Topical Bible Studies

There is one passage of Scripture every Christian needs to know to fight addiction.

I was recently speaking with a man named David who helps with a faith-based, 12-step support group in Lebanon, Tennessee. He explained to me how addiction hits a person in four steps. If you’re fighting addiction, in addition to the Bible passage we are going to study, you need to be aware of these four steps and their specifics in your life so you can finally break the cycle. David said the four-step cycle of addiction is:

1. Fantasy
2. Ritual
3. Acting out (Action)
4. Shame ¹

Here’s how I understand it.

First, you have a fantasy. Now let me try to explain that concept, because it might not mean exactly what you’re currently thinking. Life happens, and you’re somewhere you want out. Perhaps you’re dealing with the death of a family member, or you just lost your job, or you’ve been abused. It can also be as simple as being bored with too much time on your hands. Either way, you’re looking for a way out of the pain and discomfort. You’re fantasizing. Then,you find it—alcohol, a drug, pornography—something that offers you a temporary release. It triggers you into picturing a flash of ecstasy or your stress evaporating. Triggers come in many forms. What are your triggers? When they come, you tell yourself something like, “I need a hit,” or “It’s time to release.” Triggers, by themselves, are not sin. The question is, however, where do you go when you are tempted? What do you do when those triggers come without warning? The person who is not equipped with the passage we are going to study goes on to…

Second, the ritual. You start planning how you’ll get what your body now wants. You’ll take that smoke break. Or you’ll excuse yourself to the restroom or some other closed room. You’ll work it all out in your mind. What are your rituals?

If the addiction continues to drive you, the third step—action—takes place when you carry it out. At this point, you’re still chasing that high, that release, or that hit. Things are looking up because you still have that fantasy in your mind’s eye and you’re moments away from getting what your body craves.

Fourth and finally, however, shame covers you. You’ve caved and that passing moment of pleasure is gone. You’ve come back to your senses and you realize you’ve broken your promise again. The fantasy isn’t in the driver’s seat anymore, and you’re disgusted with yourself. You’ve told yourself a thousand times, and you make that promise again: I’m finished with this. That’s easy to say when the trigger’s been satisfied. But really, you know that—just like all those times before—this cycle is just another hour or another day away. After all, your shame is putting you in a position of pain and discomfort, and you start fantasizing a way out already. The cycle continues. Or does it?

Is it finally time you truly do something about it? God allowed this website to cross your path for a reason. It is time for you to take this one Scripture and imprint it on your heart.

In 1 Peter 5, the Holy Spirit gives us some extremely powerful words to consider, especially when we feel trapped in the cycle.

“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:5–11

To see how powerful this passage can be in your life, we need to break it down. First, God says He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Let me ask you: Do you need God’s grace right now? Of course you do! Even if you weren’t facing addiction, you’d still say yes! What is required of you? Kill your pride. Stop saying, “I can do this,” or something worse, “I can do this on my own.” If you could, would you be where you are right now? I’m not trying to degrade you. This is true for everyone. If any of us could fix ourselves, we wouldn’t need a Savior. Kill your pride and humble yourself under God’s loving and mighty hand.

That includes casting all your cares upon Him. That doesn’t mean your responsibility goes away—far from it. But when you allow Him to serve and guide you, you’ve gone from trying (and failing) on your own to being guided out of it by the Light Himself.

Peter says that, in the moment of temptation, you need to be sober. Generally, when we talk about sobriety, we mean not being intoxicated by alcohol or drugs. Sure, that’s included. Basically speaking, however, it means to have your wits about you. Stay focused. Even if you’ve not had a drop or puff for days (in other words you are “sober”), you’re still commanded to be sober. Why? Satan is going to try to catch you off guard, just like a lion that wants to get as close to his oblivious prey as possible before pouncing and consuming.

Some sober decisions you need to make have to do with who you hang out with, where you go, how you use your phone, and the like. It goes back to the four-step process of losing to your addiction. What fantasies should stay out of your mind? What are your triggers? Be sober and diligent, knowing that Satan wants you to be surrounded by these triggers.

The Bible here says to “Resist him [Satan], steadfast in the faith.” This raises another question: before you can be steadfast in the faith, are you even in the faith? What does that mean? Dozens of times, Christians in the Bible are called members of the body of Christ. The body, by the way, is the church. One way to cast your cares upon God is to lean on your brothers and sisters. They may not know exactly what you’re going through, but they know what it is like to be delivered from their own sin, their own bondage. 

