Out-Sourcing Addiction

(Overcoming The Principle of Antithesis at Work in the Cycle of Addiction)

Kiane Hill
Jul 10, 2017 · 13 min read

[IN THREE PARTS]

PART 1

The principle of Antithesis entangles us with the lie that if we are not going to continue using our addiction in order to cope, then we will be forced to cope alone, with all the things that drove us to addiction as a coping mechanism in the first place.

That lie forces an apparent dilemma which seems to state, “Either continue with the addiction which has now become it’s own problem, or face the overwhelming issues BY YOUR OWN obviously insufficient ability to cope with them”.

This in turn, obviously creates a terrible cycle which traps people who feel that there is no alternative that they have not already tried, to replace the coping mechanism which has its most definitive grip upon their lives.

Plus, the crisis of addiction itself actually intensifies the cycle, as a person begins to sense the out-of -control harmfulness that is rampant in their lives, which then compounds the original problem with a new problem of addiction.

And then there is the reality of how neglect or poor management of the triggering situations, makes those original problems worse, and potentially adds new ones.

All of this ironically causes more dependent turning to the same or another crisis-exacerbating and addictive coping mechanism. Eventually, a major part of the spiraling crisis, is simply the problem and results of addiction itself.

Many people maintain multiple addictions, including those that are significantly harmful enough to be considered detrimental by most healthy people…

In either side of the addiction cycle, whether in the “assisted” coping mode, or in the “facilitated” escape mode, there is tremendous difficulty trying to correctly view the issues at the root of the problem, with any but polarized perspective…

Therefore, the situation will usually either seem potentially manageable and surmountable, only because of the addiction…

Or it will seem like a traumatically overwhelming nightmare, and a source of unbearable anxiety — from which the addiction is providing a feeling of distance and/or distraction…

Amid all of this, the Principle of Antithesis is at work…

To say it very simply:

The Principle of Antithesis is essentially the negative polarity amid the paradoxical equation of creation, whereby it is possible for created sentient beings, to be endowed with the capacity for freewill, and optional reception/reciprocation of love.

Since God is the truth, divergence from Him brings into effect a state of entropy and corruption.

And that corruption antitheisizes nature and will… producing negative polarizations against life, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control…

This principle of antithesis, is itself dependent upon a sense of moral legalism in order to thrive. And this is partly why those who have regret, and/or disturbing memories, especially those including a deep sense of guilt or shame, tend heavily toward addiction.

Many people who are addicted pretend they have no sense of conscience that bothers them, but these are generally still intentionally rebelling against some standard from which they are desperately trying to be free…

Most addicted people are either very guilt ridden, or are very rebellious. These are each different edges of the same sword of moral legalism. Antithesis thrives in that environment. The polarizations are clear, and either outcome is harmful…

Antithetical thinking gets us confused into all sorts of negative options, like:

Getting overwhelmed or panicked into trying to run from things by means of escapism and/or addiction;

Letting addiction rule us… and be the dominating law of our life.

These three negative responses are expressions of either a type of fight mode; flight mode; or simply of exasperatedly succumbing.

PART 2

So How Do We Get Free?

To do so, would be right in line with the negativity that the Principle of Antithesis is effecting — along with the deception that appropriate responses to moral absolutes, are less essential than proper regard for all the other laws of nature…

We need freedom from legalism, but we also need freedom from harmful things, and from harmful desires.

To disregard the law of gravity is a poor choice…

So we can experience ever more soaring emancipation from the Principle of Antithesis, along with its addictions, only by provision of the appropriate solution.

The power of addiction is in the dilemma of moral legalism; vs Grace-based love and freedom…

And it is also a matter of either accessing a dead “power” socket; vs a solid connection with the appropriate Source.

First, the issue of moral legalism vs love:

We are not morally righteous if we are not loving, and yet we cannot experience or produce love by means of moral legalism.

Law is about obligation, and it has a punishment or reward clause that precludes the essence of Love, by means of a default to selfishness in order to avoid punishment and to gain reward…

And so, on the one hand, to live in rebellion or neglect of moral law, is to still be bound by that law — which such behavior is defying … This is both because the law is still real, even if we pretend it’s not; and more poignantly, because rebellion is antithetically tied to the law, in order to establish and maintain its afflictive purpose of rebellion…

On the other hand, to try to be loving by means of moral legalism, is still to be selfish — with motives of fear, obligation, or pride…which are not of or unto love… So, to attempt this is to fail, and thus to be equally frustrated by the law.

This is the cycle behind the cycle of addiction, which provokes the desperate and anesthetizing use of whatever we can employ, in order to try to deal with pain, anger, and/or anxiety amid our situational conundrum…

…And lest we think there is no connection between our hardships and moral law, we need to remember that not only do we have a moral undertone amid every situation and emotion etc; but we live in an imperfect world, with imperfect bodies, amid which no one is morally perfect.

Additionally, the constant underlying struggle, with individuals, families, communities, nations, and the international community, is obviously one of moral as well as situational complexity…

Obviously the entire human race is under the death penalty for a reason that’s not as illusive as most anthropologists have pretended. We have all failed to perfectly live up to even our own, let alone God’s moral standards…

And if you think there is no God, or that He is too pathetic to clarify Himself amid His own creation, then the Principle of Antithesis is currently confusing you.

The answer to addiction is getting free from the cycle, which means getting free from the power of antithetical thinking at a core level.

The principle of antithesis is completely dependent upon law against which to rebel. It produces antithetical desires that are proportional to the gravity of the command, and therefore causes intensity of desire in relation to the severity of the penalty for violations of the related laws.

