The Ten Commandments E-book study by Trent Brandt, writer of the Christian Letter found at www.christianezine.org |
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The Ten Commandments E-book study by Trent Brandt, writer of the Christian Letter found at www.christianezine.org |
Alcoholism This is going to bring me to my knees: Someone very dear to me is an alcoholic. The devil has both arms around a man who feels drinking won't hurt him, rob him of his family, money, life, and soul. This loved one of mine has lost his wife, friends, job, health, and, dear God, I pray not his soul because of alcoholism. Please, oh my friends, please pray for him. I still love and care for him and I know that the Creator hears our prayers. I know, fully I know, someday he shall be saved from alcoholism! The saddest part about alcoholism is when the church (that's you and me) does not welcome the people of this world in as friendly of fashion as alcohol, Satan, or bars do. Alcoholics celebrate and the churches don't; one has no reason while the other has every reason to. We need to help them see the only One Who can help, the Truth, the Light...the Messiah. The truth about liquor is never told at the bars or liquor stores or they would close up. They advertise beautiful women and strong young men having the time of their lives and, much like every other thing shown by the media, most public buys into it without question. If they advertised the truth it would sound like this ... "Wanted: Young children to fill the places of the tens of thousands who have died horrid deaths from alcohol this year. We need your children or we will be ruined! We need to slaughter you for our support! So come and let us rob you of your health, friends, family, spouse, home, life, and soul! Come, and bring your children as well!" Your friendly liquor salesman. If the truth was reviled like this it would reduce those who would listen to blubbering babies. Oh what a beating we Christians could give if we only realized our King's size and power and would stand up against the sinners even stronger than they stand against us...in love! If a disease or a war that was as horrible as alcoholism affected this country, a national emergency would be declared. So why is one not? Perhaps we are ashamed, embarrassed, or just plain passive, and it would mean the only cure, the one we have put the label of 'optional' on, our heavenly Father, would be required again for a nation that is too rich to believe we need a God. People say they drink because they are lonely, have low self-esteem, problems, because they want to relax, they're angry, they desire to be cool, and a host of other alleged reasons. Some even believe that they simply cannot change. Drinking to drown problems is like putting out a fire with gasoline. It will only worsen the misery. Alcohol is a soul-destroying drink. Alcoholism is self-destruction, and only faith can mend a soul heeding toward destruction. Seeking to reform without out faith is like locking the door, and leaving the key on the outside. The first thing that should be sought is a church group for support and advice as well as a help center, whether the alcoholic is violent, drinks and drives, or is a casual/light drinker. Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) is a group for those seeking to be sober, run by those who have become sober. I highly recommend that the friends, family, or spouse of the alcoholic go to, or call, A.A. to find out how best to approach your loved one about attending. A.A. does not keep membership files or attendance records, so no one will bother you if you don't want to come back. Others are there for the same reason you are so your identity will not be disclosed to others. A.A. will help anyone regardless of age, religion, sex, race, or wealth. You can find them in your phone book or go to the links below. I pray our difficulties will cause us to consider our ways. Are you an alcoholic? Do you get drunk when you drink, even when you don't mean to? To you, is it cool to be able to hold your liquor? Some drink in an out-of-control way from their first drink while others slowly progress over decades to uncontrolled drinking. Drinking cannot heal a deficiency. The Spirit that can change your life for the better can only be received through prayer of truly accepting Christ as Lord of our lives, not from a bottle. Christ came to set the prisoners of habit/sin free. Alcoholism is slavery, but God sets slaves free! Never deny the depth of the problem; if you drink more than you intend to, or want a drink, you are an alcoholic. Medical help for the withdrawal syndrome may be needed for the recovering alcoholic. Recovery is not an overnight thing... it is a complete remake and that takes time and a real Love. You do not have to drink! Life without alcohol is not only possible but deeply rewarding, with new energy, happiness, money, and maybe even family. Once you have stopped, you can never, as a recovered alcoholic, return to normal drinking, and the ability to stay away from alcohol depends on maintaining physical, mental, and spiritual health. Concentrate on staying sober today. Work on tomorrow when it comes. How can you help your friend part from alcoholism? I wish there were a simple thing to say or an effective threat but there is not. The alcoholic has to want to quit. However, this is not something the alcoholics can fully decide for themselves. The alcoholic's compulsion to drink often creates a stubborn resistance to help. To admit being an alcoholic, as simple and evident as this may seem, implies committing oneself to doing something about one's drinking. In an alcoholic's confused mind, the need to drink may literally seem like a matter of life or death. (Are you or someone you love like this? There is Hope! There is a Way! But, you have to desire the Lord and His ways.) Telling the alcoholic that he is hurting the family or that you will leave him if he doesn't stop, rarely works. (I've seen too many marriages broken because of this. Being a writer, you'd think I could come up with a word horrid enough to describe hard liquor, but alas, I cannot, for there are not words vile enough.) Sometimes, with those just stumbling into alcoholism, knowledge of the truth will work. Let them know about the 25,000 people killed and over 700,000 injured each year in alcohol-related accidents. (That's WAY more than were killed in the attacks on 9/11/01) However, telling them they will get caught if they drink and drive will never work. Only one in roughly 2,000 people who drink and drive regularly are caught and arrested. I know men and women who drive drunk every day of their lives and never get caught. Even worse, the few who do get caught are still allowed to drive and, consequently, kill other people on the road. I don't hate many things, and I'm sorry if this fact ruins this devotional for you, but I fully hate alcoholism! I would cut out my eyes if that would remove it from God's people. Most alcoholics are fearful of being caught by friends or family, so most of them drink at night or when away from family. 