Understanding God's Hope and Help for Substance Abuse
As a counselor, I've been asked these two questions many times over the years:
1. What does the Bible say about substance abuse?
2. What does the Bible say about addiction?
If you're using prescription drugs or alcohol to mask the hurt and pain, you are not alone. And you can begin your healing right now.
These verses of hope will help you cope with difficult emotions. As you read, think about how much more healing God's love is than the empty high that comes from substance abuse, and find more lasting comfort in God’s love for you.
Find Freedom from Addiction in God's Strength:
1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Submit Yourself and Your Weaknesses to God:
Romans 6:16 - Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness.
James 4:7 - Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
God's Grace Will Restore and Rescue You:
1 Peter 5:10 - And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Colossians 1: 13-14 - For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Psalm 86:13 - For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: [a] The old has gone, the new is here!
