5 Ways Faith in God Helps You During Addiction Recovery

This article was written by Brendan Mcdonough and published by Holdfast Recovery

 

Addiction often has a hugely detrimental impact on all of the loving relationships in your life, from your parents to your spouse, children, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and even God. Many people who struggle with addiction question their relationship with religion and even turn away in anger and shame.

Reconnecting with God and spirituality can be the missing piece in the puzzle, and combining faith with religion often gives believers a new sense of purpose in life. It’s this new-found strength that can also help prevent you from relapsing.

1. Love and Community Are Christian Principles

Anyone who has been through addiction and recovery will tell you that a support network played a significant role in their healing process. By connecting with people around you who share common values and place love, understanding, and fellowship at the forefront of their lives, you vastly increase your chances of abstaining for the right reasons and maintaining the lifestyle long term.

If you’re a person of faith who has lost their way or you’re looking for somewhere to turn, religion can provide the foundation of support that you need.

2. Prayer Provides Guidance

When you face up to the fact that you have a problem, the next step is a big one: accepting that you need to change your life. Carving out a brand-new path for yourself can be overwhelmingly daunting. In substance abuse recovery, you let go of your old lifestyle, learn to change destructive thought patterns, and create a new life path that supports health and happiness. Through prayer, you can directly connect with God and ask Him for guidance and answers to your questions.

3. God Is Always There for You

While a support network that involves loving, experienced professionals, understanding peers, and informed loved ones provides you with part of what you need, your relationship with God can’t be underestimated. In times of need, when you experience cravings or withdrawal symptoms, you can find profound comfort in remembering that you are one of God’s dearly loved children.

Reading the Bible and praying each morning helps you build a routine based on joy and positivity. You can repent and ask for His forgiveness, and you can find solace in praying for others. When you feel temptation creeping up on you, you can ask God to give you the strength to stay sober. By focusing on the principles of Christianity throughout the day, you’ll feel God’s power helping you along each step of the way.

4. Christian Exercises Assist Spiritual Progression

Each of the following practices can aid you in recovery. By applying these exercises during Christian rehab, you become more open to the changes required to move forward.

• Prayer: Through prayer, you can get ever closer to God, seek answers for yourself, and enrich the lives of others.
• Meditation: Biblical meditation helps you to focus on essential passages of the Bible and gain a deeper understanding of the revelations.
• Openness to learning: Christianity teaches you to never close your mind off with regard to gaining knowledge and understanding of the world around you.
• Finding love and beauty in the small things: When we’re grateful for the minor things in life, we find perspective.

5. Passages From the Bible Offer Encouragement

There are many passages in the Bible that can help you while you’re healing from addiction. Some of these include:

1. James 4:7“Submit yourself, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you.”
2. Matthew 26:41“Watch and pray so that you shall not fall prey to temptation. Our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak.”
3. Peter 5:10“And our God of all grace, who summoned you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a while, will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”