What the Bible says about
addiction
The Bible never uses the word "addiction," but it describes the experience precisely: wanting to stop and not being able to. Paul writes about doing what he does not want and failing to do what he does, and the passage has been read for centuries by people held by something. If this is your situation, treatment and professional support are part of the road, not an alternative to faith.
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I admit that the law is good. In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.”
Romans 7:15-19 · read the chapter →
““Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.”
1 Corinthians 6:12 · read the chapter →
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 · read the chapter →
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 · read the chapter →
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.”
James 5:16 · read the chapter →
“For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.”
Psalm 40:1-2 · read the chapter →
The text that describes it from inside
Romans 7:15-19 is the Bible's most honest account of a divided will: "I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing." People in relapse tend to recognize themselves there before any advice lands.
Free, but not mastered
"I have the right to do anything, you say, but not everything is beneficial. I will not be mastered by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12). Paul's test is not only whether something is permitted, but who is in charge. It is a useful question before any habit becomes an owner.
Not alone, and not in secret
James 5:16 says to confess your faults to one another and pray for one another. Shame is what keeps the cycle running, and the biblical prescription works directly against it: say it out loud, to someone you trust. Psalm 40:1-2 pictures the way out as being lifted from a pit, which is to say with help from outside.
Want to go deeper?
Ask anything about addiction. We look up the passages that answer it and cite the references. Free.
More topics