There were quite a few moments throughout General Conference last weekend that I was brought to tears. But never have I felt more joy and rejoicing than I did as I listened to Elder M. Russell Ballard’s apostolic testimony concerning addiction. I could hardly sit still as he announced to the entire membership of the Church that the LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Program, “adapted from the original Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous,” is readily available. I am sure there were many other LDS members who, like me, have dealt with addiction, also crying with joy to hear Elder Ballard acknowledge and give credence to the reality of their bondage and the power of the Savior’s Atonement to set us free.
Stunned with Gratitude
This morning as I pulled up the audio recording of Elder Ballard’s message and listened to it several times, I could not help but put my head down on my folded arms and weep with gratitude that the Lord has opened the way for the powerful spiritual message of the Twelve Step program to be embraced and enhanced by the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Over twenty years ago, in the introduction of He Did Deliver Me from Bondage, I struggled to explain to my readers how it might be that an active member of the Church could gain from a program that originated with a bunch of alcoholics:
To those of you who may be puzzled, thinking Alcoholics Anonymous a very unlikely source of guidance for those who already have the fullness of the Restored Gospel, I recommend a prayerful pondering of the following description of the prophet Mormon’s mind and the result of having such a mind:
“And being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus. (Mormon 1:15; emphasis added)
If, as Mormon implies, being “sober” is conducive to and eventually the equivalent of knowing Christ, it would seem to me that all of us could stand to pursue a course that has proven able to get more people sober than any other, and that we should certainly not fear it. According to the first two prophets of this dispensation, we Latter-day Saints can be open-minded and willing to embrace truth no matter where we find it.
[Latter-day Saints] must gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up. (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 316)
I want to say to my friends that we believe in all good. If you can find a truth in heaven, earth or hell, it belongs to our doctrine. We believe it; it is ours; we claim it. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 13:335)
Almost Thirty Years of Gospel Interrogation
In the (nearly 30) years since the Lord led me to discover the Twelve Steps, I have continually subjected them to a gospel interrogation, testing them by the words of the prophets, both ancient and modern. In nothing have I found them lacking. Continually, they prove themselves, when correlated with the teachings of the prophets to be "good", as in, God-given.
"And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good." (Ether 4:12)
In fact, not only have I not found these twelve principles wanting, I have found them to be one of the simplest, most straightforward pathways for connecting my confused and rebellious heart to the heart, mind and will of the Lord—especially as they are correlated and combined with the teachings of the Restored Gospel.
In the process outlined in the steps . . . I have crossed light-years of mental, emotional and spiritual wilderness. And through the power of Christ, in the course of my scripture-based, Twelve Step directed recovery, I have found a change of heart I can only identify as “the establishment of Zion.” (1)
Satan Will Take Advantage of Our Weakness and Our Hunger
Elder Ballard began his remarks by comparing Lucifer’s attempt to snare us with his “artificial lures” and rob us of our agency to the way a skillful fly fisherman creates “flies” to catch hungry trout. He defined addiction as “relinquishing agency” and “becoming dependent on a life-destroying substance or behavior.” After mentioning a list of illegal drugs by name, Elder Ballard told the heart-breaking story of a sister who had lost her family, her church membership, and even her mental health by abusing a prescription drug she had originally started taking for pain from injuries caused by a car accident. As a person who has learned that I must treat certain substances found in everyday food as addictive to my body and mind, I identified with every word of this sister’s story. While it might seem almost ridiculous to some to hear this comparison made, I have to confess it.
