit of exercise (having a passion for exercise is vital – it makes you tougher and it makes you feel better). And do it as a distraction from unhealthy things.
Have a passion for reading the Bible. It is a fact that people who read 5 chapters of the Bible every day have a lower chance of going back to their addiction (read as many as you can). It is also likely true that people who have a passion for reading great Christian books have a lower chance as well.
Spend 5 minutes thinking about what you need to have more of a passion for.
Become a PI:
A PI (pleasure inspector) is someone who seeks to understand pleasure in order to help with their addiction. Very few of us have an accurate gage of how much pleasure our addictions give us. But we can learn an enormous amount by looking at other peoples addictions. For example assume you don’t have a sugar addiction. Now watch someone who does. They get great pleasure from 1 or 2 cookies, good pleasure from 2 more, a bit of pleasure from 2 more and they don’t even notice the pleasure from the last 6 because they are busy watching TV.
Or watch the shopaholic: They get great pleasure from the first 4 shirts they buy, good pleasure from 2 more, a bit of pleasure from 2 more and they don’t even notice the pleasure from the last 6 because they are again running out of closet space – they have to move again or rent another storage locker.
Or watch a gamer: They get great pleasure from the first 2 hours of gaming, good pleasure from 2 more, a bit of pleasure from 2 more and they don’t even notice the pleasure from the last 3 because they tired and frustrated and they can’t stop whether they are winning or losing.
By watching others we learn how badly we overexaggerate the pleasure from our additions. We learn how quickly we forget about the pain we get. When we watch others their overindulgence seems silly.
Since I became a PI – I will not even eat the 2nd bite of a cookie if the first bite was not great. I will focus on only playing a moderate amount of games because excess lowers my pleasure in life over time. Even if I have no addiction in these 2 area’s the discipline I learn from moderation in any area is helpful in my main addictions to some extent.
Today we will continue the discussion on why it is so hard to quit.
What percentage would you give the “I just lack the discipline” part of the equation? _______
What percentage would you give the “I just don’t care” part? _______
So, if you really care a lot about quitting, an inspirational book will be of less help to you because you already are inspired. For you it will be more helpful to become a fanatic who always completes the exercises in each chapter and sometimes does them even more then the recommended amount.
Here lies the great challenge; people who are inspired but lack discipline will be tempted to skip the mental exercises. If this might be you remember this; you need to make a number of small changes in your life in order to successfully make the large change that you want to make.
Some of you have to make a decision at this very moment that you really want to quit using. Be aware that a 100% commitment means that the old party personality needs to be killed. I use strong language because I know how hard it is going to be.
In India wild game is still quite common. The tiger is a huge cat and sometimes for one reason or another they become man-eaters. When a village knows that a man-eating tiger is out there they drop everything and start the hunt. They have a great deal of fear of a man-eating tiger because they grow to eight or nine feet long. Even the toughest of men (without a gun) will be immediately overcome when a tiger attacks. For some people a drug/drinkin addiction is even worse than a tiger. We shoot it time and time again and it just keeps attacking. This brings up a key question.
How many times do you think you are going to need to shoot your (addiction) tiger before it will be killed?
Make a consistent goal of Spiritual growth:
You grow spiritually by producing the fruit of the spirit in your life. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23.) Love is affection, good will or benevolence toward others. Joy is gladness both received and shared with others. Peace is tranquility, harmony and concord. Long-suffering is patience or endurance. Gentleness is goodness and kindness. Goodness is uprightness of heart and life. Faith is the conviction of the truths we hold. Meekness is gentleness or mildness. Self-control is temperance. As the fruit of the Spirit increases in life spiritual growth is taking place.
Caring about lost souls allows Spiritual growth. Let no one around you say, “No one cared for my soul.” The Psalmist said, “Look on my right hand and see, For there is no one who acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No one cares for my soul.” (Psalm 142:4.) Pray for the Lord to use you in being a soul winner. God’s plan for evangelism is simple. One who has learned the truth must share Christ with another.
Increase growth spiritually by developing Christlikeness. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.” (Galatians 4:19.) Christians must have the mind of Christ and follow His example. (Philippians 2:5; I Peter 2:21.) The moon reflects the light of the sun. Christians reflect the light and likeness of God’s Son. Every day strive to increase your standards.
Spiritual growth cuts temptation to fall in half. Focus on growth.
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Every day you will need to make a decision – are you going to complete the exercises. Are you going to read the recommended readings? Are you going to spend time working on getting your emotions under control? Every time you do what you need to do to change you are putting another bullet in that tiger who is trying to destroy you.
Read John 24, 2nd Corinthians 8 and Proberbs 22
Continue to read the Purpose Driven Life.
If you are struggling review day 7
Pray: “Father, bring people to this website and give them a chance to overcome addiction, find your love, start to find their purpose and starting to find joy again. You may be able to help others by advising them to go to a self help group like AA. Think about, pray about and plan how you can help others both now – as well as in the future. Thankyou for reading: How to beat drug addiction and alcohol addiction.
Index
Day one: How to overcome cravings
Day two: Would believing in a higher power be good for you?
Day three: Quitting addiction exercises
Day four: Does God answer pray?
Day five: Starting to understand that we can’t increase our pleasure for the whole month by going back to our addiction
Day six: Planning our day to keep addiction temptation to a minimum
Day seven: We find liberty (or start to find liberty) from addiction when we find Jesus
Day eight: First fruit of the Spirit
Day nine: Benefits of worshipping God
Day ten: Getting rid of negative emotions and overcoming cravings
Day 11: How to be blessed by God and self control
Day 12: Have a list of coping statements
Day 13: How to have living water so that you will never thirst again. How to become a christian.
Day 14: Adam and Eve show us what we do that causes things to go wrong
Day 15: Consequenses of doing wrong
Day 16: Self control
Day 17: What leads back to using and self control
Day 18: How to pray to fight addiction
Day 19: Can we get our prayers answered?
Day 20: Overcoming relationship problems
Day 21: Finding a church that can help you
Day 22: Overcoming addiction exercises
Day 23: Don’t worship pleasure – serve others instead to find real joy
Day 24: Always planning will help you stay clean
Day 25: Don’t condemn yourself
Day 26: Knowing why you can’t quit gives you clues to help you quit