If I was to ask the question “Who are you?” most likely the response would be a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a police officer, a student, an addict….and the list goes on and on. But all those responses are not who we are, they are what defines us.

For those fighting the disease of addiction, it is important to examine ourselves as we seek to be the person whom we were created to be. No one started off wanting to become an ‘addict’, the term that we are now labeled. What started off as curiosity in some cases, or as a mood changer to mask the unresolved pain in our lives has now hijacked us from our true path. And in many cases we have become helpless slaves ‘snared’ to our DOC. Despite our numerous desperate attempts to get or stay clean we are constantly thwarted by the storms in our lives, and eventually give in. Until we redefine who we are and truly believe it, we will continue to be the proverbial rat on the wheel.

We do not have to wait until our lives become unmanageable to make this move of self-discovery. We have the capacity to make it now. Of course, I am speaking to the choir, but what can we do? There is no sure-proof answer, but if we diligently seek the answer and do the work the answer will become obvious. Admit that we are weak, we have tried everything this far, but have not fully surrendered to our Higher Power whatever it is. Do we want to die and addict? Or live the life that we were created to be? I am sure we have chosen the latter.

I struggle with the phone calls daily of those who have relapsed or died. This is a battle for our lives until we give up on making poor choices. At the end of the day we and only us make the poor choices. James 4:7 says it clearly, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” In James 1:12 he states, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” And he goes further on in James 1:14-15 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

A life with purpose can only be attained through total submission. Isn’t it time to create the true definition of ourselves? The question is, “Who are we willing to submit to?” “Who are we willing to serve?” The answer to that old age question is found in Matthew 6:24 which states, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

The choice is ours today; right now! Our DOC which have us in chains, or the Creator of the Universe? 2 Corinthians 5:17 says it best. “Therefore, if anyone is united with Christ, that person is a new creation. The old life is gone—and see—a new life has begun! We don’t have to live this way. Get rid of the old life and begin a new one. You think about it!

Good morning!

Remember, ‘nothing changes if nothing changes’ and ‘the same person will always use’.

Have a Blessed day in the Lord. You deserve it!

From the desk of Andy Ansola