I don’t blame anyone who may feel that way, who may feel like, “That’s so silly! Food? Eating as an addiction? That’s just an excuse. Put down the fork and say ‘no!’” I mean, after all, I can identify with that reaction. That’s how I feel when I watch others smoke or drink alcohol or spend themselves into horrible debt. To put it simply, for some of us—at least for me—food has to be considered a “prescription drug.” In other words, I have to go to my “primary care Physician” (the Lord) every morning and have Him prescribe for me what my use (behavior around food) needs to look like for the day. And then, just like Elder Ballard said, I have to use fervent prayer as often as I need to throughout the day to stay within the “bounds the Lord has set” for me. Some days are easier than others, and some are much, much harder. It is on those days that I am grateful for the prophet Jacob’s invitation to picture myself “cleaving” unto the Lord and picturing that the Lord is okay with that—that He is already cleaving unto me. (See Jacob 6:5)
In other words, I could “liken” Elder Ballard’s words straight across—quite literally—to my life when he said that Lucifer wants to exploit and snare us and crafts his “flies” to take advantage of our weaknesses and “our hunger.”
Addiction, The Relinquishment of Agency, Is a Spiritual Disease
I am also very grateful to hear Elder Ballard make this statement so plainly, “Medical research describes addiction as a disease of the brain. This is true, but I believe that once Satan has someone in his grasp it is a disease of the spirit.”
Again, I am reminded and invited to revisit a little more of the testimony in He Did Deliver Me from Bondage:
The solution offered in implementing the Twelve Steps may seem to our modern, scientific minds to be irrational or imaginary since it is predominantly spiritual, invisible and totally paradoxical. But I can promise you, the results will be very observable with the human eye and very measurable. Days of sobriety from alcohol, drugs, and/or sex will begin to accumulate, with fewer and milder slips or temptations to slip.
Weight will be lost, your checking account will balance consistently, confidence will increase, and relationships with loved ones will adjust to healthier levels of honesty and respect.
And how can I promise you these results? Because it really is true: we were (and still are) spiritual entities, first and foremost. All things, including us, were and must always be created spiritually before they can be created physically.
For by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal. (D&C 29:31; emphasis added)
In this verse we hear God explain to us plainly that all that He does is accomplished by spiritual power. Any efforts on our part to create or to change something will be unsuccessful if we focus on the physical plane only. We might experience temporary success, but always the outward reality will go back to match the inner reality. Permanent change must begin from within. Our primary emphasis must be on the spiritual.
First spiritual, secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work. (D&C 29:32; emphasis added)
As President Benson testified:
The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. CHRIST [first] takes the slums out of peopleCand then they [have the vision and power to] take themselves out of the slums. (Ezra T. Benson, Ensign, July 1989, p. 4)
The Twelve Step program is called a “program of recovery” and for a very profoundly spiritual reason. If we will let our addiction, bad habit, weakness or challenge of any kind bring us into a willingness to study and implement these true principles, we will find ourselves recovering our spiritual selves as we are restored to the closeness we once had with God. With that recovered relationship will come the vision of who we are and the power to transform the physical circumstances of our lives to reflect the new inner serenity and it will happen automatically.
Heart-deep, soul-deep healing doesn’t happen by the efforts or power or knowledge of man, no matter how logical or wise. Putting the emphasis on the spiritual reality and turning to God must come first.
When we put God [and the spiritual life] first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord [must] govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities. (Ezra T. Benson, Ensign, May 1988, p. 4)
Hearing the Harmony of this “Song of Redeeming Love”
I will never be able to thank my beloved Father in Heaven enough for leading me into a place in my life where I was humbled enough to hear the harmony in a prophet’s testimony (like the one just quoted from President Benson) and the testimonies of the founders of the AA Program:
The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God’s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves. (2) (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed. 25)
I was filled with joy to hear Elder Ballard’s voice testify over and over again that it is through the power of Christ’s Atonement that we who face Lucifer’s trap of addiction can and will be healed, if we are willing to turn to God in fervent prayer. “Fervent prayer is the key to finding peace and to overcoming the craving.”
Here again I heard such sweet harmony with the “authority of experience” of my fellow mortals in the AA “Big Book”:
Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power. (3)
Again, Elder Ballard’s words—the words of a prophet, seer and revelator: “The Atonement of Christ makes all things possible . . . Ask Him for strength . . . fervent prayer is the key to finding peace and overcoming craving. . . .
