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Ephesians 6:10 Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. In my addiction to both food and drugs, I promised myself again and again that I would quit. Every indulgence was the last time. I’ll quit tomorrow, I swear! I mean it this time. I refuse to fail. Never once did…
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  Ephesians 6:1-4 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” . . . Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger. A few days ago, I was riding with my driver-in-training son when we approached a 40 MPH speed limit sign. As he was going 30,…
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Ephesians 5:25,33 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . . . let each one of you love his wife as himself . . . The nature of addiction is to pursue some behavior above those whom I say are important to me. I once took a…
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Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. When under the influence of a pill, my behavior was altered by that which I ingested. I took the pill and it, in turn, took me. As the drug acted on receptors in my brain, my thoughts…
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Ephesians 5:3,4 Sexual immorality . . . must not even be named among you . . . Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking . . . but instead let there be thanksgiving. When I was in my early teens, my father and I knew a man with a particularly foul…
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Ephesians 4:30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God . . . In my addiction, I broke my relationship with my wife. My lies and toxic behavior destroyed trust, embarrassed her and wrecked her life. She wanted to know why. Why would you love something so destructive over me? She was right in asking.…
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Ephesians 4:26 Be angry and do not sin . . . When a patient in the ER once made a thinly veiled threat against my family, I exploded with a rage I had not previously felt. Before I knew it, I was out of my chair, lunging towards the offender. I regained control before I…
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Ephesians 4:22-24 Put off your old self, which . . . is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit . . . put on the new self, created after the likeness of God. Medical school and residency were painfully repetitive. We were taught certain concepts over and over in an effort to…
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Ephesians 4:15 Speaking the truth in love… It is not uncommon for me to be approached by the family member of an addict, who desperately wants to know how to deal with the addiction.  Do I just love him?  Do I kick him out of the house? How can I make him get help? It…
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Ephesians 4:1,2 Walk… with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love… As is often the case, I read this passage yesterday, knowing it was important but not immediately seeing any issue there for me.  Though I do not always get it right, I generally treat people with kindness.  I kept…
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