Chains and Choices: The Fight Against Addiction
“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”
Romans 6:16 (NLT)
Addiction is not just a bad habit. It is a master that demands everything and gives nothing back but shame and emptiness.
Whether it is alcohol, pills, porn, food, gambling, your phone, or the approval of others, addiction all works the same way. It promises to numb the pain, silence the fear, or give you control. And maybe it does for a minute. But then the trap tightens. The cost goes up. The lies get louder. And your soul starts to wither.
You were never meant to live in that kind of slavery.
God made you in His image. He breathed life into you. He called you to walk in truth, not in chains. But when you obey anything more than you obey God, it becomes your master. It rules your thoughts, hijacks your choices, and erodes your identity. What starts as a private escape can end in public wreckage.
The truth is, most people don’t just wake up one day hooked. It starts slow. One compromise. One lie. One secret. One moment of “just this once.” But sin never stays where you put it. It always grows. It always spreads. And it always brings death with it. Death to your joy. Death to your peace. Death to your relationships. Death to your purpose.
Addiction does not care who you are. It will chain a preacher just as fast as it will chain a prisoner. It will crawl into a church pew just as easily as it will show up in a bar. This is not a battle reserved for the obvious addicts. This is a war being fought behind closed doors by men and women who feel trapped, ashamed, and exhausted from pretending everything is fine.
But here is the raw truth: you cannot defeat what you keep hiding.
You cannot walk in freedom while you keep protecting the thing that is destroying you. You cannot walk in new life while still flirting with old chains. If you are serious about being free, it is going to take more than emotion. It is going to take surrender. It is going to take repentance. It is going to take grit.
You may need to confess your secret. You may need to cut off access. You may need to break ties with the person who keeps luring you back. You may need to get honest with your pastor, your spouse, or your circle. You may need to change your phone number, delete apps, sell your stash, get rid of the bottle, or get into a program that holds your feet to the fire.
Do not let pride be the reason you stay in bondage. Do not let shame tell you God does not want you anymore. That is the enemy talking. He wants to convince you that it is too late. That you are too dirty. That nobody would understand. That even God is tired of hearing from you.
But the Word says, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds more.”
Jesus already paid for this. He did not hang on that cross so you could manage your sin. He died and rose again so you could be free from it. Not numb. Not coping. Not hanging on by a thread. Free.
You do not need another excuse. You need a breakthrough.
You need the kind of bold repentance that smashes the idol, burns the bridge, and says, “I am done living like this.” You need to fight like your soul depends on it. Because it does.
Yes, you may stumble again. But stumbling is not the same as surrendering. Get back up. Stay in the Word. Stay accountable. Stay connected to people who want freedom more than comfort. And stop lying to yourself that this is just “your struggle.” It is your enemy, and you have to treat it like one.
The enemy will not go quietly. But neither will the Spirit of God. He will keep tugging on your heart, calling you out of the darkness and into the light. That pull you feel right now? That is Him. Do not ignore it.
Your life is worth fighting for. Your freedom is possible. Your story is not over.
Scripture to Hold Onto:
“So you should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life.”
Romans 6:11–13 (NLT)
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