Christian Intervention | How to Stage an Intervention

You see your loved one struggling with an addiction and you want to help them. How do you start? What do you do? One of the best ways to guide your loved one to get the help they need is to stage an intervention. A Christian intervention can reassure your family member that you care about them and want them to move forward in a healthier life without drugs or alcohol.

Importance of an Intervention

You are concerned about your loved one’s lifestyle and how it affects their work, their relationships, and their finances. Addiction to drugs or alcohol can also have extremely serious consequences. In fact, over 70,000 people in the US died from a drug-involved overdose in 2019. Their overdoses resulted from abusing both illegal drugs and prescription opioids. In addition, approximately 88,000 individuals die each year from alcohol-related causes. Holding a Christian intervention could help save someone’s life.

Faith as a Positive Factor

Approaching your loved one from a Christian perspective and involving them in a faith-based intervention can help improve their success rate in recovery. Recent research has found that people who engage in spiritual activities improved their chance of completing an addition treatment program successfully.

The study showed that faith-based beliefs and practices provide aid and comfort to those in need, as well as tangible and valuable resources that can help prevent and address their substance use issues. It also pointed out that over 84% of scientific studies have demonstrated that faith is a positive factor in the prevention of addiction and in the recovery process.

These researchers concluded that religion and spirituality are “exceptionally powerful, integral, and indispensable resources in substance abuse prevention and recovery.” They added that “faith plays a key role in treating the mind, body, and spirit.”

How to Stage an Intervention

The first step in planning and staging an intervention is to educate yourself about addiction, including how someone can become addicted and how you and your family can help the individual. Understand that addiction is a disease, not a choice. This is a key point to remember to avoid placing blame on your loved one or on any other family members or friends during the intervention.

Then develop a plan that includes the details of what you are going to say as well as what you should not say. An intervention or addiction treatment expert can help guide you through planning the Christian intervention. It’s helpful to have a third party involved, such as a counselor or a pastor, to moderate the discussion as emotions can run high during these sessions.

During the intervention itself, you should be open and honest. Point out the aspects of your loved one’s behavior that are concerning, without attacking the individual. State facts such as “we’ve observed that you’re missing work more frequently” or “we’re concerned that your health has deteriorated.” You can also point out how your loved one’s behavior is affecting other members of the family. Offer details and stick to the facts, without judgement.

Be prepared with a set of consequences and stay firm about following through with them. Your loved one needs to get help and if they refuse, make it clear that you and your family will no longer support their addictive behaviors. This could mean that you no longer provide a free room for them to live in while they are using drugs or alcohol. They will have to pay rent or move out, unless they agree to seek treatment for their addiction.

Be ready to take your loved one to a treatment center. Do the research before the intervention to find the right one for the individual and for your family. The decision to go to supervised detox and treatment needs to be made during the Christian intervention, so your loved one does not have the opportunity to change their mind. You also don’t want them to try to detox on their own as that can also be very dangerous.

Be Ready for Recovery

Understand that a successful Christian intervention is not the end of the journey for you, your loved one, or your other family members. Recovery is a long-term, ongoing process involving the whole family. Now that you know how to stage an intervention, be prepared to support your loved one throughout the treatment and recovery. They will need you and your positive encouragement as they work toward a healthier life without drugs or alcohol.

California Faith-Based Drug Addiction Treatment

To get help for your loved one in a Christian setting, please contact Celebrate Hope to learn more about our faith-based addiction treatment program. Our team helps men and women break the cycle of addiction and begin anew. We rely on the teachings of Jesus Christ, along with evidence-based therapies to get individuals on the path of recovery.

What is the Biblical Meaning of Forgiveness?

Forgiving yourself and forgiving others can be challenging, particularly if you have been addicted to drugs and alcohol and are embarrassed or ashamed by some of the things you’ve done. That’s the beauty of forgiveness, though. It allows you to move past the mistakes and wrongdoings and move forward toward a healthier future. For Christians in addiction treatment and recovery, it’s important to understand the Biblical meaning of forgiveness as well.

Forgiveness is Important in Recovery

The 12-Step program refers to making amends to others in Steps 8 and 9. According to the publication, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, these two steps are “concerned with personal relationships.” In part, the goal is to “consider how, with our newfound knowledge of ourselves, we may develop the best possible relations with every human being we know.”

The 8^th step, in particular, demands a new kind of honesty about your relationships with others. It begins with the procedure of forgiving others as well as forgiving yourself as you learn how to live in the world without the substances to which you were once addicted. You can be assured that you are ready and willing for this step when you can apologize to others and decide to replace your judgment of others, particularly if they have hurt you at some point, with attitudes of mercy and forgiveness.

During these steps, you are not just forgiving and making amends with friends or family members, but also with those whom you consider to be “enemies.” Humility is a critical part of forgiveness. It is now your responsibility to forgive others, including your enemies, and apologize for your own wrongdoing.

The Power of Forgiveness

Forgiveness serves to release your feelings of resentment or vengeance toward someone who has harmed you. It is a conscious, deliberate decision that you make as you progress through your recovery from addiction. You are not deciding whether anyone deserves your forgiveness. You are also not excusing any real offenses against you.

Relationships can become seriously damaged when you are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Through forgiveness, you are taking a step toward repairing that damage. It will also bring you peace of mind as it frees you from your pent-up anger toward the other person. You cannot truly forgive someone if you are still harboring negative feelings toward them. Forgiveness gives you the power to recognize the pain someone else has caused you without letting that pain define you, enabling you to heal emotionally and mentally.

An Important Part of Christianity

Forgiving yourself, asking for forgiveness from others, and showing forgiveness to others are important aspects of your Christianity. The Bible says that you are to follow the example of Jesus, who taught you that you should forgive. Part of what this means is that you are to let go of the negative feelings that come with bearing a grudge against someone else.

Your feelings of hatred and anger can cause harm to you as well as to the other person. Jesus has taught you to basically let those feelings go. In fact, as you reach out to others with compassion, you release those feelings of resentment in an act of Christian love.

This is, in essence, what the Biblical meaning of forgiveness is, that you should let go of those feelings of hatred and anger toward someone whom you feel has wronged you. Just as you ask God for forgiveness when you have done something wrong, so you should be willing to forgive others when they have done something against you. Jesus taught that you should love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. You cannot do this while holding onto harmful feelings of anger and revenge.

Bible Verses About Forgiveness

As you work on forgiveness in your addiction recovery, keep in mind these helpful and inspirational words from the Bible:

"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven." — Luke 6:37

"And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." — Mark 11:25

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." — Ephesians 4:32

"The Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." — Colossians 3:13

California Faith-Based Drug Addiction Treatment

To get help overcoming drug addiction, please contact Celebrate Hope to learn more about our faith-based addiction treatment program. Our team helps men and women break the cycle of addiction and begin anew. We rely on the teachings of Jesus Christ, along with evidence-based therapies to get individuals on the path of recovery.