Again in harmony, the testimony of Bill Wilson, AA’s first sober alcoholic:
There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch. I have not had a drink since. (4)
In Conclusion:
And a few more words in conclusion from Elder Ballard:
“Trust in the power of the Atonement . . . Set aside all pride . . . turn your life and your heart to Him.”
“Each of us needs to experience the mighty change in our hearts spoken of by Alma.”
“To those who have fallen prey (to Lucifer’s artificial lures, no matter what form they may take), there is hope . . . The Atonement makes all things possible. . . . [God] can and will free the addicted.”
Humbly, I rejoice in the establishment of a program of applied gospel principles that are so intensely focused on accessing and applying the principles of heart-deep repentance that unlock the power of Christ’s Atonement, and I rejoice in Elder Ballard’s long-beloved voice announcing hope for those who have sat in darkness. I bear my own testimony of the power of these principles to “establish Zion” in the hearts of any who are humble enough to study them and find their harmony with the scriptures and the prophets. In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
______________________________________
1. He Did Deliver Me from Bondage, 3-4
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, 25, emphasis added.
3. Alcoholics Anonymous, 43
4. Alcoholics Anonymous, 13.
There were quite a few moments throughout General Conference last weekend that I was brought to tears. But never have I felt more joy and rejoicing than I did as I listened to Elder M. Russell Ballard’s apostolic testimony concerning addiction. I could hardly sit still as he announced to the entire membership of the Church that the LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Program, “adapted from the original Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous,” is readily available. I am sure there were many other LDS members who, like me, have dealt with addiction, also crying with joy to hear Elder Ballard acknowledge and give credence to the reality of their bondage and the power of the Savior’s Atonement to set us free.
Stunned with Gratitude
This morning as I pulled up the audio recording of Elder Ballard’s message and listened to it several times, I could not help but put my head down on my folded arms and weep with gratitude that the Lord has opened the way for the powerful spiritual message of the Twelve Step program to be embraced and enhanced by the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Over twenty years ago, in the introduction of He Did Deliver Me from Bondage, I struggled to explain to my readers how it might be that an active member of the Church could gain from a program that originated with a bunch of alcoholics:
To those of you who may be puzzled, thinking Alcoholics Anonymous a very unlikely source of guidance for those who already have the fullness of the Restored Gospel, I recommend a prayerful pondering of the following description of the prophet Mormon’s mind and the result of having such a mind:
“And being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus. (Mormon 1:15; emphasis added)
If, as Mormon implies, being “sober” is conducive to and eventually the equivalent of knowing Christ, it would seem to me that all of us could stand to pursue a course that has proven able to get more people sober than any other, and that we should certainly not fear it. According to the first two prophets of this dispensation, we Latter-day Saints can be open-minded and willing to embrace truth no matter where we find it.
[Latter-day Saints] must gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up. (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 316)
I want to say to my friends that we believe in all good. If you can find a truth in heaven, earth or hell, it belongs to our doctrine. We believe it; it is ours; we claim it. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 13:335)
Almost Thirty Years of Gospel Interrogation
In the (nearly 30) years since the Lord led me to discover the Twelve Steps, I have continually subjected them to a gospel interrogation, testing them by the words of the prophets, both ancient and modern. In nothing have I found them lacking. Continually, they prove themselves, when correlated with the teachings of the prophets to be "good", as in, God-given.
"And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good." (Ether 4:12)
In fact, not only have I not found these twelve principles wanting, I have found them to be one of the simplest, most straightforward pathways for connecting my confused and rebellious heart to the heart, mind and will of the Lord—especially as they are correlated and combined with the teachings of the Restored Gospel.
