One person wrote on Reddit's r/Christianity, "Today I have slipt and drank and feel nothing but shame and guilt. Am I too broken to be saved?" Another Reddit user replied in the same thread, "I keep relapsing as well. Its a very shameful and embarrassing process. I've two days sober now." If this is your morning, the US National Institute on Drug Abuse says that for some people relapse "can be part of the process," and that "relapse doesn’t mean treatment has failed." NIDA puts relapse rates for substance use disorders at 40 to 60 percent, and sets that beside long-term illnesses such as asthma and high blood pressure.
First, safety. In the UK, the NHS says "It can be very dangerous to stop drinking suddenly if you’re dependent on alcohol," and "If you get withdrawal symptoms, get medical help before you try to stop drinking." NIDA warns that after a break, "If a person uses as much of the drug as they did before quitting, they can easily overdose because their bodies are no longer adapted to their previous level of drug exposure." In the United States, a SAMHSA toolkit hosted by the CDC says "If you suspect an overdose or are not sure what to do next, call 911." In Canada, the federal government says "If you are in an emergency situation, call 9-1-1 or go to your local emergency department." Anywhere else, call your local emergency number.
If you only have a minute
Safety first
A suspected overdose is 911 in the US, 9-1-1 in Canada, your local emergency number elsewhere.
The passage
Psalm 103:8-12, "As far as the east is from the west."
One thing to do
Write the day's number on a page, answer one question in a line, and give it to a sponsor or pastor.
Psalm 103, for the morning after
The passage Bible Nudge offers for guilt and regret is Psalm 103:8-12, from a psalm of praise recalling God's character, just after it remembers that "Yahweh executes righteous acts, and justice for all who are oppressed."
Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
And straight after:
Like a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
For anyone asking whether they are too broken, the psalm describes something already done, by a God who "remembers that we are dust." Bible verses for guilt and shame reads these verses closely.
Something to do with it on Day 1
On Day 1, or the morning after a slip, write the day's number at the top of a page. "Day 1" is a number. Read verses 13 and 14 once. Then answer one question in a single line: "What are you still holding that this says has already been carried away?" That line can go to a sponsor, a group or a pastor, a person who can hear it.
Shame, and what the psalm speaks to
In a 2013 study of 105 newly sober people recruited from AA meetings, Randles and Tracy found that shame shown while talking about past drinking strongly predicted relapse over the next three to eleven months. That is an association in one group. Psalm 103 speaks about what was done and what God did with it, a reckoning a person can carry and still get up.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine calls addiction "a treatable, chronic medical disease"; the Catholic Catechism treats drug use as a moral matter "except on strictly therapeutic grounds" (2291). They answer different questions.
Romans 7, and the struggle
Many people in recovery know Romans 7: "For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do." Then:
What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!
A few lines on comes Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." John Calvin reads the "I" as "a man already regenerated," a believer still struggling; Adam Clarke, a Wesleyan, reads it as a person under the law. Either way, an apostle's struggle comes with thanks straight after it.
Falling, and getting up again
Proverbs 24:16, "for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again," warns the wicked not to lie in wait against the righteous, and Matthew Henry reads the falls as "falls into affliction." Micah 7:8 speaks in Jerusalem's voice: "When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, Yahweh will be a light to me." The next verse says plainly, "I have sinned against him."
When the pull is loud
In Numbers 11 the people in the wilderness, remembering Egypt, say, "There is nothing at all except this manna to look at." Memory makes the old life better than it was. Proverbs 23 ends in the drinker's own voice: "When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another." Then freedom: Paul tells the churches in Galatia, "Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free" (Galatians 5:1), and Jesus says, "If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36).
The verses people send
1 Corinthians 6:12, "I will not be brought under the power of anything," follows "Such were some of you, but you were washed." James 5:16, "Confess your offenses to one another," is written to whole congregations, close to the Fifth Step. 1 Corinthians 10:13 rests its promise on God's faithfulness, and Philippians 4:13 is Paul thanking a church for a gift.
For the inventory and the amends
In Alcoholics Anonymous's Twelve Steps, Step 3 is "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him"; Step 4, "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves"; Step 5, "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs"; Step 9, "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others"; and Step 11, "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him." Celebrate Recovery begins with "Realize I'm not God" beside Matthew 5:3. A 2020 Cochrane review on alcohol use disorder found "high quality evidence" that manualized AA and Twelve-Step Facilitation increased abstinence more than other established treatments such as CBT.
Luke 19 gives Zacchaeus, who says "I restore four times as much," and hears "Today, salvation has come to this house." David says "I have sinned against Yahweh," and Nathan answers "Yahweh also has put away your sin" (2 Samuel 12:13), before the chapter goes on to what followed. In both stories the mercy and the amends sit side by side. Peter's restoration is on bible verses for forgiving yourself.
If the faith side is hard
One person wrote on Reddit's r/alcoholism, "I would gladly approach AA, but I have a serious problem with the religious aspect." AA says "Acceptance of the Twelve Steps is not mandatory in any sense," and SMART Recovery is secular. The Serenity Prayer, as most people know it: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." On the Ninth Step, a Reddit user on r/alcoholicsanonymous wrote, "I knew God was with me, but just having a voice on the other side made it better."
For a husband, wife, parent or sponsor
On Reddit's r/Christianity, somebody asked for a friend, "Do you know Bible verses for his current situation? I'm a little afraid that he'll throw away everything he's worked on recently." Another Reddit user replied, "Know that he is not throwing his walk with God away by relapsing unless he allows the relapse to stop him from walking with God." One suggestion: send Psalm 103:13-14 or Micah 7:8 with a line of your own and a time you will call. Al-Anon and Nar-Anon are for families, and Bible verses for a prodigal child is for a parent whose adult child is using.
Where to find help
Services, by country, in no order of rank. United States: the SAMHSA National Helpline, 1-800-662-4357. Canada: the Government of Canada's Get help with substance use page. UK: FRANK, 0300 123 6600, and the NHS alcohol support finder. Ireland: the HSE Drugs and Alcohol Helpline, 1800 459 459. Australia: the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline, 1800 250 015. Mutual-aid directories: Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, SMART Recovery and Celebrate Recovery, each on its own terms. If you typed "addiction help" and are not in recovery yet, any of these is a place to start today.
Where to go next
If you are thinking about ending your life, please reach a person now. In the United States, call or text 988 for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans is on 116 123. In Australia, Lifeline is 13 11 14. Elsewhere, Find A Helpline lists services by country. For a suspected overdose: 911 in the US, 9-1-1 in Canada, your local emergency number elsewhere.
Tomorrow, write the next number and read Psalm 103:8-12 with the verses around it under it. Or describe what you are carrying, and Bible Nudge can suggest a single passage. Find a passage.
Words that come up here
Tap a term to see what it means.
Relapse. A return to use after an attempt to stop.