Grace vs. Sin
The alcoholic does not have to try to drink. It comes naturally to him. He doesn’t even have to rededicate himself occasionally to the pursuit of drunkenness. He drinks out of an inner desire and a powerful influence that compels him. He is well practiced and exercised at yielding to it. The habit of surrendering and giving in has become second nature. That’s an addiction.
The good news is Grace works in the same way for it is no less of an influence. In fact, it is vastly superior. This is the answers to the power of sin.” As sin abounds, so Grace does much more abound” [KJV]. Grace is the desire and the power to do God’s will.” It energizes from within. The power of sin is overcome therefore incidentally, not by will power but by superior power, Grace.
If you are struggling with a habit or a behavior, stop trying to stop! The solution is not in asserting your will, but in re-attaching your will to a greater influence. God’s Grace is “the divine influence on the heart” (GK, charis ). It’s the influence that holds the victory, not you. Struggling and trying harder are replaced by giving in and surrendering. If you are bound by a habit, you should be good at that.
The only way to overcome addictions is to become mastered by higher cravings.
As for faltering’s along the way. There is an ancient Japanese proverb that says, “fall seven times, get up eight.” Recognize stumbling’s as the steps of progress in growing in this Grace of God. As long as we fall forward, we are advancing. God always encourages his children back up to their feet without scolding. He is not looking at our falls, He is looking at our progress.
The drinker didn’t become and alcoholic the first few times he drank either.