Author, Writer, Speaker, & Life Coach,  John Mouser, has been drug-free and sober for more than seven years. He spends his time teaching other young men & women how to overcome addictions in their own lives by experiencing a life of “addition” in Jesus Christ. He & his wife, Christine, reside in Rochester, Minnesota. 

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How Faith Freed Me From Addiction

Posted on January 26, 2016 Updated on January 26, 2016 by John Mouser

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I was caught in the vicious trap of addiction for 18 years of my life. Honestly, I never imagined I would be an alcoholic, thug, or a dope head. The pain that fueled my addictions started when I was 8-years-old. I really didn’t know why it happened or how to deal with it but I felt rejected by my father. He wasn’t giving me attention, so I began searching for other ways to get that attention and approval.

I was only 9-years-old when I started smoking cigarettes. I felt like it was cool and exciting. It quieted the pain I felt for a moment, then as the excitement wore off, I tried other things like alcohol, marijuana, porn, pills, etc. I found myself in this chase of numbing reality. I hated to face reality sober. Reality meant dealing with the pain and nurturing a wound. I didn’t even know how to fix the pain or I would have. When the heart is sick, the whole body is sick. Only when you allow the heart issues to be properly addressed can you then experience a life of happiness and wholeness.

The more I experimented with drugs, the deeper I went and the more numb I felt. On a warm September evening, my home was raided by task force agents where they found me in possession of a major shipment of drugs. I was facing up to 40 years in prison. I laid on my jail cell floor and cried out, “Oh God, give me a second chance!” After many months of being in jail, I was released with fines and a criminal record.

About a year later, I was invited to a bible study at a coffee shop where I met a group of men that had been radically changed by God. This was bizarre to me. I had been around church, but never really got involved. Every one of those men I met were all in a faith-based drug rehabilitation program. I knew I needed to be around people that would push me to do the right thing in every situation. I got connected to their church and began to help out with the sound and media team. They invited me to help set up chairs at the support group meetings and services they attended. Little did I know after eight years of serving, helping, and mentoring there, I would be given the opportunity to be the leader of that meeting.

My consistent, intentional relationship with God is what kept me off or drugs and now I live a more productive life. Helping other addicts also kept me from going backwards. When people are looking to you and counting on you to make it so they have hope, it forces you to make great decisions when nobody else is looking. When you begin to see God put people’s lives back together and give them a better life than they ever had, you become addicted to seeing miracles like that.

Another way to overcome addiction is by having a community of people who love you, believe in you, and support you in both the good and bad days. Family is a great tool to motivate and support you to make great decisions over and over again.

As I look back from my experiences over the years, my addictions started by making one bad decision followed by another. Then, in the same way, my freedom from addiction started by making one good decision after another. I have now been drug-free and sober for more than four years and plan to help others do the same.

John Mouser is an entrepreneur, speaker, and author and has been drug-free and sober for more than four years. In addition to owning and operating a successful auto paint and body shop, he teaches young men and women how to overcome addictions in their own lives by experiencing a life of “addition” in Jesus Christ. He and his wife, Christine, live in McKinney, Texas. 

God set me free and He can do it for you too!

12:42 Nov 1 2014 Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States of America

As a young boy growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, I experienced deep rejection at an early age. I honestly felt I didn’t fit in anywhere. I not only felt rejected by my peers, but the most painful rejection was from my dad. I loved my dad more than anything but for some reason he held me at arm’s length. All I wanted was for my dad to be proud of me and when I failed to get his approval, I was determined to at least get his attention. I began to – as they say – act out.

The fact is all of you know a bad little kid just like me in your neighborhood, but what most of you never see is the broken heart of that bad little kid. A broken heart that drove me to open the door to drugs and immorality long before my 13th birthday. A broken heart that drove me to a life of violence, addiction, and crime. Everyone who crossed me felt my rage. My hate and bitterness made me feel almost invincible.

Until the day my world came crashing down. I faced 40 years in a FEDERAL prison.

For trafficking drugs and a weapons violation. For the first time, I cried out to God! In my brokenness I asked him to help me, love me, accept me,take me in, God give me a fresh start in life. LIKE THE PRODIGAL SON IN LUKE 15 "having come to my senses"...I ran back to the arms of Jesus where I was somebody. I was truly embraced as a son in his house..Today I stand a free man, I am free from prison bars, free from nicotine, free from alcohol, free from pornography, free from drugs, free from everything Destructive!!! THERE IS NO DOUBT, You too can be set free! God did it for me he can do it for you. You can purchase new my book 18+ "from addiction to addition" to hear the rest of the story at highbridgebooks.com.