The Christian church, Christ’s bride, is collectively joined to him, our Bridegroom. He offers to replace an unholy adherence to some idol. The peace he offers comes at a price he already paid and there is no small print. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” ( Matthew 22:37).Ĭhrist offers to take one’s superficial longings and replace them with lasting satisfaction and peace in him regardless of circumstances. The Lord shaped us with a heart that longs and desires for something all the time, and the correct focus is on him. Even one’s spouse is not given in marriage as the focus of worship. They provide short-term relief from some kind of suffering, but even when they cause harm, the addict feels unable to break free. Breaking free from addiction, however, is excruciating, courageous, and necessary. Trying to break away is as painful as tearing a body in half, which is the imagery of divorce. Addiction to a substance, a behavior, or even an attitude leads to emotional union and chemical need. Prosechó is similar to the Hebrew dabaqor “cling, cleave, keep close.” Prosechó and dabaq are both related to “ adhere,” which gives rise to synonyms such as “join” and “become attached to.” For example, a man and a woman are joined together in marriage as though they are one person ( Genesis 2:24).ġ Timothy 3:8 does not exhort readers to avoid strong drink entirely, but to beware of forming a bond, which is difficult to break. The NASB, Amplified Bible, and ESV use “addicted” while the NET talks about “excessive drinking,” the NKJV uses “given to much wine,” and the NIV puts it this way: “not indulging in much wine.” Breaking Addiction The issue here is overindulgence and reliance: beware of an unhealthy relationship with this substance. Wine is not problematic in its own right - Jesus turned water into wine. In the original Latin, Paul uses prosechó, defined as “hold to, turn to, attend to.” Other synonyms include “guard,” “beware,” and “addicted” depending on context. Words for Addictionġ Timothy 3:8 exhorts readers not to become addicted to wine. A word study evokes a picture of slavery to a substance, behavior, etc. 1 Timothy 3:8 gives us a starting point to understanding God’s heart and his teaching on the matter of addiction.
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