habit?
L Do you lower your intake but then return to your previous level of consumption?
Y Are your young ones neglected because of your habit?
D Are you defensive or argumentative about your use?
E Are you emotionally unavailable because of your use?
P Is your physical health affected by your use?
E Do you enjoy functions only if the substance is available?
N Is your need draining your finances?
D Do you deny repercussions from your habit?
E Are you exasperated by fear that your habit is abnormal?
N Is your need affecting your life because of your habit?
T Is your tolerance level getting higher for the substance?
If you answered yes to five or more of the above questions, you may have a serious dependency problem.
“Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks”
(I SAIAH 5:22).
Change Can Happen
Q UESTION : “If I am a habitual, compulsive drinker and drug user, can I really change and permanently stop?”
A NSWER : All habits, compulsions, and addictions are highly resistant and are therefore very difficult to change, yet not impossibly so.
• Repeating certain actions actually alters the brain, making it more difficult to bring about change.
• However, new patterns of behavior can be learned, which, in turn, will alter your brain.
• Replace bad habits and addictions with good, healthy habits and activities with supportive people.
If you are a true believer, you have His Word to change your way of thinking, His church —often with specialized community groups—to support your life change, and His Spirit to empower you from within to follow through and stop abusing alcohol and drugs.
“It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose”
(P HILIPPIANS 2:13).
B. What Are the Warning Signs of Substance Abuse?
On the day Josh Hamilton was drafted by a major league baseball team, the team’s scout commented on why Josh was chosen. “I think character may have been the final determining factor. You read so many bad things about professional athletes, but I don’t think you ever will about Josh.” 18
But then a dump truck sped through a red light and smashed Josh Hamilton’s entire life. The devastating blow resulted in twisted metal and a twisted back. Josh had been on the smooth road to success—drafted by Tampa Bay with a record signing bonus of almost $4 million and dubbed the top major league prospect in the minors—when the accident sidelined the 19-year-old with lingering back problems.
His parents, also hurt in the crash, were forced to return to North Carolina to recover from their injuries, leaving Josh alone for the first time in his life. 19
In the Bible, we read of another person whose life took an unexpected and dramatic turn for the worst. For Job, life was good. He had everything he could possibly want. Then, in the space of just a few traumatic hours, he lost everything.
“And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have seized me. At night it pierces my bones within me, and my gnawing pains take no rest”
(J OB 30:16-17 NASB ).
Even in the midst of stressful circumstances, it’s possible to discern the warning signs that indicate a person has an addiction problem. For a substance abuser, a combination of many symptoms can be observed—symptoms that fall into five basic categories: emotional, physical, behavioral, relational , and spiritual .
Emotional Warning Signs
• Anger
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Fear of rejection
• Frustration over little things
• Guilt—“My choices are bad”
• Shame—“I am bad”
• Unpredictable mood swings
Because Jesus cares about our hearts, He gives us these words of warning:
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap”
(L UKE 21:34).
Physical Warning Signs
• Bloodshot eyes
• Loss of sexual
L Do you lower your intake but then return to your previous level of consumption?
Y Are your young ones neglected because of your habit?
D Are you defensive or argumentative about your use?
E Are you emotionally unavailable because of your use?
P Is your physical health affected by your use?
E Do you enjoy functions only if the substance is available?
N Is your need draining your finances?
D Do you deny repercussions from your habit?
E Are you exasperated by fear that your habit is abnormal?
N Is your need affecting your life because of your habit?
T Is your tolerance level getting higher for the substance?
If you answered yes to five or more of the above questions, you may have a serious dependency problem.
“Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks”
(I SAIAH 5:22).
Change Can Happen
Q UESTION : “If I am a habitual, compulsive drinker and drug user, can I really change and permanently stop?”
A NSWER : All habits, compulsions, and addictions are highly resistant and are therefore very difficult to change, yet not impossibly so.
• Repeating certain actions actually alters the brain, making it more difficult to bring about change.
• However, new patterns of behavior can be learned, which, in turn, will alter your brain.
• Replace bad habits and addictions with good, healthy habits and activities with supportive people.
If you are a true believer, you have His Word to change your way of thinking, His church —often with specialized community groups—to support your life change, and His Spirit to empower you from within to follow through and stop abusing alcohol and drugs.
“It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose”
(P HILIPPIANS 2:13).
B. What Are the Warning Signs of Substance Abuse?
On the day Josh Hamilton was drafted by a major league baseball team, the team’s scout commented on why Josh was chosen. “I think character may have been the final determining factor. You read so many bad things about professional athletes, but I don’t think you ever will about Josh.” 18
But then a dump truck sped through a red light and smashed Josh Hamilton’s entire life. The devastating blow resulted in twisted metal and a twisted back. Josh had been on the smooth road to success—drafted by Tampa Bay with a record signing bonus of almost $4 million and dubbed the top major league prospect in the minors—when the accident sidelined the 19-year-old with lingering back problems.
His parents, also hurt in the crash, were forced to return to North Carolina to recover from their injuries, leaving Josh alone for the first time in his life. 19
In the Bible, we read of another person whose life took an unexpected and dramatic turn for the worst. For Job, life was good. He had everything he could possibly want. Then, in the space of just a few traumatic hours, he lost everything.
“And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have seized me. At night it pierces my bones within me, and my gnawing pains take no rest”
(J OB 30:16-17 NASB ).
Even in the midst of stressful circumstances, it’s possible to discern the warning signs that indicate a person has an addiction problem. For a substance abuser, a combination of many symptoms can be observed—symptoms that fall into five basic categories: emotional, physical, behavioral, relational , and spiritual .
Emotional Warning Signs
• Anger
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Fear of rejection
• Frustration over little things
• Guilt—“My choices are bad”
• Shame—“I am bad”
• Unpredictable mood swings
Because Jesus cares about our hearts, He gives us these words of warning:
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap”
(L UKE 21:34).
Physical Warning Signs
• Bloodshot eyes
• Loss of sexual
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