Step 6 Toward Recovery | The Right Path Forward

Speaker 1 00:00:03 Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Pursue God Podcast. I’m Pastor Brian, joined in the studio today, again, by Pastor Mark, pastor Eric. We’re talking about step six on the way to recovery. We’re going through the 12 steps of AA and applying it to scripture because we wanna help people to have victory over their addiction from a biblical point of view, and God wants to give people victory. So, mark, why don’t we start by reading step number six, and we’ll spend some time today looking at some scripture that’s connected to this, and we’ll even connect it to some of the other steps we’ve talked about.

Speaker 2 00:00:38 Yeah. Step number six says, we’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Speaker 3 00:00:46 Yeah. So what we’re gonna be looking at today, it sounds like it’s pretty close to the moral inventory that we just came off of, uh, two sessions ago. And some people might be asking, well, it seems like these steps are starting to be redundant, maybe. And so just a little clarification is that how these steps work, first of all, um, are kind of a, a rehashing or an unfolding of the first three steps. You know, admitting our powerlessness, realizing there’s someone who can help us, and then surrendering to God, uh, who is the God of the Bible, and Jesus specifically as our higher power. Right? So the, that’s the first three steps, and then now we’re learning things about ourselves. You know, the moral inventory that we took in step four and then finding a sponsor and, and sharing that with, with him is step five.

Speaker 3 00:01:42 Now we’re at step six where we’re digging a little bit deeper, getting specific about habit and lifestyle and character defects and traits that we have that, that don’t line up with our new life. Right? The Bible says this in, uh, second Corinthians chapter five, verse 17. It says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation. The old has passed away, and behold the new has come. Um, and so that is the struggle that we have in the Christian life, and even in the Christian recovery life is, you know, we surrendered back in step three to the God of the Bible, who is our higher power. Um, but does that take care of all of our problems and issues that we have,

Speaker 1 00:02:32 Right? Yeah. The, if that verse is true, I could hear some people saying, well, good, I’ve, you know, maybe a few weeks ago, I surrendered to Christ. I became a Christian, I committed my life to Christ. And so then the old is gone. The new has come, right? It’s all done. The work is completed. So why do I need to work the steps?

Speaker 3 00:02:51 Right? Yeah. Yeah. And, and well, the reality is, the spiritual reality to that is, is before we came to Christ, we w all we knew was our old nature, which we’re gonna find out. You know, the Bible calls it the flesh, right? All we knew was our own flesh, our own desires, our own willingness to satisfy ourselves that we were slaves to that. That’s all we knew. And so then becoming a Christian, the Bible says that we add a new nature onto us. It’s a spiritual nature. And so now all of a sudden, we have this fork in the road problem every day is now I’ve gotta learn to decide between two natures that I have in me, this internal battle, this internal war. And so, I, I think that step six is gonna help us identify what are those things that we used to do, our old habits, our old ways, our old lifestyle, our character defects, and let’s identify those for what they are, and then find out what does God want us to do, and how does he want us to live in the new nature?

Speaker 1 00:03:58 Okay? And so what we’re gonna do today then is we’re gonna take a look at Galatians chapter five. So if you’re listening at home and you’re not on driving on, on your way to work, pull up a Bible app or a Bible. Turn to Galatians five in the New Testament. I’m reading from the ESV today, and it says, Paul says this. He talks about what you were just explaining, Eric, this, this battle between what he is gonna call the Spirit, that’s God’s spirit, which is in us as Christians. And then the, the thing that wars with the spirit, which is he calls the flesh or your old nature, your old way. He says in Galatians five 16, but I say, walk by the spirit, right? Right. Which is what we’re talking about. Walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. So we see the, this war for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. So what is this passage saying, guys? It’s saying that there’s this battle, even for a Christian, that there’s this battle. You’re not a robot. You can still sin, you can still make the wrong choice.

