Hope for Addiction Because God Loves YOU

There is hope for those who struggle with all types of addiction.  Last week I wrote an article about sex addiction, including pornography and other kinds of obsessive sexual activity.  Since then, it seems that the subject is everywhere!  That's a good thing.  Raising awareness for not only the problem, but also the many resources available for help, is even better.   In my article, I addressed an online program for helping overcome sexual addiction, in the privacy of your own home. 

I've been thinking about this -- and yes, outside help to overcome addiction can be a very important step on the road to recovery.   But we must not exclude the need of Him, who overcame all things.

Jesus Christ is literally the way for each one of us to overcome every weakness that besets us.   Easier said that done, to be sure.  Nonetheless, for those who proclaim faith in Jesus Christ,  He needs to be at the very center of our home or temple as we strive to overcome that which would hinder our individual progress, here upon this earth.

David A. Bednar taught -  "I now want to try and explain a principle that is fundamental to our knowledge about and understanding of the importance of a physical body. The principle is this: Our bodies are not our own."  1 Cor. 6:19–20  states:

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

He further explained that:

The choices we make about the use of our personal temples will affect us throughout all eternity.

Because the physical body is so central to the Father’s plan of happiness and our spiritual development, we should not be surprised that Lucifer seeks to thwart our progression by enticing us to use our bodies improperly. It is to me one of the ultimate ironies of eternity that the adversary, who is miserable because he has no physical body and therefore cannot progress, seeks to make us miserable “like unto himself” (2 Ne. 2:27) through the improper use of our bodies. The very tool he does not have and cannot use thus is the primary instrument through which he attempts to lure us to spiritual destruction.

Our physical bodies indeed are temples of God. Consequently, you and I must carefully consider what we take into our temple, what we put on our temple, what we do to our temple, and what we do with our temple. And we can learn a number of important lessons by comparing the Church’s temples to our physical bodies as temples.

 
You can read the entire talk here:  David A. Bednar, "“Ye Are the Temple of God”", Ensign, Sept. 2001, 14 

In this newest video from Mormon Messages  Elder M. Russel Ballard teaches that Satan uses addiction to take away agency...

You Will Be Freed

The battle over man’s God-given agency continues today. Satan and his minions have their lures all around us, hoping that we will falter and take his flies so he can reel us in with counterfeit means. He uses addiction to steal away agency. According to the dictionary, addiction of any kind means to surrender to something, thus relinquishing agency and becoming dependent on some life-destroying substance or behavior.

You can read this entire talk here: M. Russell Ballard, "O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One", Ensign, Nov. 2010, 108–10

Both talks that I've included in this post are powerful teaching of both doctrine and principles in helping us to understand the sacredness of our physical bodies --  that we truly are temples and that through Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice we are promised the  power to overcome weakness.

I want to also acknowledge that there are many different ways that we can become addicted.  Not everyone is vulnerable to the same addictive behavior, substance, etc...  Addiction is personal and only you can answer for yourself whether a particular thing has in some way ensnared you.  Living the gospel of Jesus Christ has embedded it in great protection from most addictions; some might say all.   In this telestial world and with our imperfection, most of us are vulnerable to some type of addiction if we are not careful.   

If I'm being honest here, I will admit that I have my own stuff that should be considered on some level addiction -- although most probably would not.   But for those of us who strive to live the gospel, we need to listen carefully to the spirit and follow our own personal promptings on this matter...

tDMg
Kathryn

Help for Porn and Sexual Addiction
LDS Addiction Recovery Program
Hope and Help for Sex Addicts