Addiction: A Bird’s Eye View

We commonly think of addiction as applying to alcohol and drugs but we easily become dependent on, and addicted to, good things in God’s creation such as food and sex. We may also become dependent on work, shopping, gambling, and exercise. We use these things to give pleasure and to take away the pains of life in a fallen world.  The Bible does not use the language of “addiction” but it describes the same phenomenon in several different ways and we discover that we all live on the edge of addiction. There are common patterns and themes in all addictions that give clues to how we may break free and live a more balanced, healthy, and holy life.