Speaker 2 00:05:11 Yeah. And I think that’s, that’s what it comes down to. It’s, it’s, it’s making that choice and it’s, it’s, um, developing these new patterns of behavior, because that’s what it really comes down to, is these things have come out. You know, we identified in step four, basically, you know, our, our, our moral failings, you know, the different sins that we just practiced, um, over and over again. Now we’re getting down to the nitty gritty of, well, what’s leading me to that? Right? These sins are the outcome, um, of something. In fact, it, it says in, in verse 19, here, um, and the N lt version, it says, when you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear. So these are the results of living in that flesh, of following these old patterns of behavior. And so that’s, that’s where it really comes down to. We’ve got a new nature in us now. Now, am I gonna let that grow me? Am I gonna start to learn how to live in that more than the flesh? It, it, it’s a decision, you know, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, which nature am I gonna, am I gonna feed right now?

Speaker 1 00:06:22 Yeah, that’s a good way to say it. You know, which wolf are you gonna feed? Because the one you feed is the one that thrives. And so, again, we wanna make sure people understand you as a Christian there, like, what was it, second Corinthians five 17. You haven’t, you’re the old is gone, the newest come kind of <laugh>. It’s in, in seminary. They said it’s the already, already, and the not yet, you’re already fully righteous in the eyes of God because the blood of Jesus, uh, has cleansed you from all unrighteousness, and you are forgiven. That is what has already happened in the eyes of God. You are his son or his daughter, and you are perfect. But what the not yet part of it is here on Earth. You still struggle with sin here on Earth. There’s still this battle. And that’s why Paul is saying in Galatians five, that you have to choose to walk by the spirit. You’re, you’re not a robot. It’s not gonna automatically happen. You have to choose to walk by the spirit, or you can choose to follow the, the works of the flesh. And so let’s go, let’s look at the list in verse 19. The works of the flesh. The flesh are these, let’s go over a few of these at a time. And guys, I’ll let you speak to this with addiction in mind. He, he starts off, mark, this, these first three are for you, sexual morality, impurity, lustful pleasures.

Speaker 2 00:07:46 Yeah. Those were, those were the things that ruled my life. And I’m sure a lot of you out there who have struggled with some form of sexual addiction or pornography, um, these, these are the outcomes. These are the results of the life that we’ve been living. And they really are. I mean, they’re these chains that weigh us down. Even even people who haven’t accepted Christ yet, they recognize that these things are wrong. Because, you know, like, like, like it says in the Bible that, you know, God’s written his law on our hearts. You know, there’s a reason all this stuff is done in the dark. There’s a reason that that guys are looking at pornography, you know, by themselves alone, keeping it all hidden. And, and it’s because, you know, we’ve, we’ve let our flesh take over. Our flesh has led us to this way of life. And so as we get into this step here, we’re, we’re recognizing now these, this is the way we’ve been living now, what are the habits that have been leading me to these things?

Speaker 3 00:08:49 Yeah, mark, I’d also like to say though, that we we’re trying to get out of these, these thinking errors. Again, as new Christians or, or people that are now wanting to live their life surrendered to Christ, and his word and what it says, we, we, we are coming out of a way of living that had these thinking errors that knew its own morality, right? And we say so, so all of us have made excuses for why we did what we did, right? As watching, watching porn or, you know, sleeping around or whatever. It, it, those excuses in your head are, well, that’s what they’re doing in Hollywood. That’s what they do in watching these movies. Those guys are manly men. And, and if I’m gonna be, uh, a regular manly man, then I ought to act like that, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, or everybody’s watching porn, right? Everybody’s doing it. It’s not bad, man. I’ve heard excuses about porn. People would say, well, it helps us get in the mood. Or it’s, it’s just, I’ve had, I’ve had even women say that it’s, it’s a beautiful, um, expression of what it is to be human in its fullness, you know? And those are thinking errors that is called what the meetings used to say, stinking thinking, right? We gotta change those thoughts.

Speaker 1 00:10:07 Yeah. What are some of the other lies? Uh, mark, I think you’ve shared in past episodes that there were some other lies in your own mind when you were, when you were engaging in some of that stuff in the, in the shadows, right? And specifically about pornography. I think one of the lies you said was, look, it’s, it’s for, it’s for the benefit of my marriage, or it’s, it’s better than the alternative, right?

