How the Lord, the Creator views addictions and healing: two papers

These must be overcome if we are acceptable to our Creator. There is much help...

by White Wolf (Phil Shapley)

How the Lord, the Creator views addictions and healing: two papers

There are two papers on addiction. The first is a general paper written by White Wolf. The second is available by clicking on addiction on the top panel of this website. It is a deep paper that encourages people to strongly connect with Jesus Christ for help in overcoming. It covers a necessary understanding of things needed to dwell in the Celestial Kingdom in your after death life in the spirit world. It was a talk given to the Saints in the Owen Sound Ward of the LDS (Latter Day Saint) Church by Bishop Timothy Salmon. For more understanding of it, contact your local LDS Missionaries.

Paper 1: Introduction to Addiction and Healing by White Wolf (Phil Shapley)

Addictions have important consequences. The adverse effects can be many: sadness, codependence, depression, helplessness, feeling unloved, being infatuated, conflict, family problems, fear, harsh feelings toward others, quick to anger, you hurt others, making enemies, reduced creditability, failing to realize potentials or to be happy, etc.. Addictions which have not been mastered not only affect our daily lives, but also our post death, post-Earth life in the spirit world. If you both have not seriously worked to master your addiction(s) and have not appealed to the Lord for forgiveness, you will likely be placed with other like spirits in a lower level of Heaven (1 Corinthians !5: 39-44). Also you will suffer by being purged until you are willing to rid yourself of your addictions, your crutch. For the unrepentant, justice will require all this and it will be very difficult to bear (see the paper The Basic Truths behind Christ"Teachings). A comforting comment is if you have confessed to the Lord, and seriously worked to overcome but have only partially succeeded, the Lord can be merciful. Don’t be despondent. The Creator wants to help. A serious effort will greatly help your standing.

To aid our discussion, we define addictions and give examples. An addiction is any character flaw, behavior that we do not or can not control that limits our happiness, our effectiveness and growth, and/or that restricts us from obtaining what we desire, including what is most beautiful in the after death spirit world. Another way of defining addiction is: an addiction is a behavior that keeps us from doing the will of our Creator, that distances us from the Lord, that prevents us from being happy and from being in the most loving part of the after death spirit world. Examples of addictions include: alcoholism, drugs, smoking, compulsive behavior, gambling, criticizing others to make ourselves feel better, being too busy to love our kids or to work on our spiritual growth, running from short comings, compulsive shopping, overeating, pornography, gossiping, sexual perversion, sex that violates the Lord’s standards, perfectionism, and many more. I quit my model train hobby when it became too important and took me away from putting the Creator first-- the hobby had become compulsive and restricted my growth, my happiness.

How does a person become addicted?

It can be triggered by:

Situation 1: Experimenting, trying things that we should have left untried, such as alcohol, pornography, smoking, drugs, sex outside the bounds the Lord sets, gambling, etc. When we do these things, many become addicted, they can’t stop. Situation 1 is limited to cases where there is no deep underlying personal problem connected with the addiction. But one can arise after a person becomes addicted which then puts the addiction in a Situation 2 category.

Situation 2: This situation involves the need to compensate for something lacking in our life and/or personality, such as the lack of love, low self-esteem, the consequences of abuse, etc. For instance, using alcohol and drugs can temporarily drown out sadness. Here we need to solve the underlying problem to stop the addiction.

Situation 3: Glandular dysfunctions and/or nervous system problems, can lead to addiction. In this case, if a person is capable of recognizing the problem and does not do what he can, he is responsible. Otherwise, not.

Many people feel that the failure to overcome an addiction reflects the lack of will power. But overcoming usually requires more than this. By definition, an addiction is a behavior that we cannot readily control on our own. We need some external source of positive energy, such as love, to overcome the addiction, to stop the addictive behavior. In Situation 1 addictions, a good hobby or activity may help. We will discuss this further in a moment.

In Situation 2, the lack of something or what is missing, leads a person to addictive behavior in an attempt to compensate for what is missing, such as drinking to drown out loneliness. But the addiction does not provide what is lacking, such as love to heal emotional hurt, low self-esteem. Though the person continues to drink to drown out his hurt, the basic problem still remains. Trying to conquer the addiction without solving the underlying problem, leads to failure. Even if a specific addiction is conquered, the underlying problem will trigger another neurosis.

