Have a few friends who struggle with addictions yet are saved. Will this affect their rewards in heaven?

Nancy

 Hello Nancy,

Thank you for your honest inquiry. It’s actually a question that pertains to anyone who has a bad habit, whether or not we call it an addiction.

God’s records are accurate. He knows what steps are “of faith” and what steps are not. Man only sees the outward appearance.

Without faith it is not possible to please God (Heb. 11:6), yet with faith, it is possible to please Him. This is amazing! Through the cleansing of the blood and the enabling of the Spirit, with faith it is possible to please almighty God though we still live in sin-cursed bodies.

Faith is depending on God based on His sure words. Faith is not a work; it depends on the worker—God. When we trust God, He enables. This “not I, but Christ” dynamic will pass the Judgment Seat fires. Only God meets the standard of God, and through faith, we access Jesus who meets the standard. We get rewarded for His life energizing ours.

Whenever we cave in to the flesh, we miss out on divine life. Similarly, when we trust in the strength of the flesh, we also miss out on divine life. However, our bad moments do not negate that which is of faith just as our faith moments do not condone our selfish moments.

The reality is that addictions and bad habits steal a lot of time which could have been spent walking in the Spirit. It is in this sense of lost opportunity that addictions hinder rewards. Anything truly of faith God blesses, and God sorts through it all.

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