Speaker 2 00:10:29 <laugh>. Yeah. That’s, that’s the funny thing. That’s the, that’s the stink and think, and we’re talking about is, you know, if I’m, you know, looking at pornography, at least I’m not going and, and cheating on my wife, but what, what, what does Jesus say? Right? Yeah. Anyone who looks upon a woman with less has already committed adultery in his heart. Yeah. And that’s really what it comes down to, is it, it is. It’s, it’s progressive. Um, you know, and fact, that’s what happened in my life was it was progressive. And I did end up, you know, stepping out of my marriage, you know, later on. But it’s because Jesus recognizes that He, he, he’s trying to explain to us, it starts long before the act, it starts in your heart. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.

Speaker 1 00:11:12 So that’s good. All right. So those are the first three items on the list, and then in verse 20, the next two, and Eric, you get to unpack these. He talks about idolatry and sorcery and sorcery. Is that even a thing today? Is that something we even need to talk about for people who are struggling with an addiction? I mean, can you, are, is this about Harry Potter, or is this something else? What’s going on here?

Speaker 3 00:11:35 Well, yeah. Oftentimes when you think about sorcery, you think about a, a little, uh, wand that those little crooked sticks and, you know, some kind of, uh, witchcraft or sorcery and, uh, that’s happening in, in Harry Potter. And certainly, I, I don’t want Harry Potter, but I don’t think that that’s exactly what this is talking about. I think that, um, this is the root word, or the, the, the, the word for sorcery in the original Greek, which wa, which the New Testament was written in, is this word called phar Makia. And so faria is where we get, so the, the English language takes a lot of its words from these different, um, different languages, including Greek. And so this is the word where we get pharmacy, and that means, you know, drugs or place that dispenses drugs. And so, if you look back at the history of some things that are going on in the Pagan Church at the time, um, they are using sorcery, or not just the Pagan church, but in the pagan world, people are using sorcery as a way to get visions, to talk to their gods, to have pleasure, to have all these orgies and things that they were doing.

Speaker 3 00:12:54 They would use this as a, as a, a way to enhance things, right? To, to make their sin funner and better and, and more pleasurable. Um, so that is one way to interpret that word, pharmacia. And so basically what they’re doing is they’re, they’re using drugs and partying, like, like today. So we think that, you know, things are different today. Well, these, this bible that was written, these words that were written about 2000 years ago, still speaks to us today. And to our sin, the specific sin that we’re talking about of, of addiction over drugs and alcohol and what you used earlier, you know, sexual sin, that really speaks to me when talking about, uh, needing to stay away from the works of the flesh. My flesh naturally desires to not want to be sober minded, like the Bible wants us to be. I want to be loaded.

Speaker 3 00:13:47 I want to be out of my mind, not in my right mind. That’s what my flesh wants sometimes. And people who struggle with addiction. And so, um, this is one of those works of the flesh where I’ve gotta get out of those, those lies that I tell myself like, Hey, life would be better. I could be more social if, right now, sometimes for me, you know, one of the struggles or triggers that I have is to go on vacation, going on vacation, sitting on the beach is one of my favorite vacations. And I thank God that he created all these awesome places in the world, and that for me to have the ability every once in a while to go see them. And, but it seems like on commercials, on movies and everywhere else, it’s like portrayed that it’s only best when you’re sipping a drink or when you’re having some kind of substance to relax even further. And, and us as addicts, we say that, we say that in our minds, like, this is gonna help me cope. This is gonna help me relax. This is gonna take away my stress, my anxiety, all the above. Again, those are thinking characters errors, character defects that we’re trying to recognize and hopefully be ready to remove those, start having a willingness to think in a different way.

Speaker 1 00:15:04 Now, what about, what about idolatry? Because some people would say, well, I mean, we don’t have idols, right? When you think about the Old Testament or the New Testament idols, were wooden statues. So let’s give a different definition of, of an idol for modern day, because I think there’s a lot of idolatry in our culture, and I think for, for addicts in particular, you need to be aware of what that would maybe mean today. So an idol is anyone who takes the place of God, right? In the, in the Old Testament, when someone would think about, uh, when Moses went up to get the 10 Commandments, and he was up there a little too long, and the people were starting to get a little, a little worried, and is he ever gonna come back? And they said to his brother, Aaron, make us an idol. And he did. He made this golden calf for them so that they could worship this golden calf. That’s such a great example of an idol is taking the place of God in your life. So how does that relate to an addict? How do addicts use drugs almost like idols in their lives?

