Hello,<\/p>\n
I’ve been praying for a cousin of mine who lives with my family to leave this house or change. His mother has left with his sister to another state but he stayed behind. He uses drugs and steals from us. He causes my family and me anxiety and stress. I can’t sleep thinking he will try to pick the doors open to get money or other expensive items. He won’t live with his mother and my mom won’t kick him out. I have prayed to the Lord Jesus. But I am really running out of patience, and I can’t live like this nor my family.<\/p>\n\t
In families who are dealing with a drug addict, there is almost always an enabler present. The enabler is the person who mistakenly thinks that the addict can be rescued by protecting him from the consequences of his actions. Wrongs that are done are overlooked in the name of “peace.” The addict is shielded from the consequences of his actions because, after all, he is family. Meanwhile, the addict is convinced that using drugs isn’t so bad because almost nothing bad happens to him. There is no reason to change because he is satisfied with the way things are.<\/p>\n
Your mother is the enabler. She mistakenly thinks she can rescue your cousin through kindness and nothing will convince her otherwise. But the reality that you have to face is that you don’t run this household. You don’t own the house. You don’t pay the bills. You can express your thoughts on matters, but in the end, it is your parents’ decision. About the only thing you can do is choose not to live in the house if you are old enough to leave.<\/p>\n
I know it is not what you want to hear, and I can’t offer a “magic” solution to these problems.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello, I’ve been praying for a cousin of mine who lives with my family to leave this house or change. His mother has left with his sister to another state but he stayed behind. He uses drugs and steals from us. He causes my family and me anxiety and stress. I can’t sleep thinking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[372,173],"class_list":["post-33966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-drugs","tag-family"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38851,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-i-do-my-husband-is-a-drug-addict\/","url_meta":{"origin":33966,"position":0},"title":"What do I do? My husband is a drug addict","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear sir, I have a question about my marriage. My husband is addicted to drugs. I've been praying and trying so hard to get him to stop. He keeps promising and goes back to it. We live overseas and things are getting so hard for me, more than I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13004,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-get-my-boyfriend-to-be-honest-with-me-instead-of-hiding-things-like-his-occasional-drug-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":33966,"position":1},"title":"How do I get my boyfriend to be honest with me instead of hiding things like his occasional drug use?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My boyfriend used to be a heavy drug addict and he says he is clean, even though I find him lying to me and hiding his occasional drug use from me. 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Answer: \"Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45677,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-i-do-about-my-drug-addicted-husband\/","url_meta":{"origin":33966,"position":5},"title":"What do I do about my drug-addicted husband?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am a follower and believer of Christ for almost four years now. I don't know what to do with my husband. He is doing drugs. We are living with my in-laws in a living room. 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