“For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”
— Romans 7:19 (NIV)

We’ve all heard the quote, often attributed to Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

No group on earth understands this better than alcoholics and addicts.

The Cycle is Always the Same
It starts with a drink—a vodka soda, a cold beer, a glass of wine. The commercials and movies promise us happiness, camaraderie, and escape. “Just drink at the ballgame, and you’ll have a great time!” And for a while, it works. The laughter feels louder, the moments feel brighter.

But it doesn’t last. The promised utopia fades, leaving only the habit.

So what’s our solution? We change the external variables, convinced that’s the key.

• We switch from beer to whiskey.
• We abandon our regular bar for a new one across town.
• We quit golf and take up fishing, thinking the sport was the problem.
• We move to a new city, a new state, hoping a new zip code will finally bring the happiness we were promised.

But we are the one constant. We bring ourselves with us. The environment changes, the drink changes, but the emptiness, the anxiety, the need—that stays right where it is: inside us.

The Hardest Truth to Admit
It is infinitely easier to blame everything and everyone else—the job, the spouse, the stress, the world—than to look in the mirror and admit: I am the problem.

This admission isn’t about self-loathing; it’s about liberation. It’s the moment you stop running from ghosts and start facing the only thing you can actually change: yourself.

This is Where the Insanity Stops
This is where willpower fails and grace begins. This is where Jesus enters the story.

My own journey, detailed in Grateful Truce, led me to a simple, profound truth: Jesus is the antithesis of insanity. His teachings are a roadmap out of our chaotic, self-destructive cycles. They are a call to peace, clarity, and a new foundation.

The way out of the insane cycle isn’t a different drink or a different city. It’s a different you. And that transformation starts not with your own failing strength, but on your knees.

The first step to breaking the habit of insane drinking is to put down the bottle long enough to get on your knees and ask:
“Jesus, please stop my insanity.”

He will. He did for me. He can for you.

— Chris
(Author, “Grateful Truce”)

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