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The Bible's Warning About Addiction (And How To Take Back Control) · Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Church cannot keep pretending that addiction is somehow solved
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: by slogans and shame.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: This is why faithful fitness exists.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Most Christians think that addictions of willpower problem. The Bible
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: called it slavery, and slavery was never solved by trying harder.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I'm coach Alex van Houghton. This is faithful fitness.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Church tends to talk about addicts as if they're weak
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  Speaker 1: and moral or broken. But what if addiction is just
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  Speaker 1: a loss of agency over the body Gods entrusted you
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  Speaker 1: with pulse?
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  Speaker 2: Is it this way?
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  Speaker 1: In one Corinthians six point twelve, I will not be
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  Speaker 1: mastered by anything, And yet every day millions of people
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  Speaker 1: are mastered by substances, sex, screens, food and gambling, and
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  Speaker 1: even worse, the.
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  Speaker 2: Modern world quietly profits from it.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Today, I want to talk about why addiction hijacks the brain,
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  Speaker 1: why shame makes it worse, and the practical embody of
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  Speaker 1: ways that God created to help us claim dominion over ourselves.
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  Speaker 2: Again, this isn't just theory.
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  Speaker 1: For me, my brother died an addiction played a huge
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  Speaker 1: role in that story. Cripture never treats the body as
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  Speaker 1: disposable In one Corinthians six, nineteen and twenty. It says this,
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  Speaker 1: your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 2: You are not your own.
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  Speaker 1: Notice what Paul doesn't say. He doesn't say ignore the body.
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  Speaker 1: He says steward it. Addiction isn't just sin, it's enslavement,
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  Speaker 1: and enslaved people don't need condemnation, they need liberation and structure.
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  Speaker 1: Modern neuroscience confirms this addiction reduces prefrontal cortex control, it
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  Speaker 1: strengthens habit loops in the basal ganglia, and it shrinks
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  Speaker 1: the space between impulse and action. That's not an excuse,
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  Speaker 1: but it is an explanation, and explanations.
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  Speaker 2: Help us to fight wisely.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: So here's the first non negotiable for freedom from addiction. Exercise,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: not because it burns calories, but because it restores executive function.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Here's what exercise does to the addicted brain. It increases
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  Speaker 1: dopamine receptor sensitivity, it improves prefrontal cortex regulation, and it
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  Speaker 1: reduces cravings and relapse risk. Lynch at All in twenty
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  Speaker 1: thirteen and Wang at All in twenty fourteen found this.
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  Speaker 1: Both aerobic and resistance training have been shown to reduce
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  Speaker 1: substance cravings and to improve abstinence outcomes. Now, Biblically this
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: makes sense. One Timothy four to seven says train yourself
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  Speaker 1: for godliness. Training is embodied obedience. Every workout is a
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  Speaker 1: vote for agency. An attic doesn't start by quitting forever.
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  Speaker 1: A start by choosing the one hard thing that they
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  Speaker 1: can control today. This message resonates with you or someone
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  Speaker 1: you love. I write a free letter every week called
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Letter to the Faithful, where I unpack the intersection of faith, physiology, discipline,
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  Speaker 1: and embodied stewardship. No spam, no hype, just truth for
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  Speaker 1: people who are trying to live faithfully in a disordered world.
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  Speaker 1: The links in the show notes below you can join
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  Speaker 1: free today. Addiction thrives in isolation. Scripture doesn't say that
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  Speaker 1: we should white knuckle or sanctification. Instead, in the Book
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  Speaker 1: of James, it says this confess your sins.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: One to another, that you may be healed. Healing not just.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Forgiveness, and this requires witness. Neuroscience agrees with this. Social
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  Speaker 1: connection increases oxytocin, Oxytocin reduces stress related cravings, and group
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  Speaker 1: accountability actually does improve long term addiction outcomes, healing at all.
