Addiction

Each and every day, often at numerous times, I give pause for self-reflection.  Immediately I can't help but to see the darker aspects of my life, a decaying heart, and sigh an air of disgust.  Why can't I "control" the outward behavior to conform with Biblical standards of morality and right living?  The Book of Micah 6:8 speaks very clearly and doesn't allow much latitude, 
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  
And what does the LORD require of you?  
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
It is a daily struggle with the works of the flesh, or what I call addiction.  As a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for over eight and a half years, I can see the many areas of life which need the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  These were the areas of life I tried to "drink away" in self-denial.  In addition, I know it is only from the work of God in my life can I completely and radically change from the "old me."  What does this look like?  First, it is a change from the inside out.  The old must go away completely and become wholly replaced by the new.  No trace of the old can remain.  I must mortify the flesh.  A spiritual heart transplant is the only cure for changing the outward behavior.  The Gospel of Matthew 12:34 states, 
"You brood of vipers!  
How can you speak good, when you are evil?  
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."
There is no good in me whatsoever.  I am a sinful, degenerate man who is in desperate need of redemption.  This won't fully happen till I pass away and enter Eternal Rest.  However, I can follow Jesus Christ in obedience and walk in accordance with God's Holy Scriptures only in the power and strength of His Holy Spirit.  There are many addictions I struggle against:  sexual immorality, emotional co-dependence, gluttony, sloth, chasing after riches, arrogance, pride, and so much more.  I John 2:16 contextually states, "For everything in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- comes not from the Father but from the world."  This journey is a struggle for renewal in a fallen and sinful world.  Ultimate healing and transformation into God's original design won't occur till I am called home to glory (heaven).  Until then, I must echo the cry of the Apostle Paul when he states, "Wretched man that I am!  Who will set me free from the body of this death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  (Romans 7:24-25; see also Romans 8)

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