For people whose adductions arise due an underlying problem, a Situation 2 addiction, the application of psychology and psychiatric treatment often fail. These mostly deal with eliminating the symptoms of the deeper trauma. What is required is solving the underlying problem.

Another way of putting matters is that when an addiction is removed, it must be replaced with something. If the replacement is love, a healthy hobby, the problem can be solved. Regardless, something will replace the addiction and if the intended replacement is not positive, there will likely be another neurosis.

Some medical knowledge is helpful. When we have experienced a serious trauma, such as abuse, the lack of love, excessive fear, loneliness, there are changes within the brain, changes that lead to depression, to less ability to learn and to solve problems, etc. There are also brain changes with alcoholism, prolonged depression, sadness. Fortunately, the brain is plastic. It can change for the better when positive energy such as love or a good exercise, is provided. When such happens, we can overcome our addiction, be happy and acquire more and/or increased abilities. The application of positive energy has led to the healing.

The greatest source of positive energy is love. It can come from people giving love and understanding. Having the guidance of a person who has overcome, can be very helpful. Even much greater is love and help from the Creator or God. Alcoholics find that you must have help from a higher power to overcome.

The application of people love and understanding is widely comprehended. However, this does not mean tolerating all bad behavior or protecting a person from the consequences of his/her actions. Often tough love is required, such as to help a person wake up to his plight.

A greater source of help and love is our Creator. Seeking to get close to Him, learning His teachings and working hard to live them, brings the greatest help. His power and love become active when we work to live His teachings. With this active faith, you can conquer addictions. Let the love of your Creator replace the space formerly occupied by your bad behavior. He can heal damage in the brain, you receive needed love and peace, you are happy and your abilities increase. Turn to our Creator to solve the cause of your demeaning addiction.

Having given the above, matters are now up to you. Have the courage to admit your problems. For difficult addictions, ridding requires not only deciding to do it, but also developing a determination that enters your heart, that is part of your inner being. Then go to the Lord asking for help. Follow the 12 steps of the effective AA recovery program which is attached. Or contact your local LDS missionaries and ask for the LDS Family Services book entitled: Addiction Recovery Program: A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing. If you do not want any more contact with the missionaries, they will respect this. But being spiritual, they can help and want to help. They will not force their teachings on you. It is a scared principle that you are to be free to make your own choices without external pressure. Their first concern will be to help you with your addiction. They have some effective programs for overcoming addictions, such as reducing cravings for tobacco. These spiritual young people can be surprisingly helpful.

I know that our Creator is Jesus Christ. Humbly turn to Him to overcome your addictions. He says: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27). He also says: “Take my yoke upon you, learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11: 29-30). In addition: “The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God.” (Luke 18: 27).

Appendix: The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-- that our lives had become unmanageable.
Come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could rescue us to sanity.
Make a decision to turn our will and our lives to the care of God as we understand Him.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Be entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
Seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakeninciples in all our affairs.

Paper 2: Cleanse the Inner Vessel by Bishop Timothy Salmon

(References which are from the Book of Mormon are denoted by BM. Those from Doctrine and Covenants by D&C. Biblical references are identified by B. The Family refers to the: The Family: A Proclamation to the World.)

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that all human beings are created in the image of God. Each of us “is a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly parents, and, as such each has a divine nature and destiny... In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain Earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life” (The Family, 1995).

Our earthly parents Adam and Eve were placed in a Garden. In the Garden state, their bodies though not exalted would not grow old or die. There they were not tempted with weaknesses of the flesh. Adam and Eve were given a choice. They could remain in the Garden, innocent, never completely knowing good as they were not exposed to evil, but would do so without experiencing family life. With time, a choice was made; Adam fell that man might be (BM 2 Ne 2:27).

With the partaking of the fruit Adam"body became mortal, prone to hunger, to fatigue, to sin, to disease and to death. From the fall onward innocent spirits have of their own free will left Fathers presence and been born into imperfect bodies prone to temptation. In God"wisdom, each individual has a unique set of challenges, physical, mental, and emotional. These challenges are tailored for each of us giving our spirits opportunities to grow. We grow when the appetites of the body are brought into subjections of the Spirit.

Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy (BM 2Ne 2:25). In mortality we are each seeking to have joy. There are many different paths in life with many different outcomes. Most paths do not have happy endings. Some seek for joy through fulfilling the appetites of the body. It appears the brain is the interface between the spirit and the body. Repeated disobedience to God's council through following the appetites of the body leads to hard wiring changes in our brains. As the body begins to rule the spirit we find ourselves trapped in addictive behavioural patterns.

Addictions then are the consequences of our confused attempts to control our righteous desire for joy. Addictions are repeated patterns of behaviour we fall back to in an ill guided attempt to feel better than we feel now. Sadly, these behaviours remove us from the influence of the Spirit, further away from God, and further from the goal of joy we seek.

Each time we sin, Lucifer, the serpent, rejoices because we are choosing captivity and death (White Wolf-- death here is spiritual death, shut out from spiritual growth and learning). I have not met anyone who was seeking to develop an addiction. In fact, we generally do not recognize it until we are trapped for ...the devil...leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever (BM 2Ne 26:22)

Each flaxen cord is gently looped around us. The cords are initially so light that we do not notice them. Each poor use of agency allows another loop to be placed until we enslave ourselves to the behaviour pattern and find ourselves strongly bond by Satan"chains. This was a snare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity (BM Alma 12:6). Moses beheld Satan and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced (Pearl of Great Price Moses 7:26). Satan wants us to miserable like himself.

Are you miserable? Are you experiencing God's joy or do you feel life is not fair? Are you patient and longsuffering or are you easily angered and frustrated? Can you look up to God today with a pure heart and clean hands or would you hide under a rock if He was to appear? Do you have the image of God engraven upon your countenances or is your countenance clouded and troubled? If you were called to die at this time, could you say within yourselves that you have been sufficiently humble? Have your garments been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ? Do you feel to sing the song of redeeming love? (BM see Alma 5:14-26)

Each of us has character flaws that if unchecked can lead to addictions. “Addicts are people with a problem – a problem they can’t solve on their own, a problem they can’t find enough will power or ‘intestinal fortitude’ to conquer on their own. Sometimes they feel unique in their weakness, that they are the worst of humanity. Sometimes the rest of humanity agrees. Little does the addict, or any of his or her critics, realize that when any of us face a problem of insurmountable proportions, we are actually facing the greatest truth we can ever know in mortality – the nature of our true relationship to God, that of ourselves we are ‘nothing’ while in God all wisdom and power reside.

It is very humiliating to admit such complete personal powerlessness and neediness, but addicts must admit it or die. The stark and startling truth, however, is all of us, without exception, come short of the power to save ourselves. No matter how minimal we’ve been able to keep our list of sins and shortcomings, no matter how much willpower and self-discipline we’ve been able to muster, we still fall short of His glory (Harrison, p1).

“It is more than appropriate for each of us to examine our lives, not just for alcohol or drug addiction, but for any challenge which leaves us devastated and demoralized, bankrupt of any will or desire to believe in ourselves, in life... and maybe even in God.

Do you have a problem? An insurmountable problem of any nature? Is there some aspect of your life in which you are out of control, unable to “govern” yourself or your life? Is it alcohol or some other drug, either legal [prescription] or illegal? Is it [pornography, masturbation, or any other] compulsive sexual behaviour pattern? [Is it a tendency to become frustrated or angry with your children when you have had a bad day]? Is it your weight or a disordered behaviour towards food and eating? [Is it excessively worrying that you have missed an important email, a chat group, or facebook entry] Is it compulsive use of money [requiring therapeutic trips to the shopping mall]? [Is it the tendency to be vulgar –that is to make yourself feel better when frustrated by obscenely demeaning God and His creations]?

[Is it] excessive work commitments that consume you and your family"lives? [Fathers are you too busy to do your home teaching?] [Is it an obsession to make things perfect in the family? Mothers you can get so involved with your children's lives, music lessons, sports, art classes and school programs that you never get around to the important things in your own lives neglecting your own spiritual growth and relationship with your Father in Heaven. Are you too busy to hold a calling? Is your life too busy to do your visiting teaching? Is your downfall a desperate obsession with trying to help and control and fix other people and their mistakes or die trying [or is it a habit of criticizing others in order to make yourself feel better” (Harrison, p.2).

