Understanding Negative Addictions

The transcription is a conversation about addiction and its connection to sin. The speakers discuss the different types of addiction, including social media, smoking, and pornography. They also explore whether addiction is limited to non-Christians or if Christians can also be affected. The conversation touches on the importance of creating new neural pathways in the brain to overcome addiction, and the need for accountability and boundaries in the process. They conclude that a balance between psychological and scriptural approaches is necessary, and that yielding to the Holy Spirit is key to breaking free from addiction. The outer circle involves creating boundaries and accountability, while the inner circle involves engaging the Holy Spirit and renewing the mind. All right, welcome again to What Care. So today again, I have with me my brother and friend. He said I should have called him pastor. So I will speak to brother Dan Uno, Daniel Uno. Welcome to this show. So today we are going to be looking at something very, very interesting, and it's about addiction. What it is, and why addiction, and how do you overcome addiction? And I see that the reason why we're considering this because there's a whole lot of things taking people's time these days. Or let me say people are addicted to a lot of things, and addiction seems to come in different sizes and forms and dimensions these days. So I think it's important for us to just talk about it, and also consider the biblical perspective of addiction. So over to you, Pastor Dan, what is an addiction? What is the process of getting addicted? So I'm in between two options here. One is the fact that I have an idea of therapy, and so I'm thinking whether to walk through that path, or to go through the biblical path first. So is it conflicting? I think that therapeutic pathway and biblical pathway should be complimentary rather than conflicting. Again, that's an interesting insight, if they are conflicting. I know they are not, the methodology for, the way the methodology and some of the things that you will hear about some of the way therapy talks about addiction may be different from the way scripture look at that. So for example- Can we have an hybrid, hybrid form? What's that? Can we have an hybrid perspective that takes the therapeutic way, and also consider the scriptural pathway? Okay, let me look at it from scriptures. The man himself is, we live in a folly world, and in a world where sin entered the world, a man became a slave of sin. We must also understand that while addiction has connection with our brain, our nervous system, our mind, our thoughts, there is also a deep root in, especially negative addictions, in sin. Now, I need to separate that there are some addictions that are not really sin, but they are not ready for us. So, I will say that, how do we personally really come into addiction? That's why I said sometimes these things are spiritual. Some of them are spiritual, and not that, not that. Some of them are not- Can I quickly stop you there? So, because you're saying that addiction is rooted in sin, so does it now mean that whoever is addicted is not a Christian, is a sinner? No, it's, so let me quickly say something that, not all addictions, for example, there are people who are addicted to social media. Okay. Yes, there are people who are addicted to their phones. So, for example, you woke up in the morning, the first thing you pick is your phone to check Facebook, check WhatsApp, check your email, check, check, check, check. Isn't addiction- Through social media. And there are other addictions, like people that smoke, smoking and addiction. So, for example, smoking- People that do pornography. Yes. So, is it possible for a child of God to still do pornography or to be smoking and be caught up in those addictions? Yes. So, for example, we say that the addiction can come from addiction to phone is sin. Are you getting it? But it's not beneficial to a person. It's not beneficial to a person, but I would say it's a sin. But I can tell you that smoking, ADM, smoking, whatever, drugs and all that, is a sin. So, all addictions are not sin. Are you getting it? All addictions are not sin, but there are some addictions that are sin. So, we must differentiate that. But I would say that we must also understand that in the scripture, there's something called who you yield yourself to. Romans chapter 6. The person that you yield yourself to, you are a slave to that thing that you yield yourself to. So, anything a man yields himself to, that thing will master the man. And immediately that thing master the man, the man become a slave of that thing. So, there is self-will in this thing, that we submit our will to certain things by the reason of practice. At the beginning, it is not going to start as addiction. It will just be one-off thing. Person do it today, person come back some day, do it again. After a while, you are creating a neural pathway, if it is therapy. I'm going there again now. You are creating a neural pathway for the brain. It's just like, if you see a footpath. A footpath. If you see a footpath, you discover that the first time you walk a footpath, it may not even look as if there's a road there. But if you keep walking the footpath, after a while, it will create a tiny road. Just like that. That is the way the neural brain, the brain, the neural pathway is created in the brain. You begin to create it gradually. Merely can create it smoothly, you understand that every time this happens, this must happen. Every time you see this, let this happen. The construction. Are you getting it? So in the same way, that is how the brain is. So if it happened that way, it means that for that addiction to break, a new neural pathway has to be created in the brain. And that must be the