To stop defeating yourself, you must stop deceiving yourself. You need to take an honest look at your life, face the truth, and deal with the issues. What in your life are you pretending isn’t a problem or you’re not addicted to? What are you saying “It’s no big deal” about?

It really doesn’t matter whether you’re shooting heroin or running up your MasterCard, whether you’re reading pornography or a trashy novel—you’re using it all to try to escape your pain and sin. But you’re not going to get healing until you first acknowledge the root of your problem.

You don’t have to hit rock bottom before you really change. You don’t have to go the way of destruction. You can admit the root of the issue and then deal with it.

When asked, “What’s the biggest problem you encounter?” church counselors will say over and over, “People wait too long before they ask for help. Then it’s almost impossible to turn around.” Most people are in denial about the problem, wait until it’s too late, and then go through unnecessary pain.

The Bible says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8 NIV).

What are the hard questions you need to be asking about the sin in your life? What are the warning signs you’ve been ignoring?

If you want healing, you need to acknowledge the root of your problem and face the truth about yourself. This is never the easy choice, but it’s always the right one.

God is for you and working in you. With his power, you can overcome anything.