Help me God! I can’t take this anymore, my addiction to alcohol has taken over my life!
This is what I used to pray everyday, it was a cry for mercy from God. I couldn’t believe that I was a successful woman, successful with raising my children, successful at my job, successful with all the charity work I had done, etc. I was miserable and needed the mercy of God. I had become reliant on alcohol to help me to go to sleep at night, only to wake up a few hours later and not be able to go to sleep again. This was a terrible cycle that I had become accustomed to. I was addicted to alcohol! I was a “good” person, not a “bum”, I couldn’t possibly be an alcoholic or so I thought.
Going to a Christian treatment center was my way back to God. They helped me realize that I needed to understand why I drank and how to deal with the everyday stress that I couldn’t seem to handle anymore. I needed to understand Me and until I got down to the core of my problems and started to work on them I would continue to drink. Having a Christian counselor to work with and understand how to help me deal with my issues was key.
In going to a Christian treatment center I learned how to take time for myself every morning. I now start my day with meditation and scripture. When I start my day this way everything else seems to just roll along the way it is supposed to. I have also learned how to apply the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to my everyday living. I attend AA meetings regularly now and have learned a whole new way of life.
A Christ centered treatment program was the best way for me to go. I had been brought up a christian but had fallen behind along the way. My alcohol addiction had gotten the best of me. I’m sorry for the time that I wasted in other treatment centers. What I needed was to be one with God again. In looking for a Christ centered treatment program I came upon A New Life at Lakeview Health in Jacksonville, Florida. I really wanted this to work and I knew the only way for me was to put Christ back into my life. I needed the structure of A Christ centered program. In attending bible study with others I realized how much I had to gain by being with other Christians. The desire to be with God in meditation , to pray with other Christians and to have church in my life again was overwhelming. I knew that if I ask God to take away the obsession He would. I no longer want to drink but realize that I cannot do it by myself. I need God in my life along with all the other gifts that A New Life gave me. I now go to Celebrate Recovery and work the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous in my life everyday. My life has changed, I am whole again.
I could no longer handle life on my own, I was addicted to alcohol! The only way out was a Christian treatment center. I needed to have the help of professionals to start me on the path of freedom. My alcohol addiction had the best of me. I isolated every night, didn’t go out with friends, I didn’t do anything anymore. I hadn’t even been to a movie in 5 years unless it was before “cocktail” time. My life had become unmanageable and I needed help. With the love and care of the team at A New Life at Lakeview Health in Jacksonville, I got my life back. I learned that every temptation is an attempt by Satan to get us away from God and how to combat that by learning scripture, praying and meditation. I had not picked up a bible in years now I read it every day!
My life has changed. I have God in my life again. My addiction to alcohol is no longer controling me I am in control of it. I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. Col. 1:14
I once read, The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The fruits of the flesh are hatred (mostly of self), depression, fear, anxiety, impatience, unfaithfulness and loss of control. This has really stuck with me and I try to live by the verse that ” people can walk by the Spirit and not carry out the desires of the flesh” Gal. 5:16.
Why can’t I stop abusing my body is a question most of us ask ourselves while in addiction. I knew I was hurting my body yet I didn’t know how to stop until I found something better and that was God. Going to a Christian treatment center can be the new beginning that each of us needs. We learn to trust God again, or for the first time. Being with other Christians gets us plugged in with Christ. Fellowship in prayer time, bible study and working the 12 steps thru Christ and Celebrate Recovery is awsome. Being with others that have gone through some of the same pain and can understand. We don’t all come from the same backgrounds but we do all have one common bond and that is we are addicted to something other than God, until we find him. If we can start our new life over again through Christ we have a much better chance of surviving. Going into a Christian treatment center can give us that chance to start over. I know I was given the chance to live by God’s love and I am a new and different person. I have a full and happy life, not free from all pain, but free from bondage. I now know how to work through my problems by using the 12 steps in all my affairs. I thank God!
