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Most of us have some habits or areas where we are more controlled than we are in control. Do you see any addictive tendencies in your own life—anything out of balance that tends to control you?
Many people are addicted to other people; we call that a dependency these days. I know women who are addicted to men who are very bad for them, but they can’t seem to break away. I’ve had many emails from people involved in affairs and they are addicted to those relationships. The relationship is not making them happy, it is ruining their lives, and in one case a woman was considering suicide because of her affair with a man. But she said she could not break away from that man.
And of course, as Christians we have an enemy, Satan, who is very good at false advertising. When Satan tempted Eve, he told her how wise and god-like and invincible she would be if she ate the forbidden fruit. Never did he tell her that by this act, sin would enter the world, and as a result one of her sons would kill another, sorrow and troubles would come upon all people, and there would be wars and destruction throughout all generations. Eve bought Satan’s false advertising.
But don’t be too hard on Eve, because we often buy Satan’s lies ourselves. And that’s one way we become addicted. Something looks good, such as an affair, it feels good for awhile, and before we know it, we’re addicted. But we soon discover the big lie, and often it’s too late; we’ve become addicted.
Now, why are we susceptible to these addictions? Well, isn’t it because we are looking for something to satisfy a perceived need? If you scratch the surface, you’ll find that most if not all of our addictions are a result of trying to meet our needs in our own way, instead of accepting God’s provision for our needs. The needs are legitimate, but our way of meeting them is often destructive.
