The Root and Fruit of Freedom from Addictions: Part I
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Why do we so often struggle with behaviors we know are wrong, just like the apostle Paul in Romans 7? And how can we finally break that pattern of sinning, asking forgiveness for our sins, yet falling right back into the same pattern?
To understand this pattern, let’s go back to the very first sin recorded in the Bible—or the sin that laid the groundwork for all of our sins and addictions. Understanding why Eve took the forbidden fruit can help us understand why we sin; so we can start to find freedom from the pattern that so many of us experience in our lives—sinning, asking forgiveness, and sinning again, whether the sin is anger, pornography, food, drugs, gossip, cutting/self-harm, being controlling, codependent etc.
So why did Eve sin in the first place?
As anyone familiar with the story knows, Eve sinned because of the serpent, or Satan. More specifically, she sinned because she believed his lies. In other words, her sin was the visible, external “fruit” of a much deeper “root”—a false belief system from the “father of lies” (John 8:44). And the same “father of lies,” with the same fruit/root principle, are the same forces that still fuel our sins and addictions today.
To further illustrate, if we pick an apple from an apple tree with the roots still intact, will the apple tree produce more apples? Of course it will. As long as it has a root, it will produce fruit. And the same is true with our addictions. If we only focus on our behaviors, those negative roots will continue to reproduce sinful “fruit.”
Take, for instance, Rick’s pornography addiction, a problem 50% or more of men in the church struggle with. When Rick calls me and says he is looking for help with his addiction to pornography, I can share two principles with him with confidence, based on truths in God’s Word.
First, I can tell him that pornography addiction is the “fruit” or sinful behavior in his life, not the root. Because of this, in order for Rick to find forgiveness and freedom from his addiction, we will first need to address his belief systems behind his behavior.
Second, I can share with him that these attacks come in the form of Satan whispering his lies to Rick in first person language, using statements such as, “I’m rejected, I’m not good enough, I’m alone” etc. As such, Rick does not realize these thoughts are not really his own, but Satan’s. And as soon as these lies are rooted in his heart, they distort his identity as God’s son. They invite Rick to provide for himself and protect himself in his own strength, turning away from the living God (Heb. 3:12) just as Adam and Eve did in the garden.
After Rick learns to believe he is unwanted, he is tempted to look at pornography so he can feel wanted—and it works for a short while. But as he continues to look, he feels more shame and less wanted—and now Satan has set Rick up to repeat the negative cycle all over again.
Yet as Rick struggles to return to God’s truth that has been “exchanged for a lie” (Rom. 1:25), I can also ask him a simple, yet important question: “Which is more successful: your sincerity, trying harder to do what you are already unable to do – or Jesus’ purity with His victory He already gained 2,000 years ago?”As the focus shifts to include the belief system behind the behavior, as well as receiving Jesus’ forgiveness and Jesus’ victory with Jesus’ purity, the Holy Spirit can “renew our minds” and restore the truth in our hearts (Col. 1:24-27; 2:6-7; Romans 12:2).But how do we apply this information to make it work in our lives? We know that information was not enough for the religious leaders. It wasn’t even enough for Jesus’ disciples, even though He told them He was headed to the cross to die for them time and time again. In Part II of “The Root and Fruit Of Freedom From Addictions,” we will see how Jesus connects our story with His story and how those lies in our hearts can be replaced with Jesus’ grace, Jesus’ truth, Jesus’ purity, and Jesus’ victory. As we learn how to be “rooted and grounded in Christ,” who is the “Root of David” (Eph. 3:17; Rev. 5:5), we can move from information to application to transformation (Romans 12:2).