How Do People Abuse Substances?

It seems that drugs and alcohol have been part of the human experience from time immemorial. They possess the power to blunt emotional pain, to excite the pleasure sensors, to calm down panic attacks. These substances can change the way people feel about themselves, even for just a moment.

But for the small benefit of temporary emotional relief, drugs and alcohol charge the inordinate price of destructive addiction. With lessening effect, increased levels fail to satisfy the emotional emptiness. Personal frailties and weakness have led to an epidemic dependence on these substances. Untold lives and families have suffered under their influence.

The Apostle Paul recognized that drugs and alcohol can be a man-made substitute for the power of God in one’s life. He warned the Ephesians: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) Rather than being filled with the destructive influence of alcohol, Paul commands believers to be filled continually with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads us into in a dynamic dependence and submission to God as He instructs us, molds us and uses us. God’s presence in believers is life-affirming; the presence of illegal substances in a human being is eventually life-destroying.

The apostle Peter warned believers that, “a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him (2 Peter 2:19). In a cursed planet, humans seek to dull the pain of the Fall and their alienation from the Creator by escaping into a bottle or filling their veins with artificial stimuli. These substances are false substitutes for God, and inevitably enslave those who use them. The Gospel of Jesus can break the cycle of drug and alcohol dependence. Jesus will forgive us and unlock the chains of bondage to set us free from their destructive effects.