Crossroads: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Addiction (Study Guide)

Everyone of us is a potential addict.
Eventually, every addict finds himself at a crossroads.

In a pressure–filled world, the prospect of instant escape can be exhilarating. No matter the object–drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, or sex, just to name a few–addictions lure us. They extend the promise of pleasure. In the end, they deliver emptiness, death, and destruction. What began as an escape from the hassles of life becomes a form of bondage. Addiction is a voluntary slavery. Change doesn’t come easily. But change is possible!

No matter how many times you have tried and failed, there really is a way through the addictive fog. There is a guidebook for living, and, contrary to what many think, it is available to anyone, even to those enslaved by an addiction. God is not silent on this issue. His Word offers hope, and that hope is the basis of Crossroads: A Step–by–Step Guide Away from Addiction.

Crossroads was designed as a group study for those struggling with addiction. These ten steps, presented in author Ed Welch’s trademark direct, no–nonsense style, provide a biblical and practical framework for change. Welch is a wise and loving partner who walks beside readers on their journey to freedom. Along the way, they will learn to recognize the patterns of addiction, to choose wisdom over foolish desires, and to cling to the hope they have in Jesus, who sets captives free. The path away from addiction has been laid by a God who is full of surprises, who faithfully pursues those enslaved even though they have deliberately avoided him.

Click here for the companion Facilitator’s Guide.

Ed Welch is the author of several books including Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest; Blame it on the Brain?; Depression: A Stubborn Darkness; Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave; and When People Are Big and God is Small. He holds a PhD in counseling psychology and currently serves as counselor, faculty member, and director of the School of Biblical Counseling at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF).