- My twin brother is an alcoholic and homeless, refuses help, and guilt-trips me; my fiance won't let me help anymore. What should I do?
Mike (speaker-1, named in the rundown for Dear LFTP advice; self-identifies via the hand-holding exchange) reads a listener letter: her twin brother is an alcoholic and homeless, has never held a job, guilt-trips her for money, once faked a drug overdose for attention, threatened suicide, refuses professional help; her fiance won't let her help anymore; she feels helpless and exhausted. Counsel: 'morning prayer, night prayer' — give God what you couldn't accomplish; the real question is 'God, is this where you want me to be?'; backing out when God says 'I need you to back off' is harder than doubling down; distinguish tough love from reckless abandoned love; be faithful in the means and let God handle the ends ('my burden is light' — Matthew 11:30, paraphrased; 'feed the widows and the orphans' — James 1:27, referenced). Secular's answer: only the brother can divert himself from a self-destructive path; she should consider a mental-health professional to help her separate.
More on Addiction
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Dear LFTP 1: the burned-out friend
- How do I approach a long friendship that has become one-sided and draining when the friend has anxiety, depression, OCD, narcissism, and a drinking problem?
Ben reads a letter from a listener burned out by a decade-long friendship with someone suffering anxiety, depression, OCD, narcissism, and a drinking problem who never asks how the listener is doing.
From No. 588 · hypokritēs
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Dear LFTP: husband's slot-machine addiction and a lost life's savings
- How should an 80-something wife respond when her husband's slot-machine addiction gambled away everything?
A letter from a woman in her eighties: her husband developed a slot-machine addiction, gambled away every asset from 58 years of marriage, and their son bailed them out as trustee of the land and home while doling out a tiny allowance.
From No. 581 · Silly Rabbit | Christianity, Culture, and Navigating Social Expectations
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Dear LFTP: dessert-free days, discipline, and soul over dirt
- How do I stop eating dessert on days I deemed dessert-free?
A listener allowed dessert only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and can't stop on the other days. The hosts land on the simplest answer: you just stop; Dan's Atkins bars,…
From No. 581 · Silly Rabbit | Christianity, Culture, and Navigating Social Expectations
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Dear LFTP: AA member who witnessed a life-support withdrawal
- How do I come to terms with accidentally witnessing a fellow AA member's life-support withdrawal?
An AA member writes that while visiting a hospitalized fellow member with cookies, he arrived at the exact moment doctors withdrew life support and witnessed the family's raw grief; he now fears he intruded and caused harm.
From No. 568 · Like Jesus