I Can’t Do It Alone

I  once heard a former drug addict share the belief that the opposite of addiction is community, rather than sobriety.

 From what I can remember of his presentation he said,  “At my worst, loneliness pushed me to use again. After I started trusting the healthy community around me, I wasn’t getting clean because I wanted to get sober. I got clean because when I was weak, my community came around me and loved me anyway. When I was victorious in making a milestone, they celebrated just as fiercely as I did. Eventually, I stayed clean because over time, I finally realized my story didn’t just belong to me.”

 Now, one man’s experience doesn’t equal gospel truth, but his story made me realize just how valuable the Body of Christ is when—much like this man’s call to sobriety— we are called to surrender our lives and defeat our addiction to sin.

 How much differently would we perceive our journey in becoming Christlike if we pressed more deeply into our community of Christ followers? Would the lies that tell us we’re alone in our suffering lessen? Would our courage to rise up and try again after a failure increase?

 Is it possible our battle wasn’t meant to be fought as individuals, but together?

 I certainly believe so.