Speaker 2 00:16:07 That’s exactly what it is. It’s, it’s taking the place of, of God, because not only is it that’s what, you know, we turn to, whether it’s, uh, you know, drugs, alcohol, uh, you know, sex, these things, it’s not just that we’re, we’re turning to them to cope with things like when we are, you know, feeling like we, we want to, like Eric’s talking about going on vacation. Like, you know, this is gonna enhance things. This is gonna make me relax, it’s gonna make me feel better. Maybe I’m stressed. You know, I, I, I, we turn to these things. But I think the, the, the other side of that, of I, of having an idle is how much time, effort, energy are we spending on that? That’s, that’s taking the place of God in the same way as, you know, the, the comfort and, and things that we’re seeking from it.

Speaker 3 00:16:58 Yeah. I think, uh, all humans were created to worship something. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> or someone, um, ultimately created to worship God. It was built and put into our hearts. You know, the Bible says, in Ecclesiastes eternity was, was put into our hearts, right? And so we all fall, fall into wanting to worship something or someone. Um, and when it’s not God, it is everything else. It, it could be our family. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it could be, uh, some kind of hobby that we have. You know, one thing that I did when I came in, into recovery and out of addiction, was that I started to idolize the gym and body building. And I was willing to do unhealthy things even towards that, so that I could, uh, because that was the one thing that I placed in priority, probably above God. And a, again, all humans, even Christians, are guilty of doing this from time to time. And so this is what gets us back to needing to make that choice every day, uh, first acknowledge our, our character defects, and then say, I wanna start walking by the spirit. What does the spirit say? Because I make idols out of, you know, one of my favorite theologians says that we are a, a factory of idols. Mm-hmm. We just churn ’em out over and over and over again. Things that we want to put in high priority over God.

Speaker 1 00:18:25 But it’s, your story’s interesting, Eric, because I think people with addictive personalities are probably more prone to idol idolatry, like you said, because you, you need something to focus on, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you need something to obsess over, and that’s idolatry, essentially. Yeah.

Speaker 2 00:18:44 And I think that’s the point of this step right

Speaker 1 00:18:46 Here Yeah. Is because

Speaker 2 00:18:46 If we don’t, if we don’t narrow in on these things, on these character defects, we have, we are, we, you know, we call it, you can call it like transfer addiction, where you’re just gonna move from one thing to the next. Like, Eric, you were talking about the gym body building that became your idol, that became your addiction. I think those are almost synonymous words right there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? I idolatry and addiction, because it does, it’s something that you end up worshiping. And we see this all around us. We, we know people in our lives, and we’ve been those people who have just an unhealthy obsession with something. Maybe it’s a hobby, maybe it’s sports. And that’s, that’s the whole point here, is we need to get down to the nitty gritty, figure out these character defects we have, because otherwise, we’re just gonna move from one thing to the next, to the next.

Speaker 1 00:19:35 That’s good. All right. So we’ve, we’ve talked about sexual sin, we’ve talked about idolatry and sorcery or pharmaca, and the next four items on Paul’s list in Galatians five 20 are character defects that I would say I would categorize as those are related to relationships. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that’s about, some of these other ones might have been just your own issues that’s inside you. But these next few are outside of you now. He talks about hostility, quarreling jealousy, and outbursts of anger. Let’s unpack those for a minute here.

Speaker 2 00:20:11 Well, I think those are probably really familiar to the addict, because the addict has, um, our relationships are far more broken than other people’s. And when you don’t know how to have a relationship, um, you only know how to have a relationship with yourself, with your own selfish nature. These are the things that come out because you don’t really care about anybody else but yourself. And, and so that’s when, as we’re reading through this list, that’s what I think of is these are the ways that I, I reacted in my personal relationships without even realizing why or, or why I was operating that way. And it wasn’t until, you know, um, getting some help for my addiction gi giving my life to Christ, and having that new spirit put in me that I started to see this stuff for what it really was. And it was, it was just, I had no idea how to love other people, how to have a relationship with other people. And all I knew was how much I love myself <laugh>, and how much I wanted to care about myself.

