Subject: Substance Abuse

Related Scripture: Romans 7:18-25

Introduction

In 2022, 20.4 million people in the United States were diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder. With these numbers the chances are that most people have been impacted in some way by addiction. As loved ones looking at the life of an addicted friend or family member, we can feel helpless, angry, confused, and hurt. If we are the person struggling with addiction, feelings of worthlessness, confusion, shame, and guilt, can shroud our minds and hearts. However, as Paul shared in Romans 7, when we come to Jesus He can help us find a way out.

Service Project Ideas

1. Contact the administrator of a local ARC or ARP and make arrangement to bring baked goods to the center. It’s a small gesture that goes a long way for someone who is away from their family while working on their recovery from addictions.
2. Invite the women to write notes of encouragement to beneficiaries in the center. Add scripture, encouraging phrases, and some recovery-centered prayers. Following are some prayer suggestions:

• I admit that I am powerless over my addiction. I admit that my life is unmanageable when I try to control it. Help me this day to understand the true meaning of powerlessness. Remove from me all denial of my addiction.
• God, I offer myself to You to build with me and to do with me as You will. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Your will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Your power, Your love and Your way of life, May I do Your will always!
• My Creator, I am now willing that You should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that You now remove from me every single defect of character, which stands in the way of my usefulness to You and my fellow human beings. Grant me strength, as I go out from here to do your bidding.
• Higher Power, as I understand you, I pray to keep my connection with You open and clear from the confusion of daily life. Through my prayers and meditation, I ask especially for freedom from self-will, rationalization, and wishful thinking. I pray for the guidance of correct thought and positive action. Your will, Higher Power, not mine, be done.

Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make things right if I surrender to His Will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next. Amen.

3. Organize a donation drive for the ARC, inviting the entire corps to participate. Invite the women to reach out to people they work with, the neighborhood HOA, or any civic organizations in the community. The ARCs are funded entirely by the merchandise they can sell in their store. Best sellers include furniture, household items, bric-brac, women’s clothes, and electronics. Ahead of time co-ordinate with the ARC for a time to pick up the donations.
4. Contact the ARC and make arrangement to purchase an assortment of sobriety coins. These coins commemorate each year of sobriety of an individual. Invite a member of the ARC staff, or a graduate of the program to share about the program and/or give their testimony. As a part of this program, pray over each coin and the man or women who will receive it. Present the coins to the ARC at the conclusion of the program.
5. Know the contact information for the intake coordinator at the ARC. Print small cards containing this information that the women can share with anyone they encounter who may need help. Also, include contact information for the closest detox center that offers free services.

Review the 12 steps of Celebrate Recovery and Biblical Comparisons

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. (Biblical) “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out” (Rom. 7:18).
2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. (Biblical) “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13).
3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God. (Biblical) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship” (Rom. 12:1).
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. (Biblical) “Let us examine our ways and test them and let us return to the Lord” (Lam. 3:40).
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16a).

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. (Biblical) “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).
7. We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. (Biblical) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

(Biblical) “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).

9. We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. (Biblical) “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23-24).
10. We continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Cor. 10:12).

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry that out. (Biblical) “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16a).
12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs. (Biblical) “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore them gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).

Help! I Want to Do What Is Right, But Do Wrong Anyway

Paul’s letter to the Romans speaks so clearly about our human condition and sin. How many times have you known the right thing to do, but done the wrong thing anyway? You’re not alone. Paul says, “I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong” (Rom.7:21, NLT). Whether you struggle with substance abuse or other problems, we’ve all been here as this is our sinful human nature.

Romans 7: 24 clearly shows the response of someone who feels remorse or shame over succumbing to sin that pulls at them. “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” How many of us have felt this way before? You’ve messed up again and are overcome with guilt. Oftentimes, our loved one struggling with addiction feels these same emotions, exponentially more.

We praise the Lord because this passage doesn’t end in defeat, shame, or guilt. Paul shares in verse 25 the hope we have as believers: “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:24, 25). We have a great high priest who delivers us from our mess. When we cry out to the Lord hears us. When we cry out to Him, He will deliver us. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness to us!

Close in prayer.