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

Romans 6:16–17

In 2012, the band Memphis May Fire released a song called “Vices,” in which the lyrics say: “I take another sip. The dark room that I’m in becomes dimly lit. This can’t be all there is.” He goes on to say, “Sometimes I feel like I will never learn, because the bottle’s always there when I have nowhere else to turn. Will I ever learn?” In his struggle, he admits, “I have come so far, thought I was so strong. The truth is I’ve just fed myself a lie for too long.”

One of the most damaging lies people have told themselves in the past centuries is that their faith is just between them and God. They say they have a personal relationship with Jesus and don’t need anything to do with the church. You may think you have a relationship with Jesus, but if you believe that has nothing to do with the church, you’ve just proven that you don’t have that personal of a relationship after all. If you’ve bought into that destructive teaching, “It’s not a religion; it’s a relationship,” then read the New Testament and get the reality check you need. What we’re talking about here is the church Jesus established. So, no, I’m not saying some denomination is going to save you. At the same time, however, the New Testament knows nothing of someone who has been washed in Jesus but is not part of His church. 

Like the lyrics in that song, do you continue to turn to your vice because you have nowhere else to turn? God knew what He was doing when He set up His family, the body of Christ. He gave you somewhere else to turn. This truth is highlighted when Peter says, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” No, not every Christian has struggled with exactly what you’re struggling with. But all of us know what it is like to be shackled by sin and come to the only One who can save us. Find the value God has in store for you in His church.

Next, Peter tells Christians to remember what they’ve been called to. By God’s grace, you and I have been called to God’s eternal glory. Right now, life is messy. We feel broken. One day, however, all this mess will be cleaned up and His healing will last for eternity. Peter says that God will bless you in four ways along the way:

1. He will perfect you. The word here for perfect means “restore to a former condition, put to rights.”² Like a man who meticulously restores a classic car, the Lord will carefully bring you back to your original shape. Whatever is lacking in your life, He will add. Whatever is damaging your life, He will commit to destruction. If you trust in God, you will be completed. You will be perfected. 
2. He will establish you. You and I know very well what it is like to be imperfect. The idea of being perfected seems foreign. Don’t worry; once God restores you, He will establish you. Meaning, by His grace, you’ll feel at home in His perfection. Unfortunately, many people give up before this happens. For whatever reason, their mind can’t leave behind the person they used to be, and they feel out of place among other Christians and in God’s grace. First, remember that the Christians around you have to depend on God and His continual grace just as much as you do. Second, keep trusting in God, and you will see how well He establishes you in the body of Christ.
3. He will strengthen you. How’s that sound? You’re reading this Bible study because you feel weak. I can’t strengthen you, nor can your screen (or paper) on which you’re reading this. But He can. Once you’re established in His grace, He will give you strength. One of the reasons He does that, by the way, is because eventually you’re going to encounter a lost soul who will be in your position right now. Are you going to stand steadfast in the faith long enough for God’s strength to equip you to help that person?
4. He will settle you. Are you the type of person who packs for a trip last minute, but once you get home, it takes you weeks or months to unpack? Why? Are you planning another trip sometime soon? Do you find it difficult to get settled? Once you’re in Christ, realize you’re now in your “forever home.” Get settled and ditch the suitcase because He doesn’t want you going anywhere.

Along your journey in your fight against addiction, you’re going to hear some things that are helpful, and other things that are not. One unhelpful approach is the use of sayings that downplay the eternal consequences of sin on a person’s soul. Are you shackled to drugs, alcohol, pornography, or some other addiction? Stop softening it and remember this fact: the devil wants to see your destruction. It is sin every time you give in, and if you don’t take action, it will destroy or prevent a healthy relationship between you and God. After this Bible study, it’ll only be a matter of time before Satan tries to trigger you again. Consider the faith of Moses in that moment.

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

Hebrews 11:24–26

You know just as well as Moses knew: sin offers only passing pleasure. The Lord, however, is offering to “perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” It begins now. Remember, being tempted is not the same as sin. But what will you do when you’re tempted and triggered? Like Moses, look to the reward! Will you go the easy route that results in shame? Or will you “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you”?

God is pleading with you, and so am I. The choice is yours. God bless you. Go with God.

1. Special thanks to David Stanfield from Recovery Through Christ, who explained this four-step addiction process to me. ↩︎
2. καταρτίζω, BDAG, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature. ↩︎