Latest / Fostering Faith / Breaking Chains: Faith and Freedom from Addiction

Transcript

Breaking Chains: Faith and Freedom from Addiction · Fostering Faith

• 0:00
  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. We are in our season two episode nearing the end of season two and we are going to talk about what today, Gia?
• 0:14
  Addiction. Do you think that youth and adults have issues with addiction?
• 0:20
  Yes, I feel like they do a lot.
• 0:23
  As we have walked through this podcast and walking through different topics, what's been your favorite topic so far?
• 0:34
  Our first one, sports.
• 0:37
  And I think that we did get a lot of views on that. And we do want to take some time out and just say thank you so much for the listeners, the return listeners.
• 0:45
  We know that we are being heard. We have great little statistics and we get analysis of every show that's played.
• 0:55
  And so we know that tens of thousands of you are listening. And so you're taking out that 20 minutes.
• 0:59
  If you're anything like me, potentially listening to us on double speed are 1.75 and just utilizing your time and getting as much information as you can.
• 1:10
  So we do want to reach out and just say thank you so much for tuning in, really hitting that like and subscribe button and leaving some comments on Spotify and YouTube.
• 1:19
  There's two different versions on YouTube. And so the kids section cannot have any comments, but we do have one for adults as well.
• 1:26
  And so leaving that comment out there is just super helpful and give us tips on what different podcast topics to talk about, what you guys want, what you guys need in your life,
• 1:36
  and how to take a real life situation and have biblical truth kind of spun into that.
• 1:41
  And so we're here to help and serve and just do everything and walk with life together with you guys.
• 1:48
  How is your week, Gia? It's been good. What's been good about it?
• 1:53
  I feel like since it literally just started, I feel like there's not much to say about my week so far, but I feel like it's going to be a good week.
• 2:03
  What about last week? Last week was fun. Why? What was fun about it?
• 2:08
  I got to go to a basketball game last week. It was fun. Our team won. And this week we have another basketball game coming up. So I'm excited for that.
• 2:19
  How was your weekend? What did we get to do fun? I don't think it was fun.
• 2:25
  And so we went down south. We live in Illinois and we got to go through a lot of hiking and they were not.
• 2:35
  They were difficult trails, but I mean, it was a beautiful weekend. Did you take anything out of it?
• 2:44
  That Texas Roadhouse is the best to eat afterwards after you're done hiking.
• 2:49
  And so, yes, we did go to Texas Roadhouse to eat and she's obsessed with their rolls and their butter.
• 2:56
  I had a steak and it was really good. So shout out to Texas Roadhouse.
• 3:03
  We're not sponsored by Texas Roadhouse or anything like that, but it was just we had a good meal there and it was a good.
• 3:13
  We had a good family weekend. I think we had church on Sunday.
• 3:17
  What are you looking forward to this coming up week besides our basketball game on Thursday?
• 3:22
  The weekend. Why? Because that's the time I get to take off of school.
• 3:31
  We do have a base of your week this week. And as we are podcasting this the day before the election
• 3:38
  and we are not here to talk about left or right or Democrat, Republican,
• 3:44
  just as that common denominator as potentially when this will be airing on Thursday.
• 3:49
  So it will be after the election. I don't know if people will know who the president is,
• 3:54
  but as Jesus followers and disciples of Christ, we have to remain that he is on the throne.
• 4:01
  He is above all names and that we are followers of Jesus and we're disciples of Jesus
• 4:09
  and not a Republican Party, Republican, Democrat, whatever, whatever crap you are.
• 4:15
  And that we're just followers of Christ. And so we were to remain in love and to unify ourselves and not be divided.
• 4:24
  And we're to love all people no matter what. Right.
• 4:27
  OK, I have some questions about addiction for you. OK. So what is addiction to you?
• 4:35
  Addiction is there's a lot of definitions to addiction. I know, but like to you, like what is your definition?
• 4:44
  And so it's about something that you seek. It's dopamine.
• 4:48
  It is allowing us you to whether it be cigarettes, whether it be your screen,
• 4:56
  whether it be something that you just crave, it's something that you want, that you want, that you want,
• 5:02
  that your brain just kind of signals where you just you want it and you want it and you want it again.
• 5:06
  And then so it's different firing components of your brain, dopamine seeking neurotransmitters.
• 5:16
  And yeah, that's what I think of. OK.
• 5:21
  My second question is, why is addiction like bad and how can it be good?