In the process outlined in the steps . . . I have crossed light-years of mental, emotional and spiritual wilderness. And through the power of Christ, in the course of my scripture-based, Twelve Step directed recovery, I have found a change of heart I can only identify as “the establishment of Zion.” (1)
Satan Will Take Advantage of Our Weakness and Our Hunger
Elder Ballard began his remarks by comparing Lucifer’s attempt to snare us with his “artificial lures” and rob us of our agency to the way a skillful fly fisherman creates “flies” to catch hungry trout. He defined addiction as “relinquishing agency” and “becoming dependent on a life-destroying substance or behavior.” After mentioning a list of illegal drugs by name, Elder Ballard told the heart-breaking story of a sister who had lost her family, her church membership, and even her mental health by abusing a prescription drug she had originally started taking for pain from injuries caused by a car accident. As a person who has learned that I must treat certain substances found in everyday food as addictive to my body and mind, I identified with every word of this sister’s story. While it might seem almost ridiculous to some to hear this comparison made, I have to confess it.
I don’t blame anyone who may feel that way, who may feel like, “That’s so silly! Food? Eating as an addiction? That’s just an excuse. Put down the fork and say ‘no!’” I mean, after all, I can identify with that reaction. That’s how I feel when I watch others smoke or drink alcohol or spend themselves into horrible debt. To put it simply, for some of us—at least for me—food has to be considered a “prescription drug.” In other words, I have to go to my “primary care Physician” (the Lord) every morning and have Him prescribe for me what my use (behavior around food) needs to look like for the day. And then, just like Elder Ballard said, I have to use fervent prayer as often as I need to throughout the day to stay within the “bounds the Lord has set” for me. Some days are easier than others, and some are much, much harder. It is on those days that I am grateful for the prophet Jacob’s invitation to picture myself “cleaving” unto the Lord and picturing that the Lord is okay with that—that He is already cleaving unto me. (See Jacob 6:5)
In other words, I could “liken” Elder Ballard’s words straight across—quite literally—to my life when he said that Lucifer wants to exploit and snare us and crafts his “flies” to take advantage of our weaknesses and “our hunger.”
Addiction, The Relinquishment of Agency, Is a Spiritual Disease
I am also very grateful to hear Elder Ballard make this statement so plainly, “Medical research describes addiction as a disease of the brain. This is true, but I believe that once Satan has someone in his grasp it is a disease of the spirit.”
Again, I am reminded and invited to revisit a little more of the testimony in He Did Deliver Me from Bondage:
The solution offered in implementing the Twelve Steps may seem to our modern, scientific minds to be irrational or imaginary since it is predominantly spiritual, invisible and totally paradoxical. But I can promise you, the results will be very observable with the human eye and very measurable. Days of sobriety from alcohol, drugs, and/or sex will begin to accumulate, with fewer and milder slips or temptations to slip.
Weight will be lost, your checking account will balance consistently, confidence will increase, and relationships with loved ones will adjust to healthier levels of honesty and respect.
And how can I promise you these results? Because it really is true: we were (and still are) spiritual entities, first and foremost. All things, including us, were and must always be created spiritually before they can be created physically.
For by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal. (D&C 29:31; emphasis added)
In this verse we hear God explain to us plainly that all that He does is accomplished by spiritual power. Any efforts on our part to create or to change something will be unsuccessful if we focus on the physical plane only. We might experience temporary success, but always the outward reality will go back to match the inner reality. Permanent change must begin from within. Our primary emphasis must be on the spiritual.
First spiritual, secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work. (D&C 29:32; emphasis added)
As President Benson testified:
The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. CHRIST [first] takes the slums out of peopleCand then they [have the vision and power to] take themselves out of the slums. (Ezra T. Benson, Ensign, July 1989, p. 4)
The Twelve Step program is called a “program of recovery” and for a very profoundly spiritual reason. If we will let our addiction, bad habit, weakness or challenge of any kind bring us into a willingness to study and implement these true principles, we will find ourselves recovering our spiritual selves as we are restored to the closeness we once had with God. With that recovered relationship will come the vision of who we are and the power to transform the physical circumstances of our lives to reflect the new inner serenity and it will happen automatically.
