Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
–1 Peter 5:8
Back in the late 80s, I was in Houston, Texas where a group of about 50 ministers met to talk about the war on drugs. One minister’s wife stood up and spoke to all of us about her own story. She told us about her addiction to Valium and prescription drugs and how it almost destroyed her marriage and her husband’s ministry.
Addiction can happen to anyone. And as I look around today, I see so many people with so many addictions. There are drugs, yes. But there’s also addiction to work; there’s addiction to social media; there’s addiction to pornography; there’s addiction to sports, to name just a few. Addiction can be to anything that owns you and owns your affections. And today’s passage tells us that addictions that steal away our rational thoughts are evil and cripple us in spiritual battle.
If there’s anything you have to hide about your behavior from those who know you, that’s addiction. If you’re not honoring God in the way you spend your money by blowing it on a habit, that’s addiction. Or, if your relationships with God and people are suffering because you have to make time for this one thing, that’s addiction.
When it comes to any habitual behavior you have, ask yourself, “Could this behavior potentially possess my life?” If it can, leave it alone. When you own your behavior and are in control of your actions, you’ll be ready for the spiritual battle of life.
YOUR ADDICTIONS CAN OWN YOU AND POSSESS YOU. SO MAKE SURE YOU’RE IN CONTROL OF YOUR BEHAVIOR SO YOU CAN FIGHT LIFE’S SPIRITUAL BATTLE.
