Romans 12:10 New Living Translation (NLT)
10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take
delight in honoring each other.
Love and affection are the answers to helping people. We
should take delight in others as God has taken delight in us. In helping people
we should let them know about the love of Jesus who works in our lives to help
us overcome any problem. We may struggle with the problem for a while, but
sometimes that is God’s way of letting us sink to our lowest point so we know
the only one who can help us is Jesus Christ.
Can alcoholics overcome their addiction? Seattle's
Downtown Emergency Services Center doesn't seem to think so. It's spending $11
million on permanent housing for homeless alcoholics.
Seattle taxpayers were fed up with spending $50,000 per
alcoholic, every year, on recovery programs, prison, and emergency room visits.
The solution is 1811 Eastlake, a housing complex that accommodates 75
alcoholics. The residents are allowed to drink all they want, and they don't
have to be in a recovery program—as long as they're off the streets.
Bill Hobson, the program's executive director, believes
most alcoholics can't change. "Once you're an alcoholic, you're always an
alcoholic," he says, citing the example of an alcoholic who got drunk 10
minutes after leaving a detox facility he had been in for two months. Hobson
and his group reject the transforming power of Jesus Christ and believe some
people are beyond hope and help.
[Chuck Colson, "Bottoms Up: Is Change
Possible?" Breakpoint newsletter (12-15-06); submitted by Jerry De Luca,
Montreal West, Quebec, Canada]
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