Speaker 1 00:21:19 Yeah. I think that, that, even when you said that, I think I need to add a fifth thing, then, uh, you know, as you continue to read that in Galatians five, Paul calls it selfish ambition, right? That you’re focused. It really is. You’re just seeing the whole world through the filter of what’s best for you, what’s in it for you, right?

Speaker 3 00:21:38 Yeah. Yeah. And one of the ones I was zeroing in on is, uh, outbursts of anger. Um, how many times have I seen, I mean, have we all seen probably someone triggered to go use again, because they got so angry they couldn’t control themselves, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they couldn’t control themselves, and so they needed something to go calm them down. Or it’s, they get so angry that they say, all right, you, you hurt me. I’m gonna hurt you. I am so angry that I’m gonna get back at you by getting so wasted and causing chaos, because that I, we did that in our own lives. And I’ve seen that happen as, uh, working with addicts is they’re hostile, destructive cause strife, you know, through the, because that’s how they know how, that’s how we used to know how to deal with things, was, you know what, this is how I’m going to cope. I’m just gonna go cause some chaos somewhere and, uh, use. And so that’s what we’re trying to prevent. And again, coming back to this list is humbling ourselves and saying, okay, I’m recognizing this, God, I don’t want to be this way anymore because this keeps leading me down the path that has, has gotten me where I’ve been my whole life. I don’t want to be this way.

Speaker 2 00:22:53 Yeah. In fact, as you’re talking about that, it’s almost, I’m sure you’ve seen, you know, as you’ve been helping people, but the, that’s a red flag when anger is coming up in, in a recovering addict, um, when, or, or dealing with something really difficult, like, you know, maybe death of somebody close to ’em. It’s, that’s, that’s a time where, you know, it, it’s so, it’s so harsh in that moment that, um, it’s a danger zone. It’s a big time danger zone. And we’ve, I, I know we’ve both seen, uh, people who have a lot of clean time, um, and because they’re not recognizing the danger that they’re in because of the situation going on, that they end up relapsing. So I, I think, yeah, this is, while this is the, this is the result of living out that way, these things can come out and they can also bring us back into that way

Speaker 1 00:23:49 Of life. Well, anger for me, I know in my life when I, when I am be, when I, as I’ve become more self-aware of my anger or the, the little brother of anger, which is frustration, frustration usually is what happens for me first. But at some point, if, if when it boils over, it becomes anger for me. Tell me this is how it is for a typical addict. But for me it’s because I feel like I can’t control something I, I don’t have control over. I’m trying to control something and I can’t control something, whether it’s someone else, whether it’s something in me, whether it’s a situation that’s happened to me that’s spun out of control. And so I would imagine for an addict, then, when, when you realize you can’t control something, then you just say, okay, I’m gonna have to cope with it, then Yeah. I’m gonna have to cope with my inability to control this thing. And my coping mechanism is drugs or alcohol.

Speaker 3 00:24:44 Yeah. Yeah. And that’s where I think it’s a good time to insert the serenity prayer, because Right. Because that’s a new way of coping and dealing with things first through prayer. But second, what the serenity prayer has to say is, um, God, grant me the serenity, the peace help me to be able to have peace, to accept the things that I cannot change, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> the courage to change the things I can, and then the wisdom to know the difference between those two. And I think for addicts, we, yeah, we want to control things. When things don’t go our way, we throw a fit. Much like toddlers, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, and, and sorry addicts. I know you’re like, Hey, man, that makes me angry. Well, I can say that because I still act like that sometimes. And every human being does. I just think the toddler is the best example of some of these flesh things, because a toddler is not as spiritual as an adult ought to be. You know, they, a toddler portrays a lot of the characteristics of the flesh other than some of those, these, these deeper ones that we talked about at the beginning. But some of this other stuff, like, they’re a good example because they’re a product of the flesh. They haven’t quite yet been transformed by the spirit, like, by, like, hopefully we have. So we’ve gotta learn how to cope with acceptance, with humility, um, and with self-control.

