USA (MNN) — Anyone affected by addiction knows how lonely it can be. A substance steals the attention of your loved one, breaking hearts and promises and leaving you to pick up the pieces.
“Families suffer greatly because of the individualistic approach and selfishness of addiction,” Brandon Bower with The Lighthouse says,
The holidays can highlight these painful gaps. “You have to sit in a room with your family; you know you love each other, but you’re just at odds with each other, and it’s creating turmoil and strife and family arguments,” Bower says.
Substance abuse can have a generational impact. As described here,
National and state estimates indicate that 21 million American children lived with at least one parent who misused alcohol or drugs, and more than 2 million lived with at least one parent with a substance use disorder. Children of parents who misuse drugs and alcohol are at an increased risk of neglect, poverty, and mistreatment, as well as a higher risk of developing a substance use disorder themselves.
Addiction often robs the youngest family members of their God-given potential. One in eight teens report using an illegal drug in the past year, and 86 percent of teens know someone who drinks, smokes, or does drugs during school.
“I’ve been working in the addiction field for 24 years, and what we’re seeing is new types of drugs and younger people being addicted to them,” Bower says.
“The younger the person, the harder it is for the family.”
But the Lord doesn’t leave us without hope. “He’s given us all the answers we need to care for one another and to carry one another’s burdens. That’s going to be ugly, sticky sometimes, and very messy, but that’s what we’re called to do, and we’re equipped with God’s Word to help us get through those struggles,” Bower says.
“We need to stop pushing off that responsibility to secular counselors and do what we’ve been commanded in Scripture.”
Connect with The Lighthouse here for next steps.
“We want to be that resource for you to find hope and healing through Jesus Christ when you’re struggling with a loved one who has an addiction, or even if you have an addiction yourself, we want to help you through this process,” Bower says.
“You’re welcome to contact us on our website; there are links on there that say, send us a message or send us a prayer request. We respond to all of those and can point you in the right direction if we can’t help you in our local area.”
Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of TREEDEO.ST/Pexels.
