Is sexual addiction a disease that needs to be healed or a habit that needs to be broken? It’s an important question that demands consideration.
Why do we need to know?
Without understanding what we are actually dealing with it’s impossible to find release from its insidious control. Should we be seeking God’s healing
The answer might surprise you
The truth is that we desperately need both. There are two “tracks” in all addictions that need attention. First, we need God to heal the parts of us that have been wounded through misunderstandings, fear, abuse, or neglect. We can’t talk ourselves out of this residual pain or the automatic reactions that it causes. We need the hand of the Master to restore us to emotional and spiritual health.
But, there is another habitual component to addiction. It includes the ways we choose to cope with life, our acting out rituals, repetitive thinking, avoidance and excuses. Although these habits are initially choice drive, over time, with enough repetition, they become automatic and no longer require cognitive decisions.
The good news is that even the most deeply embedded habits can be changed by intentional choices. Dr. Maxwell Maltz was one of the first to recognize that it consistently took his patients 21 days to create a new habit. His studies revealed that brain circuits produce new neuropathways only if they are bombarded with the new idea for 21 days in a row. The human mind, time after time, takes almost exactly three weeks to adjust to any major life change, whether negative or positive.
Finding freedom requires a partnership
It’s important to keep this in mind as we strive to replace old activities and responses with new healthier behaviors. Even though breaking habits requires
“Ah Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” — Jeremiah 32:17
