How to Defeat Harmful Habits (Counseling Through the Bible Series) (57 page)
(E
ZEKIEL
33:15-16).
10.
Keep a clean slate
when you realize you have been wrong.
“Each day I will take responsibility for my irresponsibility.”
–
Accept
your charge to keep a clean slate before God and every person.
–
Acknowledge
each and every failure in order to live as God would have you to live.
–
Articulate
each failure to God on a moment-by-moment basis, making no excuses, but recommitting yourself to living a self-controlled, Spirit-empowered life.
“The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all
men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly
passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives”
(T
ITUS
2:11-12).
11.
Pray to know God’s path
for your life.
“I want to be led by the Lord and to walk only on His path.”
–
Accept
your new dependence on God and your vital need to communicate with Him on a daily basis through Bible study and prayer.
–
Acknowledge
your need to have the prayer support of others to know God’s truths and His ways.
–
Articulate
to God your desire to be what He wants you to be and to do what He wants you to do.
“Show me your ways, O L
ORD
, teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God
my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long”
(P
SALM
25:4-5).
12.
Reach out to others
with your hand and your heart.
“I will care for those who need care and will help with a heart of compassion.”
–
Accept
your need of others and their need of you.
–
Acknowledge
your giftedness from God and His mandate to use your God-given gifts to serve others in tangible, practical ways.
–
Articulate
ways God may be leading you to minister to others and ask for His confirmation and for the guidance of mature Christians who can help you reach out to others.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way
you will fulfill the law of Christ”
(G
ALATIANS
6:2).
The simple yet powerful prayer below, crafted during World War II, has become world-renowned. Every day, countless numbers of people around the globe pray these words. They are looking to God for the grace, courage, and wisdom to walk though each day totally surrendered to the only One who has overcome the world—and the very One who enables us to be overcomers in this world.
T
HE
S
ERENITY
P
RAYER
4
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is, not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right, if I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.
—R
EINHOLD
N
IEBUHR
(1892–1971)
Jesus imparts to us this comforting promise:
“In this world you will have trouble
.
But take heart! I have overcome the world”
(J
OHN
16:33).
Life for the recovering struggler is lived just as
every
life should be lived: one day—and often one moment—at a time. Yes, there are those instances when God miraculously removes the vice grip and a captive is immediately set free. But that is the rarest of exceptions. In most cases, addiction recovery is incremental and relapses are the rule, not the exception.
Do not lose hope when you or a loved one find yourselves farther back on the road than you’d hoped to be. Complete victory is possible—not only in the perfection we’ll know in heaven, but right here in our fallen, imperfect world. This victory comes to us through the limitless power of Christ. The apostle Peter said, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).
THE BREAKTHROUGH WORLD OF BRAIN IMAGING
:
W
hat is one of the most loving things you can do for loved ones with addictions? Show them a brain scan! And that’s exactly what I did.
Although I knew this was something my nephew wouldn’t want to see, I showed it to him anyway. My words were simple. “You know I love you, don’t you?” (
Yes.
) “Well, if I say I love you, then I
have to
show this to you. If I don’t, I would be acting as if I don’t care about you or your future.”
He understood. Although he had an extraordinarily high IQ, he barely graduated from high school because of his addiction. How could I
not
share the scans with him…and his parents?
Did the scans have any impact? Of course they did! What a gift they are to the world of addiction today, both to those who are addicted and to those who love them. They provide an opportunity for them to see the danger that’s present and take refuge. “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it” (Proverbs 22:3).
For some, the pictures are sobering. For others they are startling, even downright shocking. A three-dimensional image of the top of a healthy brain shows a slightly dimpled yet smooth surface, indicating normal blood flow and function within the brain. But the images of brains affected by addictions are anything but normal. They serve as a jolting wake-up call, vividly displaying indisputable evidence of the destructive effects of addiction on the brain.
•
Sizeable holes resembling small craters
cover the surfaces of brains damaged by sustained use of alcohol, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana.
•
Gaping holes
cover the surface of a brain affected by three years of using inhalants, and resemble the brain of Alzheimer patients.
The three-dimensional images of brain scans are invaluable for diagnosis and treatment of brain dysfunction and are obtained with the help of a special camera and an injected substance called a tracer. A SPECT scan (Single-Photon Emission Computerized Tomography)…
• Measures the brain’s blood flow and shows how the brain is functioning—which areas are working well and which are overactive or underactive
• Provides visual evidence of medical conditions that frequently contribute to addiction, such as brain injuries or depression
• Enables those already in recovery to have a physical representation of their illnesses
• Helps reveal any brain malfunction that could contribute to relapses (for example, if damage occurs to the prefrontal cortex, which is located behind the forehead and is the part of the brain involved in logic and decision making, recovery efforts can be delayed)
An informed understanding that brain differences or abnormalities can contribute to susceptibility to addictions can help lessen the shame, stigma, and self-loathing that often accompany addiction and abuse. Although poor choices certainly played a role, self-forgiveness is an important step for recovery as strugglers grab onto hope for true and lasting change—armed with the promise that God “gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”
1
SPECT scans also serve to…
• Graphically show how certain treatments affect brain function
• Encourage strugglers to stick with a treatment program by showing that addiction is a treatable brain illness
• Prevent doctors from inadvertently prescribing treatments that could hurt a patient, such as stimulants for an already overactive part of the brain or, conversely, depressants that could slow an already underactive area
2
Like the disciple Thomas, who refused to acknowledge Jesus’ resurrection until he could see the nail marks for himself,
3
for those in denials—or unaware of the dangerous effects of addiction—seeing the actual damage to their own brains can be a key motivator for lasting change.
Fortunately, as these scans illustrate, human brains can heal, and SPECT scans can track the healing process. In some cases, prescribed medications are also in order. Regardless, sustained abstinence, nutritious foods, adequate sleep, regular exercise, biblical meditation, group support, persistent prayer, and a host of other wholesome practices are all potent building blocks that can help a person regain the vitality God masterfully engineered into the human brain.
As King David said, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14).
In the following SPECT scans,
*
areas in the brain of those with addictions look like holes, indicating regions of decreased blood flow and function. (Brain SPECT images courtesy of The Clements Clinic, Plano, Texas.)
H
EALTHY
SPECT I
MAGE
—
SURFACE VIEW, TOP OF BRAIN
A
LCOHOLIC
—37-
YR
.-
OLD MALE HEAVY DRINKER
M
ETHAMPHETAMINE
22-
YR.-OLD MALE
—5
YEARS OF BINGE USING
H
EROIN
—7
YEARS OF SPORADIC AND BINGE USAGE
I
NHALANTS
—3
YEARS OF HEAVY USAGE
M
ARIJUANA
—26-
YEAR-OLD DAILY USER
18-
YR.-OLD DAILY MARIJUANA AND ALCOHOL USER WITH
30
DAYS OF SOBRIETY
18-
YR.-OLD DAILY MARIJUANA AND ALCOHOL USER WITH 2 YEARS OF SOBRIETY (SIGNIFICANT BRAIN HEALING HAS TAKEN PLACE)
