"Remain in Me, and I will remain in you." John 15:4
It is worth remembering that the stars are still shining, even when the clouds hide them. Remember too, that behind the dark patches of life, the eternal love of your Eternal Father is still shining brightly. If you have cultivated trust in Him, your faith will carry you through the darkest moments of life.
The life that Jesus promises us “if we remain in Him” is a challenge that people hesitate to accept and instead choose to remain in a religious rut that promotes neither joy nor spiritual growth [for an addict, that religion is drinking, drugs, pornography, codependency, food, sex, etc]
The life that Christ promises is much more than an emotional experience. It creates inner-peace, a constructive propose in life, and provides the strength to achieve and maintain such a life through the power of the Holy Spirit.
"Remain in Me, and I will remain in you." John 15:4
— Deciding to become sober can be one of those emotional moments that the author here is equating to first accepting Jesus. But just like “remaining” true to our sobriety takes a LOT of work, so does “remaining” in Him. However, I contend that for addicts this goes hand in hand. Especially those of us who follow a traditional 12 step program or the Celebrate Recovery. Accepting that there is a higher power, for me God, and that we can’t “do” sobriety on our own leaves me no where to look but to Him. And so the more I work at sobriety the more I work to building that relationship with Christ and throwing off the ways of the work that got me into trouble in the first place. I’m not looking forward to dying, but I now have a hope for a future where the world will not be filled with these other “religions” and that there will be no such thing as addiction.