proof that the brain, it will take the same level, it will take more work to create a neural pathway than the one the way it was created. How do I put it? The former pathway was created. Now, I hope I've not confused you. So for instance, if you create a path, to overcome that path, you need to create an express. Exactly. Exactly. And that express has to now be a positive pathway. So we've understand what addiction is and how they are created. From my little research around addiction, I found that addiction is actually an escape from a particular problem, you know, or a need. You know, so in solving that need, you seem to create a pathway, like you said, a neural pathway. So, is it a requirement to solve that problem in order to get that addiction out? Or you can actually get off this addiction while that problem is still there, or you have to create a different path, perspective. So say for instance now, there's a loneliness problem. And this guy, whenever he's lonely, that's when he picks up cigarettes, you know. Now, to overcome this addiction of cigarettes, does he necessarily have to find a way of solving the loneliness problem, or he needs to find a way of creating a different pathway, like you said, without necessarily solving the primary problem that's initiated or that led to that initial addiction. Okay. So, okay, thank you, thank you. Let me quickly say that I'm really facing some conflict here now. Where should I go from? Well, let me look at each of these things. I'm very happy to hear this part. I mean, looking at both your psychological pathway and the scriptural pathway, I think that you should be able to find a balance. Let me tell you my Bible. Let me tell you my Bible. Let me tell you my Bible. But one of the things I realized is that whether the person got the addiction through trying to solve an alternative problem, okay, I had this challenge, and then the process, it developed that. I want to say this, that it is one way to destroy these things, is simply to yield yourself to the Holy Ghost. The moment you yield yourself to the Holy Ghost, I'm telling you, and you begin to, now, there are different, there's something, even as you are yielding yourself to the Holy Ghost, there's something, let me put it this way, it's like there's an outer circle and there's an inner circle. Let me describe it. Now, the outer circle is this. The inner circle is where the Holy Spirit is going to be working with you. The outer circle is the boundaries you are going to create and the accountabilities that you are going to create. So, for example, you cannot say, I want to break an addiction, and then, for example, let's say the addiction is smoking, right, and then you want to break it, and yet you still have the materials around your outer circle, like you have the friends that you smoke with, you still have- The matches. You say what? The matches and the sticks. The matches and the sticks, you still have that, it can't work. You can't work. Or you see you have nobody that you are accountable to who you can tell, this thing is like this, so this is what is happening to me. So all those things, you must put them in place. For example, let's say it's a sexual addiction, for instance, it will not be right if you take a break, if the person take a break from social media. All those things, you are taking a break from social media, from watching certain things on Netflix or something, wherever you can watch me, anything that have to do with explicit things, even minor, I don't know how to put this, is it? Yeah. Yes, minor, you are even shutting yourself out of screen, totally, is also a recommendation. Those are the things you do at the outer circle. Now, when you have done that, you have put your house in order at the outer circle, you're not coming to the inner circle of you engaging the Holy Spirit and engaging the world. Don't forget the outer circle, they are accountability partners who will help you, monitor you, monitor the person to say, no, this is not, this is it, anytime you have this, you can come to this, you can speak to us or this and all that, you are putting away certain things, all that to the outer circle. Now, in the inner circle, now you are not working with the Holy Spirit. Why that is very important is that, over time, because you are not feeding, the person is not feeding the addiction anymore, the brain will start responding. Something will start to come in. You are not clearing the path, the path is not... Yeah, there's no more maintenance of the path anymore, the path will start shrinking gradually, shrinking gradually. Once in a while, there will be shakings, yes, but it will be shrinking, and the only good is doing something within the inner circle, prayer is happening, study, renewal of the mind is happening in the inner circle, daily confessions are happening in the inner circle, all those things are happening in the inner circle. I'm telling you, after a while, you discover that the pain has shrunk so much. It will shrink and shrink until one day you can't find it anymore, because you now have created a new system at all. It takes a lot, because when a person is used to something, it's like his body system is changing entirely to create a new system. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work, that's why you need the Holy Spirit to help the person. So let me end, I'll let you speak, sir. So, since it's a lot of work, two things are coming to my mind. Since it's a lot of work, what is the motivation for people to keep doing this work? Because I've seen people who actually, sincerely, genuinely want to change, want to create a new pathway. But along the line, they just break it, and they find themselves possibly in those things that they really don't want to do. And then it's more like a roller coaster, today you are in, tomorrow you are out. And a lot of people have tried and tried and tried, and then they just go to a point where they feel that, well, possibly they just have to keep managing this addiction, and that, you know, it's something that they just have to manage. So, two questions for me there, is that, how can people find that motivation to do the work that is required to overcome this? You know, that's one. Number two, is that, I've also had instances where people will say, there is always a demonic spirit behind every addiction. And so, what you need to do actually, is to go to deliverance. You do casting and binding and all that. And if you are able to do that, and fall down on that anointing, and blah, blah, blah, you know, these things can go instantaneously. Are you able to clarify that? So, first question, how can people find that motivation that is required? So, for me, I would expect how they can begin to where they're going to see that, to quantify and magnify the harm that this addiction is causing. To the extent that you see to reason why that change must be done. You know, the second question is, that concept of falling down on that anointing and casting and all that, is it a viable alternative? Or, you can use it together as a hybrid solution? Okay. I hope it's not too complex question, Alphonse. No, let me, let me, let me look at, answer the one of casting that devil together. Truly, there can be addictions that are, that are demonically influenced. That is the truth. There are, wherever why a person go for deliverance, deliverance, it's also, it's also true that, when a demon is cast out from a place, it never says that it will come back, it will come and check, if the house is swept and kept nice. Then if you discover the house is swept, it will bring more devil demons, and then the case of the man will be worse than what it was earlier. So what does it mean for the house to be swept? When the demon is cast out, and then you don't, because something was in that space, that something was casted out of. So, and you are not renewing your mind with the word of God. You are not filling it with the word of God. You are still washing the same thing you used to wash. There's no accountability. You are not reporting to anybody. Nobody's monitoring you. You are not, there's no any form of discipline around. It's just a matter of time. It will come back. It will come back. So, if only that is a demonic case is cast out, because one thing is that, addiction teach the soul a way of life. Addiction is teaching the soul of a man a way of life. So now that the demon has been cast out, for example, now you need to teach the soul a new way of life. And that new way of life is what is called the renewal of the mind. So when your mind is being renewed, then you are teaching the soul a new way, that this is the new way to live. And that is the case of deliverance. But even at that, generally it is also true that it's something that you can, that a person should do in conjunction with others. Some people are trustworthy, who you can talk to, who will not use those things against you, but they're loving enough to support a person and say, you know what, let's do this. So when it's happening, the person is not alone. You are sharing. I think it's happening. Okay, let's go this way. I felt this way today. Let's go this way. And the person is genuine, because if there is something you want, the person must lust for something, which means that you cannot gain your social media, and you say you want to break an addiction. Because you will see things. Ladies will just dress, for example, you see a guy, ladies dress a man, on their own, doing their thing. And that's just simple image, you can see it triggers something. So, I would say, the person will stay on social media, if he has enough discipline to do that, so that his mind can grow. By the time the mind gets to a point, and he has overcome it, those things may not mean anything anymore. But at the beginning, he has to stay off things. Yes. You have to stay off things. Thank you. Thank you so much. I think where we, what I want to say right now, question is, what are the implications of not breaking these addictions? You have to go, you have to, because what it does is that, so for example, for the believer, it's like a wheel in the spoke, of the movement of the believer. Because one of the things that happen after each of those episodes, or especially the negative ones, is that the believer feels guilty. And when he feels guilty like that, he can't pray anymore. Every time he lifts up his hand to pray, something tells you, you are guilty. Something tells you, you are not qualified. Something tells you, tell the person, you are not just guilty. And when those voices begin to come, it's wicked. So, if the person wants to really walk with God, he has to break it. He has to trust God enough to say, this is a journey I must take and God will help me. And truly, truly, God will be available to help. Because if not, it will be a tool in the hand of Satan to always puncture the balloon. Every time it's coming up, he punctures it. It coming up, punctures it. So, you merely get to that point, the person feel guilty, feel dirty, he can't grow spiritually, nothing is happening. Everything he should achieve, he can't achieve it. So, if there is no, if there's a reason to break this is the fact that, it will hamper the person's spiritual growth and hamper his ability to access all that God has for him. So, for that not to happen, the person must make a determination to say, Holy Spirit, help me, I want to break this. Create partners, great partners who can stand with him. Create people who can stand with him and say, we can do this. In prayer, in fasting, in studying the scripture, in renewal of the mind, in accountability, and all that, and I'm