Denial…Eddie Long Speaks

I watched online and saw Eddie Long stand before his church and deny all the charges against him on Sunday. I don’t know the man and can’t speak to say whether he is guilty or not. Time will tell. I have dealt with a lot of people over the last 8 years. One of the most pervasive challenges in dealing with pornography and any form of sexual addiction is denial.

People normally don’t ask for help until they caught BUT when caught, especially MEN will deny this. We don’t need another fallen evangelist in the media so I hope that Eddie Long is innocent. If he is innocent and has nothing to hide, that will be pretty easy to prove. If he is guilty, he needs to admit his wrong doings, step down and get help.

Forget about Eddie for a second…. What are you in denial about? CNN is not at your door, no lawsuits against you yet but what is it that you are hiding? What is it that you are not able to admit to yet?

Don’t put it off another day. Don’t wait. The Bible says “Confess you sins and you will prosper…Conceal your sins and you will not prosper”.

I just found this article online written by Angie.

Our minds are powerful elements; so powerful are our thoughts and beliefs that they will actually lead us astray in many areas of our life. Take the idea of denial for a moment, mix that in with an addiction, and what do you think is going to happen? That’s right, the addict will slowly creep further into their addiction, all the while listening to that powerful inner voice telling them they don’t have a problem.

Ironically, the addict never has a problem only the people who live with them, or who love them, or who are around them on a consistent basis have a problem. It leaves me in awe because addicts in denial really believe this. Their mind works in such a way that they do not “understand” or “know” themselves, they only think they know the people around them. And this is precisely why “loved ones” of addicts seem to get the brunt of the mood swings and unloving ways.

But there is a big problem with this picture because for the addict, acknowledging they have a problem is the first step towards recovery. Only when they admit they have an addiction will they begin to explore the possibilities of wellness. But here is the problem with that. Addicts enjoy their substance of abuse so much that they keep telling themselves they can quit at any time and that they don’t have an addiction. How can the addict come out from their denial and realize they have a problem?

Coming from an alcoholic background and abusing alcohol myself in the past, I can honestly say that usually something drastic has to happen to the addict before they will own up to having a problem. But by then, it may be too late. Too late to repair relationships, marriages, families, and revive lost lives. It may be too late for the past, but that does not mean that an addict cannot get healed and then repair the past the best they can, right?

Not all addicts have to bottom out before they become aware to the fact they have a problem, but in most instances they do. So knowing this, what can the loved one of an addict do to help the addict come to the realization of their problem without the addict falling head first in the mud and maybe destroying more lives in the process?

Ironically, the addict never has a problem only the people who live with them, or who love them, or who are around them on a consistent basis have a problem. It leaves me in awe because addicts in denial really believe this. Their mind works in such a way that they do not “understand” or “know” themselves, they only think they know the people around them. And this is precisely why “loved ones” of addicts seem to get the brunt of the mood swings and unloving ways.

But there is a big problem with this picture because for the addict, acknowledging they have a problem is the first step towards recovery. Only when they admit they have an addiction will they begin to explore the possibilities of wellness. But here is the problem with that. Addicts enjoy their substance of abuse so much that they keep telling themselves they can quit at any time and that they don’t have an addiction. How can the addict come out from their denial and realize they have a problem?

Coming from an alcoholic background and abusing alcohol myself in the past, I can honestly say that usually something drastic has to happen to the addict before they will own up to having a problem. But by then, it may be too late. Too late to repair relationships, marriages, families, and revive lost lives. It may be too late for the past, but that does not mean that an addict cannot get healed and then repair the past the best they can, right?

Not all addicts have to bottom out before they become aware to the fact they have a problem, but in most instances they do. So knowing this, what can the loved one of an addict do to help the addict come to the realization of their problem without the addict falling head first in the mud and maybe destroying more lives in the process?