Natural consequences reveal the wisdom of your decisions, the priorities of your values and the integrity of your actions. For a Christian who believes in the supernatural workings of a supreme God, unhealthy addiction can be overcome by your decision to act consistently between spirit, soul and body. When you eventually become aware that your addiction has become an all-consuming priority in life and is driving you further away from what you say you value, your perception and goals change. This awareness is the trigger for the perception change. remember God and your hope is birthed. When you "hit the bottom", you awakened the desire to change. Your faith to change is motivated by hope and you use your faith to overcome your own "belief perseverance" that produced these unrealistic, unhealthy, and unproductive thinking and acting patterns (Slusher, M.P., Anderson, C.A. (1989)). 

Because values are unique to each person, standards can become customized by individuals who choose to fit the standard into their existing framework instead of allowing the standard to stretch their adaptability. The process of prioritizing values and standards into your life can be objective or subjective depending on your basis for Truth. Values do guide the decision-making process and therefore your resulting behavior, but if you don't prioritize the list, you'll be wishy-washy, something the Apostle James refers to as a double-minded man in the Bible (https://www.gotquestions.org/double-minded.html ).In contrast, integrity describes a person who acts consistently with values, resulting in consistent and predictable moral action.

• For a more in-depth look into behavioral integrity read Appendix 1S.

• For an example of making cognitively consistent decisions read Appendix 2M.

 

The decisions that are not made consistently by you will eventually result in uneasy feelings, discontentment and/or emptiness stemming from cognitive dissonance. Making value-based decisions (rather than making decisions by immediate gratification) and then acting those decisions out in public is the way to rid yourself of anxiety. For example, when you honor and value God more than yourself or anyone else, you can feel at peace with your behavioral decisions, even in an environment that doesn't support your decisions. ​As a Christian, a Spirit-filled believer, when you act on Godly values, your decision and actions bring you cognitive consistency and peace (Proverbs 10:9, 11:3). If you don’t act on it, anxiety results in your body and mind, producing Christian cognitive dissonance. The Apostle James says that when we think one way but act another we are being “double minded” (James 1:8, 4:8). God-honoring, single-minded decisions stem from a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ as evidenced by acting out value-based decisions.

 

​When a Christian says that God is their first priority in life, to prove their integrity, their decisions on how to act needs to show the action of the words, otherwise your peace will be elusive. Take prayer as an example. A Christian who holds to the value of prayer in their Christian life, will pray regularly. Praying is taught by Jesus as an important step in establishing and maintaining a relationship with God (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4). Prayer is simply carving time out to talk to God. There is no right or wrong way, what matters is just the act itself. Respecting God's sovereignty and His nature enables you to ask for help in prayer. Asking for the Spirit's power to flow through you brings you the strength to conquer the tidal wave of addiction so you can swim over it, rather than being tossed around and knocked down by it. For tips watch Rick Warrens 4 habits of prayer @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp89-uvE1tA.