A Former Addict’s Advice for Walking in Faith
Around 80 men sat side-by-side in a large circle and listened to a guest speaker during their regular Thursday night meeting. Most were recovering drug or alcohol addicts, but these guys were clean and this meeting was more about living, as one of them put it, beyond sobriety.
They all shared the goal of staying clean but they also wanted to thrive in life. They wanted to get better at consistently practicing the spiritual disciplines that come with a faith in Christ. They wanted to earn and hold jobs with opportunities for promotion. And they wanted to grow as godly friends, husbands, fathers, and community leaders. So they listened as the speaker, now in his 40s and more than 20 years sober, shared his personal story of brokenness and restoration, and they leaned in when he finished with two pieces of advice:
Don’t give up and go all in.
As a guest at the meeting who isn’t an alcoholic or recovering addict, it struck me that this straightforward advice was just as relevant to me as to anyone else in the circle. My sins and struggles might look different but keeping those two commitments is also vital to my walk with Christ.
What about you? Would you benefit from more perseverance and an all-in commitment when it comes to your growth in Christ?
Don’t Give Up
We don’t have to struggle with addictions to know what it’s like to face the temptation to do things we shouldn’t do or to stop doing things that make us stronger. So while the speaker was telling the men not to give up in their fight to stay sober, he also was telling them, and me, not to give up on the other things we need to fight for in life.
If you are fighting to control your temper, don’t give up. If you are fighting to manage your tone of voice, don’t give up. If you are fighting for holiness in your life, don’t give up.
Don’t give up on prayer.
Don’t give up on attending church.
Don’t give up on reading God’s word.
Don’t give up on time in community with other believers.
Don’t give up on serving others.
Don’t give up on holding yourself accountable to God and to other
people.
Don’t give up on loving your spouse and children.
Don’t give up on what matters to God.
We wouldn’t need this advice if life came with no problems or if temptations weren’t so darn tempting. But Jesus tells us that in this world we “will have trouble”; thankfully, in the same breath he also tells us to “take heart” because He has “overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)
And when God commands us to stay strong, He also promises to help us.
Joshua 1:9 (NIV) says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
And Galatians 6:9 (NIV) offers an amazing promise: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
That promise echoes the words of Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) – “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
When we lean into God and not on our own strength, we can keep fighting with the knowledge that there’s never been a battle Jesus has ever lost or will ever lose.
2. Go All In
The speaker used an analogy that was particularly powerful to his audience. When you weren’t clean and sober, he said, think about what you would do to get your next high. For example, he shared how he would walk miles in the middle of the night to the only open convenience store that sold alcohol. How he would bear crawl across the floor to go unheard and unseen so he could steal money from his mother’s purse. How he would lie, cheat, and steal from people he loved and who wanted to trust him. He would do anything and everything for drugs and alcohol because when it came to his addiction. Why? Because he was all in.
Then he asked this question: Are you that all in for Christ?
Wow. Am I that all in for Christ? Will I do anything and everything for my Lord? Hearing that analogy challenged me to apply that standard when I know the Holy Spirit is calling me to action – to celebrate a baptism at church like I celebrate a Razorback home run or touchdown, to truly worship with all my heart, to give from what I’ve been given to the point of discomfort, to love people who are extremely different from me, to stand up against injustice, to serve widows and orphans, to desperately live to be more like Jesus.
Jesus didn’t halfway die on the cross for us, so we shouldn’t halfway live on the earth for Him.
This is what Jesus expects from us. In Luke 14:33, in fact, he said we have to “give up everything” or we can’t be His disciples. And when asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus referred back to Deuteronomy 6:5, which says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” In Matthew 6:37, Jesus includes “all your mind.”
The three-letter word “all” is impossible to ignore. It reminds me of something a Sunday School teacher told me: “The song says, ‘I surrender all’ not ‘I surrender some.’”
Easy? No way.
But the great thing when it comes to our commitment to never give up and to live all in for Jesus is that He loves us regardless of our results. Never giving up and going all in for Jesus aren’t calls to never fail. They are calls to surrender and calls to commitments.
Let’s start by committing to these commitments. Then let’s lean into the power of the Holy Spirit to help us live them out. And when we (not if) fail? When (not if) we come up short? Well, let’s re-commit starting with 1 John 1:9 (NIV) – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”