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  Speaker 1: In twenty sixteen, and Kelly at All in twenty seventeen
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  Speaker 1: both found this strong social bonds significantly improve addiction, recovery
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  Speaker 1: and reduce relapse. Community does not mean permissiveness. It means
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: shared standards and shared burdens. My brother struggled in silence
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  Speaker 1: way longer than he should have. And I'm not saying
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  Speaker 1: isolation caused all of these issues for him, but it
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  Speaker 1: didn't help. Now this one surprises people. Awe not awe
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  Speaker 1: like you're petting a puppy. AWE like awesome or awful.
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  Speaker 1: Diction tends to collapse. Time only now matters only relief.
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  Speaker 1: In this moment, AWE expands it. It does the opposite.
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  Speaker 1: It widens perspective, It reduces self fixation, and it restores meaning,
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  Speaker 1: especially beyond the next hit.
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  Speaker 2: And science agrees here too.
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  Speaker 1: Countner Height Instellar at All in twenty seventeen found this
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  Speaker 1: that AWE experiences reduce default mode network activity and increase
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  Speaker 1: pro social behavior. Biblically, Proverbs nine tens is this the
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Aw
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  Speaker 1: interrupts addiction because it reminds the soul. Yeah, you're small,
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  Speaker 1: but you're not meaningless. Nature worship beauty, silence. These are
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  Speaker 1: not luxuries, they are neuro spiritual interventions. So to become
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  Speaker 1: free from addiction, we have three things so far, exercise, community.
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  Speaker 2: And awe. The last one is order and rhythm.
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  Speaker 1: In the Old Testament, God doesn't just free the Israelites
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  Speaker 1: and then say good luck. He gives laws in rhythms
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  Speaker 1: and feasts and fasts. Diction thrives in chaos, but recovery
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  Speaker 1: requires predictable structure. Fleep meals movement, prayer, same order, same rhythm.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, Walker in twenty seventeen and Logan all in
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  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen found this circadian regularity improves impulse control and
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  Speaker 1: emotional regulation. Grace isn't opposed to structure, in fact, it
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  Speaker 1: requires it.
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  Speaker 2: I want to say this carefully. My brother was not.
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  Speaker 1: Weak, he was not stupid, and he was not beyond
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  Speaker 1: God's love. But he lost dominion over his mind and body,
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  Speaker 1: and he did not get it back in time. And
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  Speaker 1: this loss fuels my conviction. The Church cannot keep pretending
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  Speaker 1: that addiction can be solved by slogans and shame. Stewardship
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  Speaker 1: is not optional, it's love and action, and this is
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: why faithful fitness exists, not to make people thinner, but to.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Help them live undivided lives.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Integrity, aligning belief and behavior, grit, choosing the hard good, growth,
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  Speaker 1: training body and soul and awe, always remembering who God is.
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  Speaker 1: Your body and mind are not your enemy, but they
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  Speaker 1: are the first territory that you have to take from
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  Speaker 1: the enemy. That's where obedience becomes real. If you're struggling
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  Speaker 1: or walking with someone who is start small. One walk,
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  Speaker 1: one conversation, one moment of awe in the presence of God.
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  Speaker 1: I wish it wasn't too late for my brother. It's
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  Speaker 1: not too late for you. Dominion over your mind and
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  Speaker 1: your body is claimed, one faithful act at a time.
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  Speaker 1: It's time to get after it. This has been coach
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  Speaker 1: Alex Van Houghton on the Faithful Fitness podcast. Until next time,
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  Speaker 1: train hard, but pray harder.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: Hey, if this episode helped you, jare it with someone
• 7:50
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• 7:53
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• 7:56
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• 8:02
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• 8:05
  Speaker 3: then join our free community at Better Daily by clicking
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: on the links in the show notes below. We all
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: have a cross to carry, but it's lighter when we
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: do it together, so check out both links in the
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: show notes. Don't be a big well Bob, just do
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: it until next time. Don't forget. Train hard and pray
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  Speaker 3: even harder.