NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

June 4

Scripture focus: So, my friends, this is something like what has taken place with you. When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to "marry" a resurrection life and bear "offspring" of faith for God. For as long as we lived that old way of life, doing whatever we felt we could get away with, sin was calling most of the shots as the old law code hemmed us in. And this made us all the more rebellious. In the end, all we had to show for it was miscarriages and stillbirths. But now that we're no longer shackled to that domineering mate of sin, and out from under all those oppressive regulations and fine print, we're free to live a new life in the freedom of God. Romans 7:4-6 The Message

Eventually, in spite of our best efforts, our addictions can no longer be repressed or denied. But have no fear – there are more tools in our belt to avoid solving the problem. We can rationalize, make excuses, and attempt to justify our shackles. Although others might call us “liars” – what’s really going on is a vain attempt to convince ourselves that if we have a problem, it certainly cannot be related to our addiction. This is like wearing prison cuffs and calling them cool designer accessories.

Why all this elaborate meandering away from the truth? Because when we are addicted, our driving motivation is always the desire to continue “using.” This increases our internal distress and alienation from self. There is a heavy price to pay for losing touch with our true selves.

Are you in a restful state, or a state of restlessness? Could it be that there is a dependency that is unidentified that is having its way with you?

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