• 5:28
  Like how can some addiction be bad and the other be good?
• 5:34
  And so like what what do you feel is a bad addiction? Smoking.
• 5:40
  What do you feel like a good addiction is? Following God, like listening to God.
• 5:47
  You feel like you can be addicted to that? I mean, you're addicted to it.
• 5:52
  You're addicted to God's word. OK.
• 5:59
  If that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, it's like it's like a morning because I used to be a heavy smoker before you were born.
• 6:07
  I used to smoke two packs a day. I really liked it.
• 6:12
  And so instead of, you know, grabbing a cup of coffee and cigarettes, I grab a cup of coffee or mushroom coffee and hit the Bible.
• 6:20
  And so that's my that's my calm.
• 6:23
  That's where I get my daily energy from is from scripture.
• 6:27
  So I think I maybe flip the script on that.
• 6:30
  Do you think that kids have an addiction issue?
• 6:34
  I feel like, yeah, some of them like their phones and screens and everything like that.
• 6:40
  I think I am. I think that we I did pull up some statistics.
• 6:45
  And so like alcohol, twenty nine point two percent of high school students have drank within the last 30 days.
• 6:54
  We have marijuana. Sixteen point three percent of high school students report smoking marijuana just because it's legalized.
• 6:59
  They think it's OK. Prescription drugs.
• 7:04
  Fourteen point two percent of teens, high school seniors report misabusing prescription drugs.
• 7:11
  You have vaping. Thirteen or fourteen point one percent of high school students vape.
• 7:18
  Three point three percent of middle school report e-cigarettes.
• 7:23
  And so please know that also, too, this is these are very like who reports this stuff.
• 7:29
  And so I think it's very underestimated about who reports what and digital addiction.
• 7:35
  And so you have forty six percent of teens feel like they are addicted to their smartphones.
• 7:41
  Fifty four percent of teens say that they spend too much time on their devices with excessive screen time.
• 7:48
  Is like even like a feature on the phones anymore about like your screen time, like in setting like boundaries and stuff.
• 7:59
  Do you feel like you have an addiction to anything?
• 8:02
  My phone. How can we break free from addiction?
• 8:07
  What would be some ways that we can break free from these addictions that we've created?
• 8:17
  Um, pretty God and like ask him or like spend more time with him and like pray about it or like just like have like a limit or something.
• 8:30
  I feel like I think, you know, discussing it whenever someone's dealing with a real addiction, though, we never want to minimize what.
• 8:41
  They're going through physical dependence, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol.
• 8:46
  We always want you guys to seek professional help because that stuff is it can be deadly if you try to stop it on your own.
• 8:52
  There's ways to stop that. There's programs out there.
• 8:56
  We'll put some link in the show notes to, you know, just some different addiction websites and things of that nature.
• 9:02
  And so it's always really important to seek professional help.
• 9:05
  If you do have an addiction, if you have a mental health issue, you know, seeking professional advice.
• 9:11
  I am a nurse practitioner. I am not your nurse practitioner.
• 9:14
  And so any advice that we give on the show is not meant for you, but as to seek your counsel from your provider.
• 9:21
  And just like what Gio was saying about, you know, seeking the Lord.
• 9:26
  I mean, above and above all, you know, you know, seek the Lord because we do have a God that can break addiction.
• 9:33
  We've had I've had patients that we've we've prayed in our office and they've walked out completely addiction free and they've never returned back to their drug or what they were, you know, chained to.
• 9:49
  Do you have some other questions?
• 9:52
  Oh, yeah. I have three more.
• 9:55
  Why do we have to suffer from addiction?
• 9:58
  And God knows, like, that is not good for us.
• 10:01
  Why would he, like, push through that?
• 10:05
  Did he? How did he put you through it?
• 10:10
  Like, he's letting it happen to you.
• 10:14
  But you we have free will.
• 10:16
  So we picked up the cigarette, we picked up the drink instead of turning to him.
• 10:21
  So it's it's us.
• 10:23
  We let our pleasantly we let our fleshly desire choose our addiction like we chose or we watch someone do it.
• 10:32
  So we watched a parent drink or we watched our friends smoke.
• 10:35
  And then we allowed our fleshly to desire and curiosity.
• 10:41
  And he's made us and we have free will.
• 10:43
  Correct.
• 10:44
  And so can he control us? Does he want us to be like robots?
• 10:47
  No, no.
• 10:48
  And so we have that option to continue on that path of, you know, choosing something to alleviate the pain instead of going to him.
