A man does not have to hold a bottle in his hand to be drunk.
Whatever takes over your judgment, controls your appetite, weakens your restraint, and begins to dictate your decisions has the ability to intoxicate you.
A man can be drunk with the love of a woman.
He can be drunk with alcohol.
He can be drunk with the pursuit of money and wealth.
He can be drunk with power, pleasure, recognition, ambition, or success.
And a man can also be filled—completely yielded—to the Holy Spirit.
But these forms of intoxication do not produce the same destination.
DRUNK WITH THE LOVE OF A WOMAN
There is nothing wrong with loving a woman. A man should love his wife deeply, faithfully, sacrificially, and honourably.
But love becomes dangerous when affection takes the place of God, when emotion silences wisdom, and when a man can no longer say no to what is wrong because of whom he loves.
Samson is a sobering example.
He was a man with a divine calling and extraordinary strength, but his uncontrolled attraction to women repeatedly brought him into dangerous places. Delilah eventually discovered the secret connected to his consecration, and Samson lost his strength, his freedom, his sight, and eventually his life.
“And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.”
— Judges 16:4 KJV
Love is beautiful when governed by truth.
But love without spiritual control can make an intelligent man behave foolishly.
Never love anyone so much that you can no longer obey God because of them.
DRUNK WITH ALCOHOL
Alcohol is perhaps the most obvious picture of drunkenness because it directly affects judgment, coordination, speech, restraint, and behaviour.
The Bible warns clearly:
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
— Proverbs 20:1 KJV
Drunkenness promises relaxation but can produce bondage.
It promises escape but often leaves the original problem waiting when the effect wears off.
It can damage relationships, finances, health, reputation, judgment, and destiny.
A few moments of uncontrolled behaviour can create consequences that last for years.
Scripture says:
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
— Ephesians 5:18 KJV
Notice the contrast.
God does not merely say, “Do not be drunk.”
He tells us what should fill us instead.
DRUNK WITH THE LOVE OF WEALTH
Money itself is not evil.
Money can feed families, build businesses, support ministry, fund missions, educate children, help the poor, create employment, and advance worthwhile causes.
The danger is not money.
The danger is when money becomes master.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
— 1 Timothy 6:10 KJV
A person drunk with the love of wealth eventually begins to measure everything by money.
Relationships become opportunities.
People become tools.
Integrity becomes negotiable.
Rest becomes difficult.
Enough never feels like enough.
The tragedy of greed is that the finish line keeps moving.
The person who once prayed for thousands begins chasing millions. The person who gets millions begins dreaming of hundreds of millions.
Wealth is a wonderful servant.
It is a terrible god.
Jesus warned:
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
— Matthew 6:24 KJV
EVERY INTOXICATION HAS A PRICE
Whatever controls you eventually collects payment from you.
Being drunk with lust may cost you purity.
Being drunk with unhealthy affection may cost you discernment.
Being drunk with alcohol may cost you self-control.
Being drunk with wealth may cost you contentment.
Being drunk with ambition may cost you your family.
Being drunk with recognition may cost you humility.
Every wrong intoxication takes something from you.
But there is one filling that does not destroy the vessel.
THE SAFEST PERSON TO BE “DRUNK” WITH IS THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Bible does not command us to live empty.
It commands us to be filled.
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
— Ephesians 5:18 KJV
When alcohol fills a man, he can lose control.
When the Holy Spirit fills a man, He produces self-control.
When alcohol clouds judgment, the Holy Spirit gives discernment.
When greed creates restlessness, the Holy Spirit produces contentment.
When uncontrolled affection blinds a person, the Holy Spirit strengthens conviction.
The Holy Spirit does not destroy your personality.
He sanctifies it.
He does not make you irresponsible.
He makes you more sensitive to God.
He does not lead you into shame.
He leads you into truth.
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…”
— John 16:13 KJV
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PERSON IS FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?
The evidence is not merely excitement.
The Holy Spirit produces transformation.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
— Galatians 5:22–23 KJV
Look at the contrast.
The world offers substances and pursuits that promise happiness but often leave people emptier.
The Holy Spirit gives joy.
The world produces anxiety in the endless pursuit of more.
The Holy Spirit gives peace.
Wrong appetites produce bondage.
The Holy Spirit develops temperance—self-control.
Human passions can lead you away from God’s purpose.
The Holy Spirit leads you deeper into it.
WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS YOU, HE AFFECTS YOUR SPEECH
A drunk person often speaks differently.
Interestingly, when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, people watching them assumed something had happened to them.
“Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.”
— Acts 2:13 KJV
Peter answered:
“For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.”
— Acts 2:15 KJV
They were not drunk with wine.
They were filled with the Holy Ghost.
And that filling produced boldness, preaching, conviction, salvation, and the birth of a powerful witness for Christ.
Alcohol may loosen your tongue and make you say things you later regret.
The Holy Spirit can fill your mouth with words that bring life.
WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS YOU, HE AFFECTS YOUR COURAGE
Before Pentecost, Peter had denied Jesus under pressure.
After being filled with the Holy Spirit, he stood publicly and proclaimed Christ boldly.
The Spirit of God can turn fear into courage.
Weakness into strength.
Confusion into clarity.
Silence into witness.
Jesus said:
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me…”
— Acts 1:8 KJV
WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS YOU, HE HELPS YOU MASTER OTHER APPETITES
This may be one of the greatest benefits of being filled with the Spirit.
You do not defeat every wrong appetite merely by repeatedly saying, “I will stop.”
There is a higher principle.
Walk in the Spirit.
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
— Galatians 5:16 KJV
When your heart becomes occupied with God, many lesser appetites begin losing their grip.
The answer to wrong intoxication is not merely emptiness.
It is a greater filling.
CHECK WHAT HAS BEEN INTOXICATING YOU
Ask yourself:
What occupies my thoughts most?
What can easily make me compromise?
What am I afraid of losing?
What determines whether I feel successful?
Whose approval controls me?
What appetite repeatedly overrules my convictions?
What am I pursuing so intensely that my walk with God is suffering?
Your answer may reveal what has been “filling” you.
A woman must never become your god.
A man must never become your god.
Money must never become your god.
Career must never become your god.
Pleasure must never become your god.
Alcohol must never become your refuge.
Success must never become your identity.
There is only One who can safely possess your entire life.
BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
The world has many ways of getting people intoxicated.
Some come in bottles.
Some come through relationships.
Some come through bank accounts.
Some come through applause.
Some come through ambition.
Some come through pleasure.
But there is one filling that leaves you stronger rather than weaker, clearer rather than confused, freer rather than enslaved, purer rather than corrupted, and closer to your purpose rather than farther from it.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
If something must dominate your thoughts, let it be God.
If something must influence your decisions, let it be His Word.
If someone must govern your desires, let it be the Holy Spirit.
And if you are going to become so full of something that people can see its effect on your life, then be so full of God that His presence becomes impossible to hide.
“And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”
— Ephesians 5:18 KJV
Wrong intoxication makes a man lose himself.
The Holy Spirit helps a man become everything God intended him to be.
Cornelius Bella, The Message Bearer
