Sept 27, 2009 Breaking Free of Addictions 1 Cor 10:11-21
Fireproof Your Relationships: Sermon Four
I want to talk to you today on a subject we’ve never talked about before. I want to talk to you about parasites. Have any of you ever picked up a parasite? When I was the chaplain at the Methodist College in the summer of 1999, I was apparently bitten by a tick. I say apparently because I never saw it or felt it. But I became extremely sick. I had a pounding headache like I have never had before or since. I felt freezing cold. My neck grew stiff. I could not get out of bed all day. That night I went to the physician because Marley made me go. He diagnosed me as possibly having Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He said if we waited longer, more symptoms would show up and we could be sure. But it seemed wiser to go ahead a treat me. And so he did. It was the sickest I have been in years. All because some little parasite bit me.
Now a parasite is a creature that lives off others. It sucks the life out of its host. Recently I visited a website to learn more about these little creatures that like to live off of us.
The first most common types of parasites that infect humans are: hookworms, tapeworms, roundworms, and pinworms.
Hookworms
Pinworms
Tapeworms – these can get up to 20 feet while living inside you.
Parasites are very real and diminish the quality of life for millions of people on our planet. Now fortunately, because of where we live and our level of hygiene, we don’t have to worry about these very often in America. However, America is infested with another type of parasite that also sucks the life out of us. Our nation today is consumed with addictions. And these are sucking the life out of us and out of our relationships.
We are continuing our series on relationships this week. Many of you have seen the movie “Fireproof” which we are using as a base for our studies. In the movie, Caleb has an addiction, a parasite in his life. And in the Love Dare book, Caleb reads the following:
WATCH OUT FOR PARASITES. A PARASITE IS ANYTHING THAT LATCHES ONTO YOU OR YOUR PARTNER AND SUCKS THE LIFE OUT OF YOUR MARRIAGE. THEY’RE NORMALLY IN THE FORM OF ADDICTIONS LIKE GAMBLING, DRUGS, OR PORNOGRAPHY. THEY PROMISE TO PLEASE BUT GROW LIKE A DISEASE AND CONSUME MORE AND MORE OF YOUR THOUGHTS, TIME AND MONEY. THEY STEAL AWAY YOUR LOYALTY AND YOUR HEART FROM THOSE YOU LOVE.
Gambling, alcohol, drugs, pornography… parasites. There are others. Workoholism. Shopping. Sports. TV. Certain romance novels. Food. Money. The list could go on and on. Even good things, necessary things, can be abused and become an addiction. Human beings are very good at becoming addicted and making an idol out of things. You see, we were made to love God and to love people. But so often, we end up loving things. Loving things more than we love God or people. And when we love these things more than we love our friends, our family, or our spouse, well, these things become parasites on our lives and on our relationships. How can we escape these parasites?
OPEN A BIBLE AND TURN TO 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11-13 NO TEMPTATION HAS SEIZED YOU EXCEPT WHAT IS COMMON TO MAN. AND GOD IS FAITHFUL; HE WILL NOT LET YOU BE TEMPTED BEYOND WHAT YOU CAN BEAR. BUT WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED, HE WILL ALSO PROVIDE A WAY OUT SO THAT YOU CAN STAND UP UNDER IT. (I Corinthians 10:13)
I want to make a bold statement for you this morning. Here it is. Don’t miss it: The greatest problem facing human beings today is temptation. The greatest problem facing human beings today isn’t famine or wars or natural disasters. Those are problems and they require lots of attention. But our biggest problems are not these outward circumstances. Our biggest problem is a state of the inward heart. It’s temptation which leads us to all these other problems.
It’s a global challenge. It’s also a personal one. Because the greatest challenge you are facing, and the greatest challenge I am facing, is temptation. It will destroy our lives and ruin our relationships. If we do not win the battle over temptation, we will find ourselves putting things first in our lives rather than putting the people we love first in our lives. OUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IS TEMPTATION.
But this scripture can help us. Three things to glean from this verse:
THREE FACTS ABOUT TEMPTATION:
1. EVERY TEMPTATION YOU FACE HAS BEEN FACED BY OTHERS. We are not alone in our struggles.
2. YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TEMPTED BY SOMETHING YOU DID NOT HAVE THE POWER TO RESIST. It may seem like it at the time, but that’s just a lie from the Evil One, trying to lower your resolve and your resistance.
3. GOD PROVIDES A WAY OUT OF EVERY TEMPTATION. Your job is to look for that way out and take it the minute you find it.
Let’s take a look at these one at a time.
First, every temptation has been faced by others. We sometimes think that we are unique. But we are not. We most often do what millions of other people have done before. Temptations are common in this world. In fact, so common, that they all reduce down to just three problems. The Bible says there are really only three kinds of temptations in this world. I John 2:16 says, EVERY TEMPTATION IN THE WORLD—THE CRAVINGS OF SINFUL MAN, THE LUST OF HIS EYES, AND THE BOASTING OF WHAT HE HAS AND DOES—COMES NOT FROM THE FATHER BUT FROM THE WORLD. – 1 JOHN 2:16
THERE ARE ONLY THREE KINDS OF TEMPTATION:
1. THE CRAVINGS OF OUR BODIES
2. THE LUST OF OUR EYES
3. THE PRIDE OF OUR HEARTS
Now all people face these same temptations. The Apostle John talks about Pride. Many people struggle with pride. Our competitive nature makes us want to look more important. We often desire higher achievement, which gets us into workaholism and status symbols, and sometimes out-and-out lying about what we’ve done or achieved. Having that bigger truck or expensive car makes me feel like I am someone. The pride of our hearts is what ruined much of America’s economy. When middle class teenage girls have daddy buying them $1200 Ferragamo handbags to carry, then we are lost in the Pride of our Hearts. In the movie Fireproof, Caleb wants a boat. Not just any boat will do. He wants a boat that will make him look good and feel good. It is an expensive boat. Not just a boat to ride in or to fish from. The boat is about Pride. The boat has become a parasite that is sucking the life out of his marriage.
John also writes about Lust. The lust of our eyes is about our sensual side. Now God gave us a sensual nature and God intended us to satisfy that in appropriate, wonderful ways. But when that sensual nature becomes abused, it becomes lust and addictions such as drugs, alcohol, food, or pornography. In the movie “Fireproof,” Caleb is torn apart by addiction. It is the source of many of his problems. And that addiction is a parasite that is sucking the life out of his marriage.
Finally, the Apostle John mentions our Cravings. Beyond Pride and beyond lust, we often just want things. Now there is nothing wrong with wanting something. But a Craving is about wanting something that is not mine to have. A craving wants something that is not mine to have. In the movie “Fireproof,” Catherine is a picture for us of craving. She wants to have a loving relationship. Nothing wrong with that. But she begins to find that love and relationship in the wrong place. Her Craving for love leads her down a false path as she flirts with a young physician at the hospital. Many people in their hunger for love will seek out satisfaction in the wrong place. And it is not just about physical affairs. Many marriages are broken because one partner has become emotionally entangled with someone at work. They say they are just friends, but they share too many secrets. And that relationship becomes more important than the one back home. The same happens with Romance novels or movies that become addictions. The husband at home can never equal the hero-lover in those books. These Cravings become emotional entanglements. And we are tempted to sin.
So back to our scripture from I Corinthians, Paul tells us that everyone is tempted at times. We see in I John the three ways that everyone is tempted. It just seems so overwhelming. But Paul’s second point is good news.
2. YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TEMPTED BY SOMETHING YOU DID NOT HAVE THE POWER TO RESIST. Now you may feel that the temptation is too strong and there is no way out, but that’s just a lie from the Evil One, trying to lower your resolve and your resistance. In the Movie, Caleb struggles deeply with his addiction. He asks himself why it is so hard. But the Word promises us that there is no temptation that we do not have the power to resist.
That leads us to point number three, I Corinthians 10 says that GOD PROVIDES A WAY OUT OF EVERY TEMPTATION. Listen. Everyone is tempted. WE have the power to resist temptation. So how do we do it? God provides the way. Here is how to break free from temptation:
1. PRAY THAT THE LORD WILL KEEP YOU FROM TEMPTATION.
Jesus taught us to pray this in the Lord’s Prayer: LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL. – MATTHEW 5:13 If you are going to resist evil, you have to get serious about prayer. You cannot just say a quick prayer once very couple of days. You need serious prayer time if you are going to break free of addictions. If you do not, those parasites will destroy you.
2. LOOK FOR A WAY OUT. Our scripture in Corinthians 10:13, AND GOD IS FAITHFUL; HE WILL NOT LET YOU BE TEMPTED BEYOND WHAT YOU CAN BEAR. BUT WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED, HE WILL ALSO PROVIDE A WAY OUT SO THAT YOU CAN STAND UP UNDER IT.
Usually, there is more than one way out of a temptation. Look for the way out and get serious about it. Caleb had to smash his computer. Catherine had to go to Caleb at the Fire station and renew their love. You may need to talk to a counselor. You may need to change many things in your life. But if you want to be free to live, then find the way out.
3. DIVERT YOUR THOUGHTS TO THE WORD OF GOD AND OTHER GOOD MATERIALS
Paul says: WE TAKE EVERY THOUGH CAPTIVE TO THE WILL OF CHRIST. – 2 CORINTHIANS 10:5
Elsewhere he says, WHATEVER IS TRUE, WHATEVER IS NOBLE, WHATEVER IS RIGHT, WHATEVER IS PURE, WHATEVER IS LOVELY, WHATEVER IS ADMIRABLE – IF ANYTHING IS EXCELLENT OR PRAISEWORTHY – THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS. – PHILIPPIANS 4:8
Too many of us fill our minds with junk and then we wonder why we struggle with temptation. Instead, fill your mind with the Word of God, fill your mind with good music, books, magazines, and you will change your mind.
4. REMOVE YOURSELF.
Paul puts it very simply to a young man facing temptation. He says, “FLEE THE EVIL DESIRES OF YOUTH AND PURSUE RIGHTEOUS, FAITH, LOVE AND PEACE.” – 2 TIMOTHY 2:22
Often, we just need to get out of there. We should never have been there in the first place. Just run away.
Finally, if you fall down then…
5. ASK FORGIVENESS, RESOLVE TO DO BETTER, AND START AGAIN.
1 JOHN 1:9 says, IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST AND WILL FORGIVE US OUR SINS AND PURIFY US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUS.
Lamentations 3:23 says that God’s mercies are new every morning. Every day we get a fresh start. Don’t let your past beat you up. Instead, let your present start you over. Many of us have come to a place where we have given up. We have struggled for so long to build a better life and better relationships but we feel like a failure. We hear that evil little voice that whispers, “You will never win.” That is a lie. You can change your life. It will take the power of God. It will take serious commitment. It will take filling your life with so much good that the evil is pushed out. But listen, millions of people throughout history and around the globe have found new life. The worst of sinners, murderers, thieves, addicts, embezzlers, cheaters, have all found new life. They changed. They found a new joy in living and in loving the people closest to them. You can change too. You can be free of the parasites in your life and embrace your relationships in a new way.
Here is your Love/Dare Challenge for the week:
LOVE/DARE CHALLENGE:
IS THERE A PARASITE FROM WHICH YOU NEED TO BREAK FREE?
ON YOUR MESSAGE NOTES, CIRCLE WHICHEVER STEPS YOU WANT TO BEGIN PRACTICING THIS WEEK As you’re doing that, let me ask, will you take this challenge seriously this week? Good for you!
Friends, God is with you and He is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Amen.