When it comes to addiction, I have had my own fair share of it. I saw myself doing it over and over and over again even as a Christian. It cost and brought me pain, money, embarrassment, disrespect and so on. Recently, I was called to order and rebuked the way a child is corrected when he misbehaves. I feel so ashamed of myself of allowing this addiction to take over me. Guess what, it is not what you think but it was something that ate me up for like six (6) months. It all started in December, 2015 when I went into it fully. Although it was in December last year it took over me, I have been doing it for a long time. In church, at home, in the office and so on, this addiction welled up its ugly head and I got entangled and engrossed in it. Sincerely, I had a good intention doing it like people who do drugs but it led me deeper into it.
My addiction was the social media. I was so addicted to it that I used it anywhere. The social media is the latest trend of addiction which could be found among young people, professionals and active people. I once had a colleague that was always browsing seriously on his phone and neglecting what our boss had asked him to do. I got disgusted and pissed off several times by it but I never knew why he was so addicted to it. His addiction affected his work and personality but he didn’t mind. I saw all the things that were happening to him and I never knew I would one day become a victim of what I once condemned so much.
In December, 2014, I decided to have a platform (A BLOG) through which I would be reach out to people with the messages God has put in my heart. I started with so much zeal because I felt the gospel was urgent and souls were perishing. I remember sleeping late and waking up very early to type the messages God had given me and also updating them on my blog. This thing got hold of me that I was always on my phone both in church, bus, car, office and at home. Several times in church, I saw myself blogging because I wanted to reach out to people. I was supposed to be in church to worship, pray and receive God’s word but several times that addiction took over me. I was doing the right thing at the wrong time and this led to the head of the unit I belonged to in church confronting me several times. When I was not actively involved or when I was done with whatever I was supposed to do as a minister that day, I would bring out my tablet and start surfing the net and updating my blog.
But in May, 2015, God started dealing with me in this area. He gave me insights into the importance and dangers of it. I started seeing the foolishness of what I was doing as I put those things God put in my hearts to writing. I saw how it has brought shame, rebuke and disrespect to me and the thoughts of it began the recovery process. The healing process continued and fortunately, my pastor around this period started speaking about how people have been using it in church to distract themselves. Many people including me bring in tablets to church because they have bible applications on their tablets and phones. But a few ends up surfing the net like I did several times. Also, I remember that God spoke to me several times to give my tablet to my nephew but I have not been able to give it to him because he is in school.
The final stroll was broken in September, 2015 when my phone fell into water in the cause of a beach party organized by my office and September 25, a day to my birthday when my tablet fell down and went blank. I was so angry when these things happened and I was really eager to get them fixed on time. But somehow, I was nonchalant in fixing them or buying a new one. I will fix them but I am not in a hurry since I felt a big burden had left me which has brought relief to me. My nonchalance towards fixing the tablet and phone made me to start using a phone that is not internet enabled. Surely, I have been delivered from the shackles of the social media and I saw how everything had worked out for my good to deliver me from this burden called The Social Media. Although, I am not there yet, I know I have been rescued from the scourge on our generation we all are dinning with. This does not mean that I will not be blogging the messages of God in my heart but I will apply wisdom to it.
Everyone is addicted to one thing or the other but at different levels. This is one thing that has taken this generation by storm and people are not really aware that they are addicted to it and they are also ignorant of what it is doing to them. As important as it is to us, it is also costing relationships, happiness, love, finances, marriages, homes, professions, lives and properties. People browse, surf, chat, ping and do a lot while on the go. While driving, some people do a lot on their phones and this has caused a lot of accidents, deaths, injuries and properties. I have seen people on bikes surfing and browsing on their phones. This is how terrible this situation is.
Addiction is a terrible thing many people are struggling with. It affects every area of your life and most times it leads to destruction. Several people are addicted but are not aware that they are addicted and some will tell you they are not whereas they are. People get addicted to things that give them pleasure, comfort, entertainment, relief, happiness, love and so on. People could be addicted to drugs, food, fashion, sex, other people, football, work, books, vision, alcohol, and so on. It makes you focus on a thing, spending your resources, time, energy on one thing and neglecting other vital things. It could be good, bad and destructive depending on what one is addicted to. When a person is addicted to something, he cannot control how they use it and become dependent on it to cope with daily life.
Addiction is a state characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences. It can become more important than the need to eat or sleep. The urge to get and use the drug or do that particular thing can fill every moment of a person's life. The addiction replaces all the things the person used to enjoy. A person who is addicted might do almost anything like lying, stealing, or hurting people to keep taking the drug.
According to someone, “People with an addiction do not have control over what they are doing, taking or using. Their addiction may reach a point at which it is harmful. Addictions do not only include physical things we consume, such as drugs or alcohol, but may include virtually anything, such abstract things as gambling to seemingly harmless products, such as chocolate - in other words, addiction may refer to a substance dependence (e.g. drug addiction) or behavioral addiction (e.g. gambling addiction)”.
Exodus 20:3 says “You shall have no other gods before me”.
Exodus 34:14 says “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”.
Isaiah 45:5 says “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: “
Another name for addiction is a god. The Bible says we should not worship anything besides God and if you are addicted to anything, that thing has become your god. It is called a god because you worship it by giving it your time, life, mind, resources and attention. Anything that takes your time and the place of God in your life is called an addiction (a god) because you worship it indirectly. Wilson Ileogben
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