I received word today that a family visiting our beautiful city of Charleston tragically lost their eleven year old daughter by a drunk driver. The family was enjoying a delightful stroll near a park when the driver (who was involved in two collisions earlier that evening) went through an intersection at a high rate of speed and struck the little girl. This was a senseless tragedy that could have been avoided.

Alcohol is one of the most common drugs used in the United States. Even a single episode of excessive drinking can lead to a life changing consequence. The chronic use of alcohol is associated with numerous medical, psychiatric, social, and family problems. Children of parents with an alcohol addiction show higher rates of alcoholism than children who do not have parents with an alcohol addiction.

As a pastor, every week I witness the pain and misery caused by alcohol – families are fractured, potential is wasted, and lives are ruined. The sad part is that this is preventable. Marketing does a good job of showing how much “fun” drinking can be – they don’t show the whole story. They don’t show the broken lives and victims of DUI. Alcohol will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.

I know first hand the dangers of alcoholism having grown up in a family where alcohol led to the death of my father at a young age and then my mother self-medicated through alcohol – it’s a dead end street. You don’t need alcohol to enjoy life. I get a long- lasting high that lasts all day as I run through God’s creation, and there is no hangover! Paul’s advice is as timely now as when he wrote to the Ephesians 2,000 years ago,

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, (Ephesians 5:18)

This verse also reveals how to escape from the snare of alcoholism, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

RickAssociate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

Follow me on twitter:  rickhiggins5