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Addictions
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Posted by: angelofthelord
Shopping can be an addiction. I have dealt many times with addiction
problems. Most think of those fighting addictions as people who are
prowling around seedy adult sex shops late at night, meeting scary people
who have sold out to satan and sell drugs, slipping into a neighborhood bar
after work and having your "normal" 4-5 drinks before going home, just to
mention a few.
ANYTHING can be an addiction. One of the most common battles many fight
daily is an
addiction to food. But today, I want to expose another addiction that MANY
of you are battling each day that is RARELY talked about, SHOPPING.
First, an addiction is something that consumes your life. It takes over and
becomes your number one priority. It destroys your personal relationships.
Worst of all, it destroys your relationship with God. Whenever you allow
ANYTHING to take over your life to the point that it is interfering with
your walk with God, when God is no longer your number one priority, IT IS A
SIN. It is something that you must deal with immediately before it totally
destroys your life.
Shopping is legal. It is not like doing cocaine which is not. Shopping is
actually a necessary part of life, just like eating is. However, many have
found their "escape" in shopping. Just like some will come home and have
2..3..4..5..6..drinks in the evening to "escape," many will shop to escape.
One of the growing problems that I have had to deal with over these past
6 years is the number of people who are addicted to Home Shopping
and other 24-hour TV shopping channels.
I am NOT going to sit here and tell you that they are evil, that they equate
with TV pornography, that is clearly NOT the case. However, for many, the
addiction is just as real, and just as powerful, as someone who sits at home
and watches pornography on their TV. It is an "escape" from reality.
The worst thing about "escapes" is that they ALWAYS compound the problems
that a person is "escaping" from. People spend thousands on pornography,
catch sexually transmitted diseases, get caught and destroy their marriages
and families. People who use drugs and alcohol not only pay a huge price by
driving under the influence, but they are destroying their health, and
numbing themselves from being able to function at 100% efficiency in their
daily lives. Those who are addicted to shopping ultimately end up spending
thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in
many cases destroy their finances over this addiction. THERE IS ALWAYS A
HUGE PRICE TO PAY WHEN YOU TRY TO "ESCAPE!!!"
Sadly, this is a HUGE issue that
many are fighting today. Please know that I will be praying for you in this
battle. Like ALL addiction battles, you can only attain victory after you
first turn it over to the Lord. God will help you devise a battle plan, God
will give you people that will walk through this with you to hold you
accountable, and most of all, God will give you the strength each day to
walk victoriously. This has been one of those silent issues that few will
ever talk about, but it is time to pull back the curtain and expose this
problem that many are fighting today. Above all, know that God loves you,
and that God will lead you to victory when YOU are ready to fight this
battle.
The key however is that first step. I don't care what your battle is.
Whether it is with drugs, alcohol, sex, food, OR SHOPPING. The first step
is for you to admit that you have a problem. Being addicted to shopping is
no different than any other addiction. You have to admit that this is a
problem in your life and ask God to help you get victory over it. Please
know that I will be praying for you today. I will be praying that God will
not only give you the courage to admit this problem in your life, but that
you will allow Him to guide you to victory. Never forget, with God..ALL
THINGS...are possible. Even victory over an addiction to shopping.
GOD MAY BE SPEAKING TO YOU TODAY. THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE
THAT YOU WILL EVER HEAR AT CHURCH, BUT YOU KNOW HOW
DESTRUCTIVE IT IS IN YOUR LIFE. ACCEPT THAT GOD IS SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO
YOU, TELLING YOU THAT THESE ARE WORDS OF LOVE, THAT HE KNOWS THE PAIN YOU
ARE IN OVER THIS ISSUE.
TODAY, NOW, IS THE TIME TO GO TO YOUR KNEES, ASK HIS FORGIVENESS, AND GET
SERIOUS ABOUT GETTING VICTORY OVER THIS PROBLEM IN YOUR LIFE. GOD
WILL GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH, AND I WILL BE STANDING WITH YOU IN PRAYER.
MAY YOU BE FREE OF THIS BONDAGE IN YOUR LIFE, IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!!