Lesson 4: Set your mind on things above
 Colossians 3:1-5 - If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

As we read in the last lesson, we can only be completely set free, healed of the addiction, as we trust Jesus to guide us and set us free. The way He guides us is through His word, the Bible, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We learn His standards for our lives in the Old Testament when we read the Law. This Law should convince us we can never follow, we can never truly obey it every moment of our lives. The Law must drive us to Jesus’ feet. We must listen to His words every day and build a moment by moment walk with Him.

Therefore, I encourage you to begin reading the Bible every day. I encourage you to read the five chapters of 1 John every day for the rest of this study, because I want you to be convinced, without a single doubt, that Jesus loves you. As you read this short book each day, talk to Him. Ask Him to explain what you are reading – His promise is that He will. And as He reminds you of things in your life which are not His way, confess them to Him and determine, with the help of the Holy Spirit and to the best of your ability, you will forsake this thing in your life. He will remind you of things, hurts and pain experienced from people you encountered as children (people we loved and/or trusted, maybe even bullies, not to mention our own failures) who probably caused you to choose to self-medicate.


Ask Him to help you understand, and also help you forgive those who have hurt you. It may take a trained counselor to find and uncover this information. In the long run, however, it is Jesus who must open the old wounds and cleanse them to allow healing so we no longer feel the need to self medicate with our addiction.

Forgiveness is not a feeling, it is a choice. Even when what someone has done to us hurts too much for us to feel like forgiving them, we forgive by choice. Forgiving someone means we write that debt into Jesus’ books and we erase it from ours. It is a determination we make, not a way we feel. Forgiving someone is more about us than it is about them, because when we do not forgive our hearts become hard as stone and we become bitter and angry. We are the ones who suffer when we do not forgive. Therefore, not forgiving someone may become our first addiction. It will be the first addiction we have to break. So as Jesus brings someone to mind who has wronged you, and as He asks you to forgive, do so. This forgiveness will also be a great thing to write in your journal because you will have dated it, so it will always be a reminder to you, when the anger rises again, that this debt no longer belongs to you – it belongs to Jesus.

Versus to memorize: Colossians 3:2-3

Your prayer: Dear Jesus, help me to forgive (name the person) for (specifically what they did). I choose to give this debt to You today.