WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 -- SOFT ADDICTIONS (2)

Here are some clues to help us recognize if our behaviour or mood is connected to a soft addiction.

Zoning out. One way of identifying a soft addiction is to ask ourself  if we are “zoning out” while we are doing it. When we are zoned out, we are not fully engaged.

Avoiding feelings. Does a given activity or mood grant you a reprieve from your emotions, especially intense emotions? We avoid feelings by being numb, enhancing the feelings we like to the exclusion of others, or even wallowing in one unpleasant feeling to avoid another.

"Let's not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile.   And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump. ( From Matthew 5  the Message)

God has life and freedom for us but we need to make room for it.  We have to let go of the old in surrender in order to welcome and makes space for the new.  We have to be honest about our motivations and actions.  We have to confess the truth before God about the longing or pain behind the soft addiction.  We need to intentionally receive the peace and blessing that God is giving in order to have us behave in ways that bring us closer to God rather than distance us from Him.