Beep.. beep… beep… 6:15am. The alarm on my phone just went off, time to tackle another day. The sun is up and it’s peering through my drapes. The warmth of it reminds me that God has given me another day to live and breath out purpose. As my body begins to awaken so does my mind. Just as quickly as the promise of a new day swept in, so once again has my addiction. Now my mind races with thoughts that are not my own, yet I hold onto them as though they are. Do I hate them? Do I love them? Are they really me or are they just the expression of my out of control addiction?
As founder of Manupleadership.com out of control addiction is something that we hear about several times a day in our hurdles section. From drugs to sex to self hatred there is a thread that unites so many of us. We are addicted to being broken. Why is this? Why are we broken? Why is it that when we look at our lives many times the area we are most familiar with and most frequent is not wholeness rather out of control brokenness?
I believe it ultimately comes down to control. Are you a control freak? Do you try to control your life, your emotions and your addiction? Have you found yourself doing everything you can to hold your world together? Have you found yourself trying to hold your thought life together? I am notorious for trying new disciplines and techniques. This week i will try “x” to control my addiction, next week “y” then followed by “z”.
In the book of Romans Paul urges us to consider life with a different perspective. Rather than trying to control our out of control addiction. Give the control back to God! But how? Lets explore some biblical XYZ’s.
Romans 12:1-2
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
First, view your life through the lens of mercy. Did you know that God is a merciful God? The bible says God’s mercy is literally brand new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23) So often we wake up to our guilt, shame or inadequacy yet God’s word says that rather than waking up to those feelings and lies we are welcomed with fresh mercy and compassion!
Second, worship God. Because we have stopped to remember that God loves us anew everyday. When the sun peers through our drapes we are greeted with fresh mercy and life. Paul says out of that truth offer God your mind, your will and your life! When we begin to offer our lives up to God rather than to our shame the control that our addiction has on us begins to get suffocated.
Third, renew your mind. I love that the bible says every day we will need to renew or put on a new mind. EVERYDAY we will have to reflect on God’s goodness and love for us; begin to love him for it; and then out of that refresh, re-prioritize and remind ourselves that we need new thoughts. Each day we wake up we are bombarded by grace and addiction. Renew your mind!
Is your addiction out of control? Start today by receiving God’s mercy, offering him your life back in worship and remembering to renew your thoughts for the day.
Tomorrow, do it again!
Here are a few great resources to help you day in and day out!
http://www.x3letters.com/letters/breaking-the-chains.html
https://xxxchurch.com/help.html