This is true even in the hearts of those who don’t know God’s written law, but are simply being affected by Antithesis’ work of exploiting our universally similar conscience.

But true freedom does not come by rebellion against or negligence toward morality. Rather, it’s in relief from legal obligation, and deliverance from fear of failure, punishment, and rejection.

Such negative experiences are provoked by the law, and by our conscience, by way of consequence for failure in even one area of legality.

But true freedom cannot be inconsistent with reality, as it relates to moral law. Gravity doesn’t cease to exist simply because we choose to change what we want to believe. We must be freed from the moral law, in a legally consistent manner.

This calls for grace, and for satisfaction of the law to be provided, as approved by the Source Who presented the law.

Remember, we’ve already seen that legalism in relation to moral absolutes only produces fear, shame, or foolish pride…

And such is no more than a form of selfishness, and self-righteousness — which is not love, and therefore is not truly righteousness at all…

And remember, a blend of two negatives, does not make a positive. So a blend of our own concoction between the two extremes of legalism and licentiousness, is not the answer.

Freedom is experienced when we no longer have to try legalistically establishing our own safety, identity, nature, peace, joy, success etc…

This is accomplished by the perfectly atoning payment of all possible decreed punishment by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It entails the imputation of perfect righteousness to us, through our unity with Jesus, by faith in Him as our new Source…

It also includes the reception of a new internal nature of Love, by the power and indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God.

In this, God’s provided way, the law is forever satisfied by the satisfactory punishment, the imputed penal righteousness, and a Divinely infused internal nature and principle of Love, which fulfills the law as a matter of freedom…replacing legalism with true freedom.

The power of addiction is Antithesis, and the power of Antithesis is the law. The solution to law is grace and love— true freedom.

PART 3

True freedom is in the unconditional love of God, received by grace through relational faith in His Only Begotten Son, Jesus. God’s grace frees us from the ultimatum of the command, and thus from the dominating power of antithetical desire.

This frees us from having to attain the standard of perfection by our own obviously insufficient means, after the law called our bluff of self-professed godhood…

And this gives us unity with God’s nature of love, which needs no law, and against which nature, there is no law anyway…

We can then switch our source, and therefore our capacities, from self and/or other fallen things — to God as our new, all-sufficient, freely provided Source.

All addiction is a matter of dependence!! So the concept of Source is an absolutely crucial issue, along with the grace we’ve just mentioned…

In God’s grace, and only therein, the circuit of Source is no longer a closed loop, within fallen systems of an imperfect world and imperfect self…

Then, by reuniting with God by faith in His Solution, we are able to freely receive and flow God’s love for, in, and through us… Love is always free, and love makes us free from law, and thus from the otherwise unbeatable dominance of the Principle of Antithesis, which is still corrupting these yet imperfect bodies.

Even so, growing in faith and relationship with God involves process, and such takes time and experience under His direction and provision. He doesn’t want robots, but rather, relational faith and love that stem from His grace…

Praise God that HE is NOT asking us to deal with the addiction alone, nor to cope with life’s traumas and responsibilities by our own ability at all.

God doesn’t want for us to polarize to extremes; of either thinking we have to beat addiction by our own obviously dependent power, or to pendulum swing toward thinking God wants us to continue in our harmful ways, and just let ourselves be dominated by our negative habits.

We need for God to provide us with the recognition of our condition, and to provide us with the willingness to cry out to Him in honest desperation — for Him to deliver us.

We start by crying out to Him in as much faith as we have right now, and receiving from Him as He begins to provide inward, as well as circumstantial prompting, guidance and deliverance. Again, remember, growing is a process…

Then God, as our Source, instead of our fallen self or other fallen things, will validate the faith that He is real, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Thus, we can believe that He has heard our cry, and wait for him to begin providing His solutions by His means…

We can then let God inwardly teach us to turn to His love and grace, and the comfort of His Spirit, doing so more and more quickly and completely as we find that we cannot cope, or need something more than this dissatisfying life can provide…

As we live by God’s promise of grace through faith, we need to begin to yield to what we recognize God is doing for us, in us, and through us…

The basis for our faith in His faithfulness, is according to His guarantee — that as an integral part of the Gospel, He will transform us… as He works in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. The Gospel is all about delivering us from the penalty, the enslaving power, and eventually from the presence of sin…

The Spirit produces the nature of love in the heart and core of those who live by faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.

We need our God and Source to provide us with what we need…

He simply wants us to recognize that we have a NEED; that we cannot meet that need by our own or any other power; and then receive His love and grace as HE ALONE WHO IS, and Who provides EVERYTHING we need, for, in, and through us.

We need to seek His help, and seek His comforting Presence, to provide hope, peace, and joy that surpass circumstances, and our own understanding…

We need to seek the unconditional love of God to provide grace to liberate us from the unbearable burden of having to fix ourselves. Only He can fix us, and He does so only by the means that He provides. We need to let go of the entanglements and weights of self-“righteousness”, letting grace and unconditional love replace shame, fear, and the cycle of abuse.

So by Him in and for and through us (by His Spirit), we can not only cope, and fulfill any responsibilities to which He is calling us — but we have peace, joy, and love overflowing…

Only His callings truly give joy and peace… and are truly the actuality of success…

HE IS the Vine, and we are His branches…

For me, it all comes down to this:

I can’t deliver myself. I live by Jesus’ Promises of Grace by faith. Only God can do this, by the same means and power by which He remedied sin’s penalty.

And He is working in me right now to free me from sin’s addictive harmfulness in my life. I believe this, and am receiving it, as HE produces the will and the power to do His GOOD PLEASURE in my life.

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