• 10:59
  And so a lot of people choose to have, you know, they were given prescriptions or they, you know, had a family member or something.
• 11:07
  And they've seen, you know, addiction and that's the path that they chose because it was potentially easier.
• 11:14
  That's all they knew.
• 11:16
  And instead of turning to Christ, you know, that's what happens to some, you know, some people.
• 11:25
  That's not in every circumstance, but a lot of people numb their pain because they're depressed.
• 11:29
  They, you know, they have so many different issues of why they turn to their substance or their screen because they're just they feel alone.
• 11:36
  They're so, you know, they have the likes on TikTok and they have the followers and they think that these people are really there, you know, their family and they're looking to those people for love when it's really it's not.
• 11:53
  Okay.
• 11:55
  So the next question is, why do we do like addiction stuff like and why does it like lead?
• 12:06
  Wait, what did I, why do we do addiction and what and how to like why leads to like stuff?
• 12:15
  I'm so confused.
• 12:17
  I'm just gonna skip that question. How can we stop like addictions, but like and follow Christ through it?
• 12:26
  Well, I think that, you know, I mean, just like, because we talk about often about different scriptures that we need to have wrote on our heart.
• 12:32
  And so whenever we're facing, you know, battles and things of that nature, we have first Corinthians 1013.
• 12:40
  It says, no temptation has overtaken you except for what is common to mankind and God is faithful.
• 12:47
  He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
• 12:50
  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out that you can endure it.
• 12:56
  So this verse offers like so much encouragement, reminding us that God understands our struggles and provides strength to overcome it.
• 13:04
  Just the faithfulness that he assures us that there is no temptation too great and he supports us through our failures.
• 13:12
  And that makes our relationship so much stronger with him because we can see like there's no way out of this.
• 13:18
  There's no way that I can do this. I've tried and I've tried. I've tried. I've tried quit smoking 700 times.
• 13:22
  I am just knowing that he will give us a way out.
• 13:26
  And then you always have the Philippians 413, which is a famous one.
• 13:33
  I could do all things through him who gives me strength.
• 13:37
  And that verse is so powerful as a reminder of God's strength and the capability of overcoming challenges during really hard times.
• 13:47
  It encourages us to rely on his power, not our own. And we have Isaiah 41 10.
• 13:56
  So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I'm your God. I will strengthen you and help you.
• 14:05
  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
• 14:09
  And that is such a beautiful promise of God, reassuring his constant presence and support.
• 14:15
  He's always at your right hand. You think that you have no one. You think that you always you can just grab something just to get that, you know, that fix.
• 14:23
  It encourages us to trust him in times of fear or difficulty, knowing that he is the one that provides us a strength.
• 14:30
  He will help us. He will guide us. He will mold us.
• 14:33
  And his unwavering power is what's going to get us through the times where we think that we cannot make it.
• 14:40
  And, you know, just for myself, as I, you know, had I smoked just just all the cigarettes, just just all the cigarettes.
• 14:52
  And now that I have an appreciation and since I'm so like health conscious, I would say is that I think of my body as a temple.
• 15:01
  And this is where we hold our Holy Spirit. And so I only want to put in what's good.
• 15:08
  And I just my life is so important because God has given me our life.
• 15:13
  And so I never want to take something that could potentially, you know, make it shorter, you know, as everything 100 percent.
• 15:20
  No, with everything, you know, on the market and what everyone says like, oh, this is going to kill you this week, but oh, it's great for you the next week.
• 15:27
  And all this funny business, you know, it's like you're doing the best what you can. You're going to eat real food.
• 15:33
  You're going to, you know, try to avoid toxins and things of that nature.
• 15:37
  But I think that just in that spiritual aspect, like I need him more than I need cigarettes.
• 15:43
  I need God's strength more than I need the nicotine.
• 15:46
  Like, there's so many things that God can give me more than any drug could.
• 15:51
  And so I just pray, you know, just, you know, I need your energy. I need, you know, your wisdom, your guidance.
• 15:56
  I need you more than I need that.
• 16:00
  And with that, I mean, and I just knowing scripture and knowing that that drug isn't going to give me what I'm actually, you know, trying to, you know, seek, you know, stress relief and this and that and the other.
• 16:12
  Like, it's not it's not doing it. Like, he really is the answer.
• 16:17
  Yeah, that was all. Oh, how can you have a relationship with God through the pain of your addiction?