Why would anyone even think that an addict enjoyed being addicted? People with an addiction might enjoy the high for a while, but soon it becomes unbearable. We don’t make a decision with the intention of destroying ourselves-at least not at first.
No one wants to be grossly overweight due to excessive eating, or addicted to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, gambling etc. We don’t grow up thinking that we want to be an addict we actually think that it will never happen to us! We as addicts know what is right and want to do what is right; but for some reason we can’t seem to do it.
The apostle Paul wrote that “it was for freedom that Christ set us free” Gal. 5:1. God has set his children free, but many of us are not experiencing that freedom. We have the freedom of choice and that freedom of choice can lead us to a life free of addiction. In choosing a Christian treatment center we can live that free life again. We can change our path. I have a life beyond my wildest dreams now!
In going to a Christ centered treatment center we can learn to rely on God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We can learn to trust in Him through prayer, meditation and time with other Christians. Working a 12 step program helpes me with all aspects of my life. My friends are people who truly love me for who I am not for who they want me to be. My family sees a softer side of me now. I enjoy life again. A New Life at Lakeview Health in Jacksonville, Florida can start us on the path to recovery.
Are you struggling with addiction? Addiction, whether it be alcohol, drugs, eating disorders or anything else that controls us is run by fear. Does fear or faith control you? When I was in my addiction I was living in fear. Fear that I wasn’t good enough! Who was I trying to be good enough for? God? God doesn’t expect perfection out of us, Jesus knew his followers would make mistakes and turn against him, but he never stopped loving them. Surely there is no one on earth so righteous as to do good without ever sinning. Ecclesiastes 7:20
I was so afraid that my husband would leave me if I didn’t drink with him. He had found someone that was a “free spirit” and had “fun”. I was desperate to save my marriage so after several years of not drinking I picked up that first deadly drink, knowing full well that it would trigger my disease and I would be drinking again in no time.
Now several years after that drink I am free of alcohol and happy in my life. It took a long time and a lot of hard word but I am FREE. I didn’t save my marriage but I did save my life.
What saved me was faith in Christ! I turned my will over to God and followed the guidelines of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12 steps. In going into a Christian treatment program such as A New Life at Lakeview Health, we can get back what we have lost or maybe never had, and that is faith in God.
To those who have worked the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous this is one of the steps that is very directly related to the Word of God. Our own willpower didn’t work therefore we needed something else and that was God. We couldn’t stop drinking on our own. Many of us tried everything we could think of. Changing the place we used to ‘hang out’, changing the people we used to go out with, changing what we drank maybe from scotch to beer or wine, etc. But we just couldn’t do it on our own. When we go into a Christ centered treatment program we can learn to have faith and trust in God. In studying the bible, going to church and having structured prayer time we can see that God can do for us what we could not do for ourselves. We all come from different backgrounds with a different story and motivation for recovery and we need a recovery plan that is tailored just for us. In working the 12 step program in our treatment center we see that we need to work this very same program in all parts of our daily lives. Our success in recovery is directly related to what we learn about ourselves and how we apply that to every day life through God. In a Christ centered treatment program we can learn to progress through life with faith and confidence. Our family lives can be restored and with a family recovery program such as the one at A New Life at Lakeview Health our families can be made whole again through Christ.
Faith is like a dam, holding back the water of alcohol. If we take one drink of alcohol, it’s like opening the dam. Once the dam has been opened the water (alcohol) rushes in. We have to make sure we don’t let in even one drop or the gates are open and we fall right back into our old ways. In a Christ centered recovery program we learn to let God in. When we have faith in God it keeps the dam strong and in repair. In going to church and bible study we have the tools to keep the dam from breaking and the damage from being done. If I practice the presence of God in everything I think and do my life will change. When going to a Christ centered treatment program such as A New Life at Lakeview Health we are given the specialized treatment for Christians who have lost their direction. We find our way back through Christ.