80% of all fatal alcohol-related auto crashes occur between 8 pm and 8 am. If someone drinks around his loved ones, I assure you he drinks much more when no one is around. When drinkers are at the presumed level of intoxication, the risk of causing an accident is six times greater than for non-drinking drivers. Two cans of beer impair driving skills by 25%. According to a recent Allstate Insurance Company study, alcohol-impaired drivers are estimated to cost American taxpayers $21 - $24 billion dollars per year. (With that much money homelessness could be abolished.) 40% of all suicide attempts are alcohol-related. 54% of all violent crimes are alcohol-related. 60% of all emergency room admissions are alcohol-related. 80% of all domestic disputes are alcohol-related. Oh, how many would-be brothers have we lost? I don't want to know all the statistics on alcoholism. I'm sure the numbers are scary for things like divorce, rape, and loss of employment, but I want, and we need, to focus on the Cure! So, how do you help an alcoholic? Whether you are the husband, wife, lover, parent, or child of a problem drinker, your understanding of the nature of the problem can play a vital part in helping the alcoholic to achieve and maintain sobriety. Remind him that he cannot face his alcoholism alone and that he is not alone. Throwing away the whiskey, making or forcing promises, coaxing, threatening, reasoning, making emotional appeals, or withholding money never have worked. A lack of love and an unclean life or home can cause alcoholism, so improving a person's life and surroundings, and providing true love can help win the battle for a person's soul. [Very rarely is there a house that is kept pure, money that is taken care of, and loving children who are properly raised where there is a drinking problem. It does happen, though, very rarely.] Although these are not reasons to drink and maybe are not even the reason for starting, they may be something holding him back. Never feel shame for yourself or because of a family members drinking problem. Shame won't help. A freely given promise must be held with firmness. If you let the promise and the punishment agreed upon go, then you teach the alcoholic that he can avoid responsibility. Never do for the alcoholic what he needs to do for himself, from working to loving. Accountability to friends and church members is a major aid. Don't have any unclaimed cash that could cry out to be spent foolishly on alcohol. Instead set aside a percent for bills, your spouse, a savings account for a new car, the church, or to use for a better life in some way. There is no point blaming the victim for a lack of strength, as this will only make him weaker; instead, give support. Make sure he is shown daily the Great provider in His words and your actions. When sharing Christ, in love, always remember to note you become a new creation, like a worm turning into butterfly, when you accept Salvation. The first step to helping the alcoholic is prayer. Be sure of your relationship with God and know that He will answer your prayer. Pray alone, with prayer groups, and especially with the alcoholic. Remember, discouragement in prayer is Satan's glee. Encourage this one in his desire to stop. Never hold on to the past. Never pamper the alcoholic. Alcoholism is a weakness...pampering will only make it worse. The alcoholic and you need to set rewards and goals in the journey and fulfill them. Be sure to give thanks to the Lord before, during, and after recovery! Fellowship is vital here too; don't force it, but do always have the door open with warm invitations. The first place fellowship should be had is in the home. Be sure the Word, not just a subject like alcoholism, is the center. A study on David, for example, can be just as helpful if not more so. Some alcoholics, often-violent ones, appear insane or oblivious to reality when drunk. In many ways, these drinkers seem to be hopeless. However far down the ladder of alcoholism drinkers have gone, though, none have passed beyond the hope of recovery in Jesus. If you were once an alcoholic or when you recover (you will!) then know that the battle may be won but it is never finished. Share your testimony! Make it a goal to help others, but be sure to do so in a way that will not tempt you. In other words, do not minister in bars without a pastor by your side. Use discretion and avoid the old drinking crowd. You must look after your own sobriety! The fear of failing will come but do not let it beat you down. Never think you can stay sober on your own. Do not become prideful! Remember what it says in John 15:5? Transfer your dependency to God. Read the Bible daily and meditate upon His Words. This will be your new source of dependency. Without it daily you will fall back to the old dependency of the ways of the flesh and not the ways of the Spirit. Pray every day with someone and while you are alone. Remember, prayer is talking, and listening, to God. You don't have to know big words or have some secret formula, just pray as if speaking to the greatest friend anyone could ever have. Everyone will fall back into sin again, but if we truly rely on the Holy Spirit, and not on our own power, than the bounce up will be swift. With time and practice we can give more and more of ourselves over to the Holy Spirit so we can be strong against temptation. Never try to conquer sin yourself. Trying to be righteous on your own produces self-righteousness and trying to quit drinking on your own means you do not want to let go of it. "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world. But after ye have suffered a while, may the God of all grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:8-11) Continue to live and continue to pray, never ceasing and always seeking to save the alcoholic. I pray for God to forgive them, churches to love them, and friends to help them, so they may see the Truth. Christians! Please! Make sure your doors are open wider and with more welcome than the bar's! If people don't come to you...go to them. They need you! You will not be alone; you have my prayers and the prayers of so many more people reading this right now. Be encouraged in the fact, yes fact, that the Father loves enough to hear and answer every prayer. Thank the true God, praise Him, and glorify His name daily in the seeking of the lost! So, in a nutshell, you build each other up or you tear each other down, though once the devil has his grasp and the addiction has already bound it's victim it will take more than man or woman can muster to solve...it will take the desire for Christ. Please further your strength and read Psalm 145:18-19; Proverbs 20:1, 23:20-21, and 23:29-35; Isaiah 5:11-14 and 22-23; Jeremiah 13:13-14; Hosea 4:11; Habakkuk 2:15-16; Matthew 1:21; Luke 21:34; Romans 13:13-14 and 7:15-25; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Galatians 5:21; and Ephesians 5:18. © trent@kci.net These two groups can help you so much: AV = Alcoholics Victorious http://av.iugm.org/ and AA = http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/ [Statistics were copied from Community Alcohol Information Program, Inc., the U. S. Dept. of Transportation, and the N. H. Department of Safety. They were rounded down.] |