Heart-deep, soul-deep healing doesn’t happen by the efforts or power or knowledge of man, no matter how logical or wise. Putting the emphasis on the spiritual reality and turning to God must come first.
When we put God [and the spiritual life] first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord [must] govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities. (Ezra T. Benson, Ensign, May 1988, p. 4)
Hearing the Harmony of this “Song of Redeeming Love”
I will never be able to thank my beloved Father in Heaven enough for leading me into a place in my life where I was humbled enough to hear the harmony in a prophet’s testimony (like the one just quoted from President Benson) and the testimonies of the founders of the AA Program:
The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God’s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves. (2) (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed. 25)
I was filled with joy to hear Elder Ballard’s voice testify over and over again that it is through the power of Christ’s Atonement that we who face Lucifer’s trap of addiction can and will be healed, if we are willing to turn to God in fervent prayer. “Fervent prayer is the key to finding peace and to overcoming the craving.”
Here again I heard such sweet harmony with the “authority of experience” of my fellow mortals in the AA “Big Book”:
Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power. (3)
Again, Elder Ballard’s words—the words of a prophet, seer and revelator: “The Atonement of Christ makes all things possible . . . Ask Him for strength . . . fervent prayer is the key to finding peace and overcoming craving. . . .
Again in harmony, the testimony of Bill Wilson, AA’s first sober alcoholic:
There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch. I have not had a drink since. (4)
In Conclusion:
And a few more words in conclusion from Elder Ballard:
“Trust in the power of the Atonement . . . Set aside all pride . . . turn your life and your heart to Him.”
“Each of us needs to experience the mighty change in our hearts spoken of by Alma.”
“To those who have fallen prey (to Lucifer’s artificial lures, no matter what form they may take), there is hope . . . The Atonement makes all things possible. . . . [God] can and will free the addicted.”
Humbly, I rejoice in the establishment of a program of applied gospel principles that are so intensely focused on accessing and applying the principles of heart-deep repentance that unlock the power of Christ’s Atonement, and I rejoice in Elder Ballard’s long-beloved voice announcing hope for those who have sat in darkness. I bear my own testimony of the power of these principles to “establish Zion” in the hearts of any who are humble enough to study them and find their harmony with the scriptures and the prophets. In the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
______________________________________
1. He Did Deliver Me from Bondage, 3-4
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, 25, emphasis added.
3. Alcoholics Anonymous, 43
4. Alcoholics Anonymous, 13.
Page 1 of 2
There were quite a few moments throughout General Conference last weekend that I was brought to tears. But never have I felt more joy and rejoicing than I did as I listened to Elder M. Russell Ballard’s apostolic testimony concerning addiction. I could hardly sit still as he announced to the entire membership of the Church that the LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Program, “adapted from the original Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous,” is readily available. I am sure there were many other LDS members who, like me, have dealt with addiction, also crying with joy to hear Elder Ballard acknowledge and give credence to the reality of their bondage and the power of the Savior’s Atonement to set us free.
Stunned with Gratitude
This morning as I pulled up the audio recording of Elder Ballard’s message and listened to it several times, I could not help but put my head down on my folded arms and weep with gratitude that the Lord has opened the way for the powerful spiritual message of the Twelve Step program to be embraced and enhanced by the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Over twenty years ago, in the introduction of He Did Deliver Me from Bondage, I struggled to explain to my readers how it might be that an active member of the Church could gain from a program that originated with a bunch of alcoholics:
To those of you who may be puzzled, thinking Alcoholics Anonymous a very unlikely source of guidance for those who already have the fullness of the Restored Gospel, I recommend a prayerful pondering of the following description of the prophet Mormon’s mind and the result of having such a mind:
“And being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus. (Mormon 1:15; emphasis added)
If, as Mormon implies, being “sober” is conducive to and eventually the equivalent of knowing Christ, it would seem to me that all of us could stand to pursue a course that has proven able to get more people sober than any other, and that we should certainly not fear it. According to the first two prophets of this dispensation, we Latter-day Saints can be open-minded and willing to embrace truth no matter where we find it.
