No one wants to admit they have an addiction. It’s a word associated with out-of-control behavior, heartbreak, and pain. But what if I told you that I have an addiction so secret and unassuming that I went for years without realizing it was even there? What if I told you that you probably have it, too?
I had this revelation recently that I have a bona fide addiction to worldly comfort.
But is it wrong to want to feel comfortable? Maybe the better question is: What if worldly comfort were the very thing keeping you from real comfort and true joy? Not to be confused with the kind of comfort God gives to believers, worldly comfort is an alluring seductress, inviting us to an easy, convenient life with as little discomfort as possible.
Addiction to comfort can keep us from joining God on the journey. In Mark 10 Jesus had a conversation with a rich, young ruler who asked how to have eternal life. The young man went away deeply discouraged when he heard that the answer was to drop everything and follow Jesus. When we constantly seek comfort, we end up missing out on the adventure God has for us.
When we constantly seek worldly comfort, we can become attuned to listening to the shouts of fear rather than the the whispers of the Holy Spirit. The result is spiritual deafness. It’s an easy slip to avoid that nudge to talk to someone who looks like they could use a friend—because it might be awkward. We ignore the pull to be more generous—because it might mean we have less. We listen to a message and feel led to serve but never follow through—because it might be inconvenient.
Like most addictions, a dependency on worldly comfort keeps us from being known and fully knowing others, including God! While comfort convinces us to keep it surface and Instagram-worthy, being known requires vulnerability and transparency. It’s anything but comfortable yet totally necessary to developing deep, long-lasting relationships.
Here’s the good news: You can begin to kick this addiction today.
- Take your next best step. Jesus came that we may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Instead, you just take your next step to becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ.
- Lean in and listen. The only way to know God’s voice is to spend time with Him. Creating a habit of spending time in God’s Word and in prayer can be as simple as picking up your phone! There’s a Bible Plan for every person on the YouVersion Bible App.
- Commit to community. We weren’t created to do life alone. Now is the time to find a LifeGroup that you can grow, laugh, and serve with.
These are the first three steps toward breaking free from being a slave to the easy, the painless, and the comfortable and stepping toward an exciting, even if occasionally bumpy, adventurous life with God. Jesus is helping me to undo the spiritual deafness and other damage I didn’t realize was there in my life of comfort seeking. He will help you, too.
