One of the most difficult choices to make during one’s journey, is the choice to take ownership of personal choices. We like to label addiction as a “disease” or place blame on our past, but at the end of the day our choices are what have brought us to where we are today. \u00a0The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 30:19,\u00a0“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (NLT) \u00a0When we look at addiction through the lens of Scripture, the “choice” is made clear. \u00a0When faced with the decision of life and death, nobody else makes the decision for us. \u00a0The choice is ours. \u00a0Do we choose life or do we choose death?<\/p>\n
Many will argue that addicts have no choice, that the disease makes the choices for them. \u00a0This could not be further from the truth. \u00a0We make choices everyday. \u00a0We choose to get out of bed, dress, go to work, eat, socialize, and so on. Why do we make these choices? \u00a0We make these choices because we know that they are good for us. \u00a0If someone placed a glass full of poison in front of us and asked us to drink it, most would choose to walk away. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because, we know that the substance is dangerous and could be lethal. \u00a0The same principal applies to addiction. \u00a0I have yet to meet an addict who said, “I didn’t know that drugs\/alcohol would hurt me.” \u00a0My experience has been quite the opposite. \u00a0Everyone that I have worked with has at some point admitted to knowing the dangers of substance abuse, yet they made the choice to use despite the dangers.<\/p>\n
Our job, our philosophy, our mission, is to help individuals come to the end of self. \u00a0It is at this point that they can begin to take ownership of their choices and move forward on the path of healing. \u00a0Without truly understanding the weight of our choices, it is impossible to renew our minds and begin the process of transformation. (Romans 12:2) Addiction is rarely the problem. \u00a0The underlying wounds are the true issue. These wounds, whether self-inflicted or inflicted by the hands of others, must be addressed before true recovery can begin. \u00a0These wounds create a void. \u00a0By nature, our first inclination is to find someone or something to fill that void. It is not until we understand that a God sized void cannot be filled by a man sized fix, that a true, honest, dialogue can begin between the clinician and their patient. \u00a0The soul longs for a relationship with its Creator, our job is to create an environment where that relationship can begin, grow, and flourish.<\/p>\n
Jarod Cruthis, MA, Ed.D, LCAS, CSI<\/p>\n
Clinical Director<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the most difficult choices to make during one’s journey, is the choice to take ownership of personal choices. We like to label addiction as a “disease” or place blame on our past, but at the end of the day our choices are what have brought us to where we are today. \u00a0The Bible…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":936,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions\/936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}