Quotes about Addiction

First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.

An interesting question these psychologists tend not to ask is why the muscle metaphor is apt. In other words, why is it that early successes at self-discipline lead to more successes, whereas early lapses lead to more lapses? If self-discipline is really good for the organism, you wouldn't expect natural selection to make it so easy for a few early lapses to destroy self-discipline. Yet there's no denying that a few injections of heroin can be the end of a productive life. Why?

I know a good woman who thinks that her son lost his life because he took to drinking water only.

Rooting out bad habits is not enough. If we merely attack what is wrong, we create a vacuum that will inevitably be filled by some new behavior or addiction that does not shape our worldview according to the gospel. The solution, I believe, is discipleship, the process of becoming more like Christ.

Decaffeinated coffee is the devil's blend.

Caffeine isn't a drug, it's a vitamin!

You can't drown yourself in drink. I've tried, you float.

Then, when shame strikes, it is so nasty you have to numb yourself, and what better anesthetic than your addiction? It is the perfect vicious circle.

If addictions are really as prevalent as they seem, we would think that Scripture would be preoccupied with this struggle. And it is.

Addiction is bondage to the rule of a substance, activity, or state of mind, which then becomes the center of life, defending itself from the truth so that even bad consequences don't bring repentance, and leading to further estrangement from God.

Addicts have already proven to themselves that there are things in this world that are more attractive to them than God himself, whether it is comfort, power, pleasure, or reputation. Whatever they have worshipped, however, cannot compare to the God who has revealed himself as the One who always says, "I love you," before we say it to him.

When addicts turn away from the Lord and gaze at the object of their desire, God becomes a distant memory. Since one common belief is that God is going to keep us from something good, we try to distract ourselves from remembering him.