#365 - Greg Covington: The Flesh and The Spirit | Mark E. Shaw#365 - Greg Covington: The Flesh and The Spirit | Mark E. Shaw
The Addiction Connection Podcast
Dr Mark E. Shaw talks with pastor and former addict Greg Covington about his long struggle with drugs, conversion, and the slow growth that followed. They discuss the tension between heart change and habit change, and how local church life shapes ongoing recovery.
36:28•11 May 2026
Flesh, Spirit and Sobriety: Greg Covington on Addiction, Church and Real Change
Episode Overview
- Greg describes moving from a 20-year drug addiction and thirteen rehabs to a life reshaped by Scripture and church community.
- He stresses that salvation did not end his struggle instantly; growth came through years of repentance, Bible study and local church involvement.
- The episode contrasts Jay Adams’ focus on re-training habits with Ed Welch’s emphasis on heart desires, applying both to addiction counselling.
- Greg argues that for someone with a new heart, structured obedience to Scripture can help align inner desires with outward behaviour.
- A key challenge raised is helping people move from attending recovery meetings to full participation in local church life and discipleship.
“"You're free when you want Jesus more than you want dope."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between host Dr Mark E. Shaw and guest pastor-counsellor Greg Covington leans hard into that question by tying addiction recovery to the Christian ideas of "the flesh" and "the Spirit". Greg shares a raw account of a 20-year drug addiction, including crystal meth use and thirteen rehab stays, before coming to faith while reading the Gospel of Matthew alone on night shifts.
He explains that salvation didn’t instantly erase his struggles; years after conversion he still wrestled with old habits and patterns of sin. What began to change everything was a growing hunger for Scripture and deep involvement in a local church, which he describes as the ordinary yet "extraordinary" place where God used teaching, community, and service to reshape his life.
The episode digs into a key debate inside biblical counselling: is the "power" of sin mainly seated in the body’s learned habits (Jay Adams) or in the heart’s desires and idols (Ed Welch and David Powlison)? Greg outlines both sides, then argues that, for people who’ve been spiritually reborn, teaching concrete obedience and new habits can work powerfully alongside heart change.
As he puts it, once someone has "tasted and seen that the Lord is good", sobriety with Christ starts to outshine the counterfeit high. You’ll also hear how Greg now pastors in rural Louisiana, runs a church-based recovery ministry and works with drug court referrals, yet still sees a big gap: people come to Thursday groups, but many struggle to step into full church life and everyday discipleship.
Packed with Bible references, honest struggle, and practical church-based care, this episode is especially suited to Christians in recovery, church leaders, and anyone curious how faith and counselling ideas intersect in addiction care. It might leave you asking: where do your habits and your heart point you?
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