telling you, you will have a headway sooner. But there is, there are so many reasons to see that this is broken, otherwise it will hamper the growth of the believer. Thank you so much, Pastor Dan. I wish that we've got questions from our audience, but I think this has really been very helpful. We've been able to identify what addictions are, we've been able to identify how people get addicted by creating some, what we call the neural pathway. We've been able to identify how to break addiction, the inner cycle, the outer cycle. The inner cycle being the Holy Spirit, the outer cycle being the restrictions, the, you know, guidelines that you need to put in place. We understand that this might actually take some time, and, you know, there needs to be that willingness to do what you need to do, because at the end of the day, it's not good for the spirit. It has a way of breaking that spirit, man. It has a way of totally shutting someone from achieving his God-given purpose. I mean, recently, I was just, it's a study, or more like a reflection, and I discovered that, you see, there are some people that get to the peak of their career, notable people, and you just hear things around sexual addictions, sexual addictions, sexual addictions, that brings them from Greece, and just, and these are notable people. Some even lost their life in the process. So, you know, it's important that, I just feel that this concept of addiction, particularly sexual addiction, is so paramount in our environment today, possibly because of social media, internet, people are losing their values, and Satan creeping in on these, and I just want to say, if you are hearing us today, hope is not lost, honestly. You can really get out of these things. You can, you can, you can, you can be whole again. You can live a normal life. Yes, you can come in and out, come in and out, come in and out. I mean, and that was why I asked my student the other time that, does it necessarily mean that if you are doing it, you are not a Christian? So don't get me wrong. We can't be insane and say, Grace, you are bound, you know, but also, your efforts are not wasted. God also understands the efforts that you are making, but it's important that you take ownership. I mean, you take responsibility for these, not necessarily looking at, and I asked that question deliberately, not looking at, oh, this is the cause, and so, because this problem is there, I need to continue in this addiction to feed that particular problem. No, it's just a strategy from a pit of hell to keep someone perpetually in bondage, just like Pastor Dan said, you know, and scripture really, whoever you yield yourself to, you know, you become the servant or the slave to that thing. You can make up your mind today, honestly, to be a slave to Jesus, and put in the boundaries that are required, you know, and do the hard work. And we are not saying, you know, come easy, but what we are saying is that it is possible to come clean. As a matter of fact, Jesus has actually made the provision, you know, he has paid the price, and we just need to do some of the work. And when I mean the work now, it's not even the work of faith and all that, it's just the work of discipline. Yeah, so that we can get out of this. So thank you so much, everyone. Before you go, I wanted to just drop something that I listened to, I listened to the servant of God some, some, at the same time, some years ago, two years ago, I think about a year ago. And he said, for four years, he did not watch, he did not watch any TV, television, for four years. And the reason was that, he was, before he got born again, he was, he had too many relationships with women. So now that he's born again, there were things, I believe there were things that were happening. So, he need, God needed to separate him from that, and for four years, God did not allow him to watch TV. Now, those are the level of separation and discipline that we need. The sacrifices and the discipline we need to really tame this thing, because, the moment, a person, I didn't want, let me say this quickly before, sorry to, for the sound of it. No, no, no, no, you can go ahead sir. The moment a person is engaged in this thing, at the beginning, it would be that the person is the one trying to just practice something, or just engage in something to indulge something. But I can tell you, spirit will come and help you, after a while. It will come and help you, to start compelling a person to do certain things. And they know what they want to do, is to create a system that will bring disgrace and shame at the end, because that is what they want to do. So, you, a person must understand that there are sacrifices to be made. If you stay on social media for two years, it's not bad, if you really mean business to say that this, I want to do this. Because, you can't keep having eye contact with those things that trigger those things. And the person believes that he will overcome it. No. And social media is a very free world, where you will meet a lot of those triggers. A lot of those triggers. So, discipline is key. Make up your mind to pay the price, to say, you know what, this will cost me something. There are some places that you normally go to, that you will stop going, because something was not triggered, until your brain is reconfigured, by the power of the Holy Ghost. Now you can withstand the pressure when it comes. Then, until then, you need to stay off certain things. So, I believe, my brother has said that, and this is again just to add to what he has said, the discipline is a critical part of the whole process of breaking addiction. Wow. That's a good place for us to wrap this up. Thank you. Thank you so much, Pastor Dan. And thank you everyone for joining us today. So, until we come your way again, God bless, and, have a great time. Bye.