xxxchurch - Is 'Once An Addict, Always An Addict' True-“I am an addict.

Or, at least, I thought I was.

When I was a boy, my grandmother was a recovering alcoholic, but her recovery never seemed to move past: Once an addict, always an addict.’

I just assumed it would always be the same for me and pornography.

There comes a time when, after so much failure and discouragement, the assurance of freedom only feels like another broken promise waiting to happen…”

My friend wrote that to me on Saturday and even though it’s hard to read, I’m glad he did. Honestly, it’s a lot like the 1000+ responses we’ve been receiving from people in the survey we share with you last week..

All of it has made me realize, more and more, that as we invite you and so many others to experience My Pilgrimage for the first time, I need to acknowledge a couple of things first:

Cynicism and unbelief.

Just yesterday, someone asked me if I even believe that it is possible to be free from addiction to pornography anymore or if we’re just selling false hopes and future failures under the guise that freedom is actually real.

To be honest, that’s harsh but it makes sense to me. It makes sense when, for fifteen years, I’ve watched so many people lose hope and give up. I’ve seen so much self-hatred. I’ve seen so many marriages fail. I’ve seen so many lives fall apart.

And I’ve seen so many people promising freedom… and then breaking that promise.

Not to mention…everybody’s trying to make a quick buck. It makes sense that in this day and age, you’d want approach everything with skepticism. Especially an “experience” offering freedom from an addiction that you’ve already given up on believing is possible to overcome.

If I have anything worthwhile to offer, it’s that I don’t know anyone more skeptical about the “new, latest and greatest” than I am and I think those fears are completely valid.

Frankly, when I first met the guys who wrote the book for My Pilgrimage and helped us create this experience, I didn’t believe it either.

[shortcode-variables slug=”mypilgrimage-inline”]The crazy thing, though, is that I do believe it now.

I believe it because the people who have been given the chance to go through the My Pilgrimage experience with one another have actually discovered a freedom they never have before. They’ve actually found a freedom that they can feel. A peace that certainly surpasses this skeptic’s understanding – and yet there it is: peace.

I’ve worked in this world for a very long time and dedicated everything to helping others break loose from the chains of pornography addiction.

If I could ask you – from one cynic to another – to bear with me and suspend whatever unbelief you’ve allowed to strip you of hope, please do.

P.S. I mentioned recently that I just got back from our live 2016 “Alaska Pilgrimage experience. I thought you might enjoy sitting in on a conversation with Feels Like Redemption authors Seth and David Taylor, whose book we used to base much of the My Pilgrimage experience off of. In this candid interview, we dive into Seth and David’s personal stories of the cycle of defeat – and what led them out of it.

Watch here as they discuss the deep contrast between the constant condemnation of the past and the ever-present hope and freedom found in the journey toward a future loosed of its chains.

 

 

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