Speaker 1 00:26:15 Okay. The next two on the list go together. And I think it, again, it relates to everybody, but we’re talking to addicts in particular, and they are dissension and division ba basically, uh, promoting chaos in relationships in your life rather than peace. You create dissension and division. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, does that ring true for you guys at all?
Speaker 2 00:26:41 I, I think for addicts it does, because <laugh>, I, I think it’s the chaos that we are experiencing our own lives. We want everybody else to experience it as well. You know, it’s almost this, this thing of just, well, if I have to live this way, I want everybody around me to be living the same way. I want them to experience the exact same misery that I’m in. That’s, that’s what I think about when, when we read these.

Speaker 3 00:27:08 Yeah. And I think it plays out of another character defect would be being a manipulator, manipulating, you’re trying to get people to see things your way causing divi divisions. Maybe you’re trying to, uh, get power in a situation, or maybe you just want people to like you more than the other person likes you. Maybe, um, you want to cause chaos in a situation so that the attention isn’t on you, but it’s on other people fighting against each other, right? So there’s this manipulative spirit in divisive people. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> for sure.

Speaker 1 00:27:47 Well, the next one on the list relates to another one we haven’t talked about envy. And earlier in the list he talked about jealousy. So let’s spend a minute on that, because here’s what’s, there’s a couple of addicts that I know in my life that as I’ve evaluated, and I think they’ve come to the same conclusion, what kind of got them into it in the first place is they were comparing themselves with other people over time, and they, they felt like they didn’t measure up. So again, there’s some envy and jealousy there, and what their coping mechanism, instead of, I’m gonna, I’m gonna just, uh, be who I am, who God made me to be. I’m going to maximize my own gifts. Instead of doing that, they compare themselves with other people. They feel terrible cuz they don’t measure up. And so again, coping mechanism is, they go, you know, they go into, uh, they go into tailspin and, and use drugs mm-hmm. <affirmative> to anes anesthetize those feelings.

Speaker 3 00:28:44 Yeah. It’s, you know, when we look down our, down on ourselves so much, and there’s shame and guilt, uh, we look around at people that are getting praise. We look around at people that are doing well for themselves. And so automatically with our stinking thinking, we start to make justifications and excuses why we are not that way, or how they grew up with the silver spoon and they had all the opportunities and we didn’t. And so I think envy is, is the root of those thoughts. I thi I think when we, uh, we start to, uh, make justifications why we are we, the way we are, um, we’re, we’re looking at people in jealousy that we want to be like, but then say, well, they’re that way because this, and I can’t because of that. Right? And so we ought to be able to see people for who they really are.

Speaker 3 00:29:40 Yes, we all have a, a different upbringing in life and different opportunities. That fact is true, but we don’t have to be like everyone else. You’ve gotta be comfortable in your own skin. Right? And that’s where, again, envy is such a lie thinking that we have to be like a certain person out there in the world, like, like the YouTube, you know, influencers or, or people, uh, that you look up to even, you know, you don’t have to be like them. God created you unique. Be comfortable in your own skin and accept the things that you can’t change. Hmm.

Speaker 1 00:30:13 Yeah. That’s good. Well, the rest of this list, then, as he finishes off, and I’ve gotta say, this isn’t a comprehensive list. It’s not like Paul’s writing this saying these are the o only these whatever, 11 or 12 things, only these things are sinful things. This is just a representative list. But I think it’s been interesting yeah. To go through it. But he finishes the list now with something that Eric, maybe you, you can speak to. He says, he says drunkenness wild parties and other sins like these. So, you know, we started with sexual sin and now we’re finishing with your good old standard drug and alcohol sins.

Speaker 3 00:30:55 Yeah. And I, again, I think, you know, society in the world at large kind of glorifies, you know, parties, wild parties and, and drunkenness and the excess, doing things in excess. Uh, I think another one on this list could be, you know, gluttony, you know, overeating some of these bad habits. But definitely, uh, I, you know, I used to think that that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re a teenager. And when you turn 21, that’s your second license. That’s the license to go sin <laugh>, you know, that’s your license, the license to go party. Um, and so legally,

Speaker 1 00:31:32 Yeah, well, I never thought of it like that. It’s your second license. Yeah.

