HEB 11:25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.

Many times in life we have to make a choice between a destructive pleasure, and doing what we know is right in order to stop that destruction. It is not an easy choice to make because we truly believe that we need that pleasure fix in order to feel secure and happy in our everyday life. We will endure all hell just to get that little bit of the heaven that we think we get from our addiction. In time though, the percentage of pleasure to pain seems to drop more and more until our addiction just become more work, trouble, and pain, than pleasure.

Another problem that we run into is that when we first quit an addiction we feel like we are going through 100% pain, with no pleasure. We feel bored, weak, and endangered since we no longer have our pleasure/protection fix available to us. We must tell ourselves though that this is all in fact just temporary. In time you will see the percentage of pleasure that returns to your life become much greater than what you had with the addiction still active. Addiction makes you think that it is giving you a lot, but in the end it always takes more than it gives.

Because of fear we made a decision long ago to only have controllable pleasure in our life. Most genuine life-pleasure is interdependent with other people, but since we have believed that we are defenseless in life without our addiction, we don't want to have to trust in God or people in order to meet our needs; we believe that we can only trust in ourselves and no one else. Ask God to help you to trust Him more, and to heal you of whatever has damaged your trust. You may not feel like you can trust people, but you can trust God through people.

MT 9:12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

So what percentage is your pleasure to your pain with your addiction right now? Are you finally getting sick enough of it controlling and abusing your life? You deserve better than this, so stop settling for eating out of life's garbage can, when you can eat at the Masters table. God loves you no matter how damaged you are, and guess what? We are exactly the kind of damaged goods that Jesus died for. Thank God your life was not so perfect that you didn't need Him. Let God increase the level of pleasure in your life, and decrease your pain.

PS 16:11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.