Are you a chocolate lover who just can’t eat one piece? Perhaps you can eat a pint of your favorite ice cream and still want more. You are addicted if you compulsively engage in any habit or activity that is spiritually, emotionally or physically is unhealthy. Eating excessive amounts of chocolate not only can have an adverse effect on your skin but it can cause your blood sugar to increase resulting in a myriad of health issues. The ice cream lover has to face the fact that although it tastes good that fat contained in ice cream has the potential to cause heart problems. Generally when we think of addiction we think of alcohol or drugs but we can possibly be addicted to any person place or thing that we put ahead of God.

Can a Christian be addicted to their Pastor?  Substance addiction and religious addiction are fundamentally the same; they are both characterized by an altered mood, the compulsive desire for more and the feeling of withdrawal in the absence of the person place or thing that is addicted to. Many Christians experience mood changes when they hear their Pastor preach; to the degree that they feel as if they are “high” as long as they are in his or her presence. Some have a need for more of what their Pastor has to say so when Sunday comes they say “thank God it’s Sunday!” Unfortunately they don’t realize that God can speak though any one on any day of the week. Then there are those church members who go through withdrawal in the absence of their Pastor. They feel a sense of loss if their Pastor is on vacation or invites someone else to preach. It is not uncommon for some church members to get irritated and cranky in the stage of withdrawal resulting in their walking out of service. Is it wrong for you to love the grace that God has given your Pastor?

Anger. Depression. Shame. Guilt. Fear. Thousands of people are suffering from toxic emotions that poison their souls, stymie their family lives, and hinder their relationship with God. Countless Christians are saved, sanctified and set apart for God’s use, yet toxic emotions sometimes rear their ugly heads to contaminate our lives. One of the strongest contaminates to Christian living is shame, the most painful of all the emotions. Where do these harmful feelings come from and, more importantly, how can we rid ourselves of these detrimental temperaments? It all started in the Garden and it can end with the love of Jesus.