Addictions, Recovery, and Faith
Right now, our country is facing unprecedented circumstances with ever-rising rates of overdoses. The number of opioid overdoses from 2017 is estimated over 72 thousand. This does not take into account overdoses from alcohol, other narcotics, and deaths from drug-related crimes. It stands to reason that this crisis needs to be addressed. Instead of getting caught up in semantics, consider an even more pressing matter than what to call the current predicament, and that is how do we deal with this harmful epidemic, successfully?
Currently, the national standard for someone struggling with an addiction is a referral to a 12-step program. A program that touts a mere 10-12% success rate. In comparison, Christ-based programs using the same criterion hold a much higher rate of success with approximately 60%. This is such an interesting paradox. In a country where less and less of the population identify themselves as Christian, it is that same Christ-centered doctrine, the Gospel of Jesus, that is saving so many from the bondage of drugs and alcohol.
While the difference in success rates could be argument enough, let’s delve further into why those statistics are so drastically different. I would posit to you that in a 12-step program the definitions along the path to recovery become vague and blurry. For example, you will forever identify as an addict. With that you choose your own higher power, then you make your own moral inventory according to whichever moral standard you choose. Now compare this to Christianity. In faith, God gives a clear, moral code through His infallible word that is the same for all of us. It creates a much clearer path for us in our recovery.
S2L Recovery Helping Heal Addicts
A recent survey found that a year after having completed the S2L Recovery program in Middle Tennessee, 60% of alumni are sober. This high success rate is due in large part to the curriculum used. Lost and Found – Recovery in Christ expounds on the love God has for all of his creation. This curriculum teaches us through our faith in Jesus Christ, who was the perfect atoning sacrifice for all of humanity’s sins, we can find peace. Through surrendering all we thought we knew to be true, we can heal from any detrimental addiction thanks to the light of the Lord.
According to Peter 1:5, 6, this new-found peace is maintained by adding goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, affection and love to our faith. This is the core and heart of S2L Recovery, and it provides the broken and desperate with an entirely new perspective on life. This perspective teaches the individual to stop identifying as an addict, to discard the old self, and identify as a child of God.
In a new identity with Christ love becomes our peak intellectual and ethical alignment. S2L Recovery, along with numerous faith-based recovery centers go beyond just providing an avenue to be free of drugs and alcohol. They provide a way of life that when adhered to allows us to leave the shame of our past lives as far as the east is from the west. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, please reach out to us and begin the path to recovery.