[Latter-day Saints] must gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up. (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 316)
I want to say to my friends that we believe in all good. If you can find a truth in heaven, earth or hell, it belongs to our doctrine. We believe it; it is ours; we claim it. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 13:335)
Almost Thirty Years of Gospel Interrogation
In the (nearly 30) years since the Lord led me to discover the Twelve Steps, I have continually subjected them to a gospel interrogation, testing them by the words of the prophets, both ancient and modern. In nothing have I found them lacking. Continually, they prove themselves, when correlated with the teachings of the prophets to be "good", as in, God-given.
"And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good." (Ether 4:12)
In fact, not only have I not found these twelve principles wanting, I have found them to be one of the simplest, most straightforward pathways for connecting my confused and rebellious heart to the heart, mind and will of the Lord—especially as they are correlated and combined with the teachings of the Restored Gospel.
In the process outlined in the steps . . . I have crossed light-years of mental, emotional and spiritual wilderness. And through the power of Christ, in the course of my scripture-based, Twelve Step directed recovery, I have found a change of heart I can only identify as “the establishment of Zion.” (1)
Satan Will Take Advantage of Our Weakness and Our Hunger
Elder Ballard began his remarks by comparing Lucifer’s attempt to snare us with his “artificial lures” and rob us of our agency to the way a skillful fly fisherman creates “flies” to catch hungry trout. He defined addiction as “relinquishing agency” and “becoming dependent on a life-destroying substance or behavior.” After mentioning a list of illegal drugs by name, Elder Ballard told the heart-breaking story of a sister who had lost her family, her church membership, and even her mental health by abusing a prescription drug she had originally started taking for pain from injuries caused by a car accident. As a person who has learned that I must treat certain substances found in everyday food as addictive to my body and mind, I identified with every word of this sister’s story. While it might seem almost ridiculous to some to hear this comparison made, I have to confess it.
I don’t blame anyone who may feel that way, who may feel like, “That’s so silly! Food? Eating as an addiction? That’s just an excuse. Put down the fork and say ‘no!’” I mean, after all, I can identify with that reaction. That’s how I feel when I watch others smoke or drink alcohol or spend themselves into horrible debt. To put it simply, for some of us—at least for me—food has to be considered a “prescription drug.” In other words, I have to go to my “primary care Physician” (the Lord) every morning and have Him prescribe for me what my use (behavior around food) needs to look like for the day. And then, just like Elder Ballard said, I have to use fervent prayer as often as I need to throughout the day to stay within the “bounds the Lord has set” for me. Some days are easier than others, and some are much, much harder. It is on those days that I am grateful for the prophet Jacob’s invitation to picture myself “cleaving” unto the Lord and picturing that the Lord is okay
with that—that He is already cleaving unto me. (See Jacob 6:5)
In other words, I could “liken” Elder Ballard’s words straight across—quite literally—to my life when he said that Lucifer wants to exploit and snare us and crafts his “flies” to take advantage of our weaknesses and “our hunger.”
Addiction, The Relinquishment of Agency, Is a Spiritual Disease
I am also very grateful to hear Elder Ballard make this statement so plainly, “Medical research describes addiction as a disease of the brain. This is true, but I believe that once Satan has someone in his grasp it is a disease of the spirit.”
Again, I am reminded and invited to revisit a little more of the testimony in He Did Deliver Me from Bondage:
The solution offered in implementing the Twelve Steps may seem to our modern, scientific minds to be irrational or imaginary since it is predominantly spiritual, invisible and totally paradoxical. But I can promise you, the results will be very observable with the human eye and very measurable. Days of sobriety from alcohol, drugs, and/or sex will begin to accumulate, with fewer and milder slips or temptations to slip.
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