I want to talk about something that seems to keep coming up rather frequently. The trouble is, in print format like this, words can have tendency to come across as very harsh when in reality they aren't meant to be. That is the case here. I've talked with several people about this in person before, and when we're through, though they might disagree with me, they know that my belief is not an outgrowth of an unkindness in my thinking.

I keep having the word "addiction" or addictions brought into conversations I'm in, or in articles or teachings I read. It's an interesting word. On the web I easily found a couple of quick definitions for it: Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance. Or another was: The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.

Back in the dark ages of the 1960s, 1969 to be specific, I was in the 6th grade. At school we received "The Weekly Reader". We had been receiving it for several years and grades. Back then, when people abused their bodies and minds with psychotropic drugs, it was said that they had developed a drug "habit". Sometime in the next couple of years this reference was dropped and replaced with the expression, "he/she has a drug addiction."

Okay, read the above definitions again. You might be asking, "Yeah, so what?"

Sometimes words take on new connotations as the society that uses them changes. Our society has not really done that here. Our society instead has largely rejected the word "habit" and the personal responsibility associated with the concept behind that word. It has however completely embraced the word "addiction", and the almost absolute lack of personal responsibility that lies conceptually behind that word. A quick search on the web again brought me to this definition: An established disposition of the mind or character.

Look at the difference between the definitions of these two words, "habit" and addiction". Some might think I'm splitting hairs here, but I'm not at all. The change in emphasis over the years in where our society places responsibility for the abuse of drugs and of other things is quite drastic.

My mother grew up with an abusive step-father who made a habit of drinking. He was an abusive man and worse when he was drinking to the point of drunkenness. He attempted to abuse my mother in other ways, but she escaped that tragedy and suffered the rejection of her own mother to believe her side of the story. She was left no other alternative at age 16 than to leave home and find work as a domestic.

She really couldn't stand this man. When asked by a family member why she would not attend his funeral, she told them, "I think it would be impolite to dance there." Yet today, my mom has bought into the idea that alcoholism, is a "disease" and therefore not the drinker's fault really. This line of thinking couldn't be further from the truth. I know lots of former drinkers, and when they quit, they tell me that they haven't gotten over a "disease", but that they made the choice to quit. A choice. That's what it boils down to.

I know former drug users, too. They will talk about their former "drug of choice." They chose the drug. They chose to quit the drug. They choose to stay off of the drug hour by hour, day by day. These people, like you and me, are responsible for what they're doing. It's the same thing with other so called "addictions." They are called addictions as if the person just can't help what they're doing, but the fact is they're habits. And it comes from establishing a disposition of our mind and our character.

Though once used only to describe alcohol and drug habits, the word addiction is now applied to many other habits. And the rallying cry of the "addict" is "I can't help it." There is now "addiction" to gambling, pornography, extra-marital sex and even shopping. That's a long way from a comprehensive list.

The trouble is, this is just sin, and as with any sin, God is faithful to provide a way out. 1st Corinthians 10:13 tells us so.

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

It doesn't say "some temptations' have overtaken you, it says, "no temptation" except what is common to anybody else. You have to want that way out. You have to want it like you want Jesus. If you don't want the way out He provides then there is something in your life that you want more than Jesus, and you need to see that thing for what it is, in all its ugliness.

Take porn for example. Men and women have made habits of looking at naked people. They look at it for "a release" or for a thrill. Can they help looking at it? You bet. They aren't "addicted" in the sense that they can't help it. They are making a choice each time they look at it. But the truth is, the men and women they're looking at are being degraded by it. It's a complete circuit. Those being looked at and those who are looking are connected in a way, and lives on either side are being ripped off.

The marriage bed of a future wife may be affected, the child of the father who keeps porn magazines or videos "safe in his drawer" is beginning his own unfortunate journey down the wrong path. Money and time are wasted on sin. Husbands and wives split up, and children end up living in "broken homes". I know that I've left out many things that can happen as a result of choosing to make a habit of this sin.

This is just one example. Don't listen to society on this. Listen to Jesus. If you have made a habit of over-eating, don't hang out in the doughnut shop. If you look at internet porn, take a long enough break from the computer to break the habit. If you gamble, stay at home with your family and pour your money and effort and into that and get a thrill from watching your children benefit from having a parent who made raising them well in Christ a habit. If you are making a habit of any sin, repent of it, and ask God to make clear the "way of escape" and then take it, with all thankfulness to Him for His complete faithfulness.