Page Overview
Hope
If your loved one has been struggling with alcoholism, hope probably seems out of reach or only for others, not for your family. It’s tough to have hope when you’ve tried so many times and failed while battling daily conflict and disappointment. But hope exists, is real, and is available for everyone when you view every situation in the light of eternity and God’s healing through Christ Jesus. Yes, alcoholism has taken many things from you and your family, but it should not take your hope away.
Christian rehab helps restore hope. It puts life and all its problems into perspective; it motivates the addict and your family to continue on because you have God’s power on your side and His promise to guide you. Then as a believer in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit in you to empower and guide. We just need to die to self, or get out of the way, and submit to the Holy Spirit’s power and instruction. Christian rehab helps you listen and submit to the Holy Spirit, and then both recognize how you get in the way and stop arrogantly trying your own strategy instead of His.
You feel relief, hope, joy, and peace while having a new power source to fight off temptations. Your faith is strengthened, which pushes you closer to God, applying His wisdom and submitting more to the Holy Spirit, producing more hope, joy, and peace…and the cycle continues!! Christian rehab accesses a divine power and supreme and easy life game plan that no other type of rehab can mimic or come close to delivering.
Addiction is Destructive, Christianity Builds
Addiction by nature is destructive. It ruins relationships, destroys self-esteem, and it shuts down any motivation to be a better person. Christianity is the opposite. Christian rehab helps families repair relationships, builds self-esteem, value, and purpose, and inspires individuals to strive to fulfill their amazing God-given potential.
God, the King of the universe and Creator of all things, loves us as His children and wants us to be close to Him. God knows our shortcomings and how we reject Him, but loves us so much He sent His only Son to die for us. He punished Jesus so we wouldn’t have to pay. Our Savior, perfect Jesus, loved us so much, He gladly gave up his life to pay for the wrongs we do, including the wrongs of alcohol abuse and addiction. When someone learns of God’s love, sacrifice, and forgiveness, they see the value they have to God and the opportunity to share His love with others. Hope, joy, and change are the powerful results.
The sacrifice Jesus made for us is all the reason in the world to transform our lives to be more pleasing to Him, in order to show our thanks. But God doesn’t leave us alone to try to follow His will. He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us, leading us, building us up, and repairing our past wrongs. Christianity helps in all aspects of our life. Whether we are struggling with relationship issues, addiction issues, self-loathing, or greed, Christian counseling and rehab will transform our thinking and then our life. Through the power of God, Christian rehab truly produces a Godly heart, renewed mind and transformed behaviors.
Spirituality and Twelve Traditions
The Twelve Traditions is one of the three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a summary of principles that are used within support groups for families of alcoholics. The Twelve Traditions focuses on the authority of God, the common good of the group in order to achieve personal progress, and the benefits of family and community to support recovery.
The concept of AA fits well with Christian rehab, as it uses the relationships that are created and sustained between believers to help the individual members of the group. As with Alcoholics Anonymous, the Twelve Traditions are built on the spiritual foundation that our loving God will guide our steps and give us power to walk through this life. Al-Anon shares many similarities as AA, but is primarily a group for the family or loved ones of alcoholics, whether in recovery or not. To read more about Al-Anon and the Twelve Traditions, click here.
Service to Others
One major part of Christianity and Christian rehab is the calling and desire to serve others. We are not in this world just to look out for ourselves; it is our duty and calling to care for others and to share God’s love with them. We want others to know the healing and hope we’ve experienced. As our love for God grows, we start to love what and who He loves – everyone! This carries over to alcohol recovery as well. A recovering alcoholic will have many opportunities to serve others, either their family members, those who are new to recovery, or even complete strangers.
When your loved one goes through Christian rehab, one of the telling signs they are paying attention and getting it is seeing them have a change of heart toward God and other people. Christian rehab provides motivation to be less selfish and have a desire to help others whenever possible. Many addicts who have gone through Christian rehab actively find ways to help others, out of thanks for their own forgiveness, healing, and sobriety.
Service to others has added benefits for your loved one who is in recovery. Serving others helps keep them grounded and it helps them feel better about themselves, seeing they have skills, purpose, and ability to help others. It strengthens the self-esteem of the addict as they learn they can make an impact in the world and be valuable members of society.
Christian Values and Mental Health Help
Jesus tells us “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you,” “Love our enemies,” and “Love our neighbor as ourselves.” Christian values are unique in our world today. These values put others before ourselves, they demand perseverance in the face of challenges, and they require hope in the face of disaster. These values and resilience principles are vital to addiction recovery.
Christian values also promote whole health of the mind, body, and spirit. This means that along with behavioral wellness, Christian rehab incorporates psychological healing.
If you are looking into Christian alcohol rehab for your loved one, find out what the program’s mental health component is like. Do they have psychiatrists on staff to manage serious mental health issues? By nature, Christian rehab promotes healing of the mind and spirit – and this will greatly benefit your loved one – but for those who struggle with co-occurring disorders and mental health issues that require medication, you need to have a professional on staff that can prescribe medication to facilitate the biological renewing of our mind and correctly treat the psychiatric disorder.
Community of Like-Minded People
Addicts turn to drugs or alcohol when they feel disconnected or they don’t belong. They develop a relationship with alcohol. They belong to or are owned by the alcohol. Ultimately, the opposite of addiction is belonging. It always feels so good to belong, to fit in, to have a sense of security, especially during something as emotionally challenging as alcohol rehab. Adding God to one’s life will infuse a profound sense of belonging to the One who counts and will deliver the most. Among its other benefits, Christian rehab is a good option because it creates a community of like-minded individuals. It gives those in recovery something more than other programs: positive, healthy relationships with other believers in the form of true spiritual brother- and sisterhood family as children of God, brothers and sisters of Christ.
The more time your loved one spends with other Christians (staff, counselors, others in recovery) the more they’ll realize they needed those close relationships with others all along. You will notice a change as your loved one begins to thrive on those positive social interactions. These will be the people your loved one can count on throughout their life when things get tough, because of the close bonds they formed during recovery.
After Rehab Support and Service Opportunity
After your loved one has gone through Christian alcohol rehab, they will be a changed person. You can still expect some challenging days ahead, but the transformation they experience while gaining a greater knowledge and trust in God will soak into all areas of their life.
However, rehab should not be the end of your loved one’s battle with alcoholism. They will need ongoing support to avoid taking steps backward or relapsing. This too, is a benefit of Christian rehab. A spiritual program allows your loved one to live in a much bigger and more positive process of transformation. They will have the confidence that comes through a faith strengthened by adversity, and he or she needs to tie into their church and local Christian recovery groups to enjoy the continued support of a close-knit Christian community.
This community will also provide opportunities for your loved one to serve others. Whether it is volunteering at a rehab center, participating in a church-operated support group, or helping out in some other way in the community with their church, these opportunities will help your loved one grow in their faith and in their sobriety. Both the after rehab support and the service opportunities created by Christian rehab will help prevent steps backward in their relationship with God, application of His life management instructions, submission to the Holy Spirit, and love for all God that desires.
If you want more information about Medicaid and Medicare please see our resource here.