“All things are permissible for me, but not all things are beneficial. All things are permissible for me, but I will not be dominated/ruled by anything.” (1 Cor 6: 12)
The main tragedy of addiction has to do with our loss of freedom, rather than some inherent “badness” of the “thing” to which one becomes addicted. In the case of more or less common addictions, like addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, food, sugar, video-games, or Internet-porn, or Internet-news, or the Internet in general, our loss of freedom happens in small steps, unnoticeably. At first, the “thing” might “help” us in some way, …until it doesn’t. It ceases to “help” when we are drawn to the thing against our will, because we are now “dominated/ruled” by it, which is what the Apostle is warning me against in the passage quoted above.
The good news about the suffering of addiction, however, is that it can compel me to seek God and His help in a most earnest and renewed manner. Because only God can liberate me from the powerful grip of a real addiction. “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet 5:10). If I have slipped into an addiction, this can be a wake-up call from Him, to let go of self-reliance and let Him be a true part of my life.
Today I thank God, in earnest prayer, for all the things and people in my life, and ask that I be “dominated/ruled” by Him alone, seeking His liberating truth on a daily basis. “Then you will know the truth,” the Lord promises me, “and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8: 32)
