Getting Sober and Stay Sober For Good!
Copyright 2010 Heaven Ministries - Healing Ministry

For many alcoholics sobriety comes and goes, and this is because we have to want to get sober for ourselves, not our loved ones. It's a nice gesture to get sober for family, but eventually sobriety does not hold up on someone else's convictions. The alcoholic must be convicted in their own heart and mind to quit drinking and to stay sober for good.

Don't confuse conviction with "will power". Alcoholism is an insidious sickness and quitting by ones own will power is impossible because addiction is a powerful force that takes hold of a person spiritually, emotionally and physically and does not let go without the help of God intervening.

The number one reason that alcoholics and drug addicts do not stay clean and sober is because they do not humble their past lives to God in the first place. God doesn't make alcoholics. We choose that for ourselves. God is our healer. Coming out of the traps of alcoholism is a rebirth process with a new attitude of the heart and mind. If there is no rebirth, alcoholism remains attached to the body in every aspect. 

Getting sober and staying sober takes willingness from the alcoholic but takes God's intervention for sobriety. There are three main aspects of alcoholism that need attention and healing; they are emotional, physical and spiritual. If one of these areas is not healthy, the chances of the alcoholic drinking again are much higher. You can get sober and stay sober for good by getting healthy in all three of these areas.

For the Spouse of the Alcoholic

Most spouses of alcoholics are also unhealthy emotionally and spiritually because they allow themselves to take responsibility for the behaviors of the alcoholic. This is a classic form of enabling. What happens is they consume their own daily lives with what the alcoholic is doing rather than to take care of themselves. If a loved one becomes too obsessed over the behaviors of the alcoholic they will eventually feel unable to cope in the marriage.

We talk about how spouses of alcoholics can deal with this in our ebook How to Detach From an Alcoholic Spouse.  Spouses of alcoholics can learn to emotionally detach from the alcoholic, while still living in the same home and even becoming more loving people! It is important to understand that the more you consume yourself with the alcoholic, the more the alcoholic will hang onto the addiction. The alcoholic feeds on all of the negative attention, not only that but they like that you are taking responsibility for the addiction so they can continue drinking.

It is unbelievable how when you change through taking care of you, the alcoholic also changes—changes themselves and begins to realize they have a drinking problem. Only when you give the addiction back to the alcoholic will they take it upon themselves to get sober and stay sober for good!