Speaker 3 00:31:36 <laugh>. Yeah. You can drive and then you can go drink, you know, and, uh, and honestly, it’s, it, there’s, now I want to say this, all right? Like, first and foremost, I’m not condemning drinking or, or having glasses of wine for the person who hasn’t, that that wasn’t their addiction. If you’re addicted to substances and alcohol, then alcohol’s a drug, all right? Just like a pain medication is a drug. And if you abuse things like that, then I don’t think that you can make, um, an excuse to be able to socially use those things anymore. I go to the extreme and I, I say when I go to the hospital and uh, and they want to gimme a pain reliever, I say, no, I don’t. I rarely, if ever try will take like an ibuprofen not to be legalistic. And I know that ibuprofen doesn’t do anything to you, but I just don’t want to take anything.

Speaker 3 00:32:38 Cuz that was, was one of the major issues I struggled with was pain, pain, pain, medication. And so I won’t do that. And, and while alcohol and I, I partied a lot wasn’t my major one, although I did do a lot of, and it led into the deeper, heavier stuff, um, I still say to myself, I’m not gonna drink because it might lead me to be, I don’t want to be out of control. I want to be in my right mind. I want to be sober. I don’t want to give my life over to things. Now saying that I think that there are people out there and Christians out there that can’t handle having a few drinks socially, Jesus turned water into wine. I’m not condemning, I’m not condemning, you know, alcohol by itself is not evil. It’s just the use of it and how we abuse it is evil, right?

Speaker 3 00:33:26 And even good medication and pharmaceuticals aren’t expressive or expressly evil. Uh, but what I am saying in what this is saying is that to get drunk is to give over the, your, the control of yourself over to a substance that is evil, that is wrong. And that ultimately leads to, uh, terrible consequences that, like, even in Ephesians chapter five, Paul says, don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the spirit. Um, and I think there’s a, an amazing contrast to that. Going to, going back to, you know, uh, pagan practices where they would use wine and drugs to be able to feel a certain thing or worship in a certain way, or to have, when it talks about wild parties here, it’s probably, again, possibly referring to the orgies that they used to have in these pagan churches. And they would use, uh, getting drunk and, and, and sorcery and all that to be able to enhance and promote, uh, the way that they’re living. And Paul is just saying, look, this is the way the world lives. They say, all this stuff is right and good, and you should do it, but God says, this isn’t the way I want you to live. This was your old way. I have a new way for

Speaker 1 00:34:44 You. It’s interesting that your examples here from 2000 years ago are related to both of your addictions. It’s a, it was this combination of drugs, alcohol and sexual immorality and impurity. But what Paul says, uh, again, at the end here of this section in chapter five, Galatians five, verse 21, he says, let me tell you again as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. So he’s, he’s not saying, well, that’s no big deal. It, he’s saying, no, this is a real indicator that you have not given yourself to Christ, but that instead you are, you are just living for yourself. You haven’t surrendered, you haven’t truly come to Christ, you’re living for yourself. I mean, when I, when I hear those stories, Eric, it makes me think of just this unhinged self-centered life, which is really what addiction boils down to.

Speaker 1 00:35:43 It’s, you’re not thinking about God, certainly you’re not thinking about your family, your brothers, your sisters, your mom, your dad, your kids, your wife, whatever you are just simply feeding your own desires. And Paul says, those that kind of living, uh, people who live like that will not inherit the kingdom of God. And then he, and then he pivots, and I’ve gotta just read the rest of this cuz I don’t wanna leave it on the negative, and we’ll talk more about this next week. Of course, yeah. In step seven. But he says this in verse 22, but the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Now, notice when he talked about the work of the flesh, he called it the work of the flesh. But when he talks about the Holy Spirit, he’s talking about the product of the Spirit. So in other words, the spirit in you eventually produces this even though your flesh is trying to get you to work for something else. So I think it’s interesting, the different words that he uses there. He says, the Holy Spirit produces fruit. And here’s the fruit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control, which is the one I was thinking of, Eric, when you were telling your story that you, that you’d say when you go to the hospital, I don’t want any drugs. Right? That’s self-control, which is the opposite of being controlled by your flesh and your base desires, right?