If you suspect you are addicted and if you feel even the smallest desire to break free, I invite you to join Elder and Sister Wright in the addiction recovery program. We are blessed to have this loving couple serving in our ward. They have been trained through LDS Social Services to teach A.R.P. This group will meet each Sunday at 2pm in the Primary room.

We are children of God. One day, through the Resurrection of Christ, we will stand before the Saviour to be judged of all our works, whether they be good or evil. This is a sobering thought.

On the surface many of us appear shiny but the Lord looketh not upon the outward appearance; the Lord looketh upon the heart. He will see the dark areas where we are hiding our favourite sins.

No mercy will be extended if we are not applying the atonement to all our sins. If we have not applied the atonement we will have to answer in full to the law of justice. For behold, I God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused myself even God,the greatest of all to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit ( D&C 19:16-18).

Satan would have all who struggle with destructive behaviour patterns to believe that they are lost. This is a lie.

We must fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything [to us] or else He is nothing (AA “Big Book”, p.53).

President Ezra Taft Benson taught that “when we put God first all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives (Benson, p.4).

You may find yourself saying: “well I believe in God”. Please ask yourself the following: “If I really believe in God, why haven’t I been able to find salvation and the power to stop my self defeating, self destructive behaviours?

Many have struggled alone to try to fix their lives from the outside in and neglected the inner person. How do we do this? We do this when we tackle eating disorders with diets alone, when we stop smoking or drinking but do not address why we began this destructive behaviour, when we promise to count to ten next time we are angry, or when we stop talking to or completely avoid those individual in our extended families or ward families that we feel have wronged us, do not understand us, or make us uncomfortable. Avoidance of the problem is not deliverance.

“When we try to fix our lives from the outside in, we find the inner self remains an undernourished, out of shape spiritual being” (Harrison, p10). The world works from the outside in. This approach is doomed to failure for “No matter what the source of difficulty and no matter how you [attempt] to obtain relief – through a qualified professional therapist, doctor, priesthood leader, friend, or loved one – no matter how you begin, those solutions will never provide a complete answer “(Scott, p.7). Don’t be discouraged by the neglected undernourished condition you may find your spiritual selves in. That is the good news of the Gospel. His ways are not our ways. “The world works from the outside in but the Lord works from the inside out. The world would take people out of the slums. [Jesus] Christ takes the slums out of people” (Benson, p.4). “[Complete] healing comes through faith in Jesus Christ and His teachings” (Scott, p.7). When we put God first in our lives and begin to spend the kind of time and energy in nourishing and exercising ourselves spiritually as we thought we had to physically the spiritual self begins to heal with miraculous quickness (Harrison, p10 ).

Some in this congregation may not yet acknowledge they have a problem or feel they cannot face the embarrassment of acknowledging their weaknesses. Your Father in Heaven loves you. He knows your weaknesses. Because He loves you He has designed a world that will not be kind. “When the pain of your problem gets worse than the pain of the solution then you will be ready to make a change” (Harrison, p11). Please don’t wait until the pain becomes this great. Your addictions are affecting those you love. Seek help now.

O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down onto the eternal gulf of misery and woe (BM 2 Ne 1:13).

If we truly come unto Christ, putting God first in our lives then weight will be lost, checking accounts will balance, our children will honour us, and our relationships with others will adjust to healthier levels. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall give thee rest, from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from [thy] bondage (BM 2 Ne 24:3) Therefore having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (B 2Cor 7:1).

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Works Cited
Benson, Ezra T. Ensign, May 1994.
Benson, Ezra T. Ensign, July 1989.
Harrison, Colleen C. He Did Deliver Me From Bondage. Windhaven Publishing, 2000.
Scott, Richard G. Ensign, May 1994.
The Family: A Proclamation To The World, September 23, 1995.

Other Scripture References To Bondage

...if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks (1Ne 14:1)

Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion (Isaiah 52:2)

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32)

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Gal 5:1)

For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked (Alma 34:35)