• 16:28
  I think that even just like, you know, the entities of like CR celebrate recovery is a great resource for people that are going through like alcohol and addictions and things like that.
• 16:41
  And that is a Christ centered recovery program that they walk through.
• 16:45
  And the majority of cities have a CR.
• 16:49
  I have several friends and family, people that we know that have been through CR.
• 16:56
  And I think that is that's a great step program.
• 17:01
  And you have like N.A. and you have AA and you have there's so many different programs that are out there that that support community.
• 17:09
  It's about going to the meetings. It's about going and seeking that help.
• 17:13
  It's about going to rehab if you need rehab.
• 17:15
  It's about setting up boundaries and allowing people to know what you're struggling with.
• 17:21
  Don't keep it a secret. And and having those those partners that know everything about you.
• 17:28
  And so you can't hide. And so people that are hiding from drugs, addiction, pornography, you know, whatever it have you, people do it in secret.
• 17:38
  They're not they're not super excited.
• 17:42
  They have this addiction, but they're doing it behind closed doors.
• 17:45
  And so if it is, take your door off the hook. If you're doing your drugs, you know, telling someone that you're having a problem having, you know, those accountability partners.
• 17:55
  If you're addicted to screen time, what is something that people could do?
• 18:00
  Minimize it. Really. I like just keep track of it and see.
• 18:04
  Can you not set up limits?
• 18:06
  Yeah, that's why I'm like limits.
• 18:09
  And then so even just maybe even keeping the phone out of your room.
• 18:14
  For kids, and that way you just don't roll over and pick it up.
• 18:18
  You actually have to walk to a different room or maybe having your phone only on the couch in the living room.
• 18:26
  And that way you're shaking your head now.
• 18:31
  Because you don't like that idea.
• 18:33
  Why? I don't know where you pulled that out of.
• 18:37
  We've often I've told her that because those kids are so like on their phones all the time that I was going to have a lockbox for my kit for her friends to put their phones up.
• 18:47
  And so they actually have to play together. And, you know, she did not like that idea at all.
• 18:53
  And I talked to other parents and they love that idea that they actually have to be kids and they have to go play and they have to use their brains and not sit there on their phone.
• 19:01
  The whole time that they're out there playing.
• 19:05
  And so just like those practical boundaries, you know, having accountability partner setting up for a meeting, talking to your, you know, your provider, talking to your parent, talking to a friend, you know, just making the situation aware and not hiding from it.
• 19:18
  Because there's no point in hiding from addiction.
• 19:21
  We are no one is perfect.
• 19:22
  We all have flaws and we are meant for community.
• 19:25
  And by community, it's about reaching out to other people to say, I need help. I'm struggling.
• 19:31
  God has put people in our lives that have maybe even walked through that season.
• 19:35
  And so they can help you with that.
• 19:38
  You know, going to a counselor seeking professional help is always a great idea and seeking the Lord, you know, asking him what you should do, asking him to take the cravings away.
• 19:48
  There is nothing too big or too small to ask your God to help you with.
• 19:55
  And ending on that note, do you want to pray us out to you?
• 19:58
  Yes. Dear God, thank you for saying thank you for everything.
• 20:02
  You're most please help the sick.
• 20:03
  You're here for better.
• 20:04
  I pray for those who have addictions that they'll stop and that they'll go to you and that they will just give you everything they have because that's all we need.
• 20:15
  I pray for everything goes well this week and no one gets hurt.
• 20:19
  And Jesus, I pray. Amen.
• 20:21
  Amen. And so we want to invite listeners to reach out for prayer support and mentioning that to, you know, a loved one and sharing this episode and inviting others to share this episode with someone that might need it to encourage them to join next time and continue to exploring our faith in everyday situations and struggles.
• 20:43
  We're here for, you know, you know, spiritual guidance and practical advice and making these things relatable and help, you know, somebody out there.
• 20:51
  If it's just one person that we helped with this, I think that, you know, the time spent with this podcast was so much was so worth it.
• 20:59
  Do you agree? Yes. Yeah.
• 21:01
  It's just that one person that we're seeking for.
• 21:03
  We're not seeking for millions, but we're just seeking for that one that we can help and just truly know that they are loved, that they are seen, that they are heard, that they have a heavenly father that loves them.
• 21:12
  So much. And then there's nothing that he won't help you with.
• 21:17
  Right. Yes.
• 21:19
  And so stay tuned for next week as we come into one of our last episodes of season two and have a great week.
• 21:29
  Bye.