Speaker 2 00:37:05 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. And I think that’s, you know, you talk about this being fruit. This is, this is stuff that comes out as we, as we learn to live this different life, right? As we start to, you know, gain some of these spiritual disciplines and we give more and more of our time and our energy, our mind, our heart over to God letting him transform us. This is the stuff that comes out of it. And it’s not just, it’s not an immediate thing, right? It’s not a flip of the switch. Suddenly, you know, I’ve got, you know, gentleness and self-control. This takes time and it takes leaning into the spirit to produce some new habits, some a a new way of living that these things will finally, uh, come out of.

Speaker 1 00:37:52 But I think you have to be militant about these, what do we call ’em? Character defects. And Paul says it like this in verse 24. He says, those who belong to Christ have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature. The thing on that first list we talked about, they have nailed those things to his cross and crucified them there. And I think he’s using that language on purpose. You have to be serious about, about killing those, uh, those character defects, which again, we’ll talk more about next week, how to actually do that. But he says in verse 25, since we’re living by the spirit, let’s follow the spirits leading in every part of our life. So there is this, there’s this bow, there’s this kind of push and pull this, this balance between we’re we’re being, we’re being militant about the character defects in our lives. We’re nailing them, we’re crucifying them. But then on the other side, the positive side, the Holy Spirit, like you said, mark, that’s fruit, <laugh> and fruit. Fruit doesn’t grow overnight. Fruit take, it takes a while to nurture that and allow that to over time be produced in your life.

Speaker 3 00:39:00 Yeah. I want to read something that I wrote in the original article for this, uh, talking about fruit. It says, before God came into our lives, we may have resembled a dying tree with withering leaves our character defects like rotten fruit. Now with Jesus, he can make us a life bearing tree, able to grow up into the sky with strong branches that bear sweet and tasty fruit, good to all who come near, let us learn to seek new life from God and keep in step with his spirit along the way. I think that that’s a good picture. Uh, we, we once were a dying unattractive tree, but now we have this beautiful tree in mind that God is, uh, planting in us with the seed he planted in us, in the spirit. And he wants that to grow up. He wants it to grow up and come out and be a wonderful, beautiful tree that, that can give sustenance in life to even and pour into other people. And I think that’s what these fruits are doing, is they’re, they’re, uh, out of us is coming all kinds of good relational habits, relational skills, uh, self-control, things that we need to do to battle against the flesh and ultimately our addiction. And that’s where we need the spirit’s help on this. And that’s why we say we, we are becoming entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Speaker 1 00:40:24 So let me finish this episode by reading Galatians five from the Message Translation. Now, we, we started with the E S V and then we shifted over to the N L T. Those are great translations. Sometimes when you read it in another translation, it really comes alive. And the message is one of those translations. It, I don’t really use it as a study bible, but I do, it, it, you know, Eugene Peterson, who did the translation, does a really good job of capturing some of the imagery in the language. And I love how he, it explains everything we just read in Galatians five. So this is literally the same. It’s not gonna sound the same. Yeah. But listen to this as we close, uh, as we close this episode, Galatians five, from the message translation, he writes, it is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time.

Speaker 1 00:41:11 Repetitive loveless, cheap sex, a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage, frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness. Trinket, gods magic show, religion, paranoid loneliness, cutthroat competition, all consuming yet never satisfied, wants a brutal temper, an impotence to love or beloved divided homes and divided lives, small-minded and lopsided pursuits. The vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a, into a rival, uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions. Hmm. Ugly parodies of community. He says, I could go on. And then he writes, this isn’t the first time I’ve warned you. You know, if you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. But what happens when we live God’s way, he brings gifts into our lives much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard. Things like affection for others, exuberance about life. Serenity, we develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart.

Speaker 1 00:42:21 And a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things in people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. And so since this, this is the kind of life we’ve chosen, verse 25, the life of the Spirit. Let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. So that’s step number six on your way toward addiction and recovery. Next week guys, we’ll talk about step seven. And step seven, as I understand it, is actually related. It’s the doing part of step six, right? Yes. So step six and step seven go hand in hand. So we’ll see everybody next time.