The Best Christian Songs for Recovery from Drug and Alcohol Addiction

For those of us moving into recovery, music can provide a welcome relief and release from life. If you’re looking for God, music can be a powerful way to connect with Him and to put yourself in a mindset that allows you to see Him in your actions. The Bible is very clear about the fact that music is sacred and special to God. It only makes sense that you would find solace, peace, and motivation in it here on earth.

Music can provide motivation, can help you work through your darkest days, and can give you a sense of peace that you won’t find anywhere else. These Christian songs offer that for people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction with topics touching on forgiveness, finding yourself, and moving on.

Cry Out to Jesus – Third Day

Third Day’s “Cry Out to Jesus” is a plaintive reminder that we all have bad days, months, years. We all go through hardship and sometimes, everyone lets us down. The band offers a glimpse at the many aspects of human suffering because we are not alone. The song resolves with the reminder that no matter what, Jesus is there to help, you only have to pray and ask.

“For the ones who can’t break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again”

Cry out to Jesus is a wonderful reminder that we are not alone, in each other, or in God.

The Motions – Mathew West

Mathew West’s powerful plea to Jesus for something real, for real change, and for connection to God is a powerful reminder that sometimes we have to take a big leap to make a change. West wrote the song about his upcoming vocal surgery and its impact on his life, and how he was reaching out to God for support and love. It’s the perfect reminder that in order to recover and to connect to God, you have to make that big step, even if you’re in a rut now, you will get out of it and find Him.

But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care if I break,
At least I’ll be feeling something
‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

The Motions is a reminder that you can power through and move on to build a new and better life with God.

You Can Change – Judith Yardley

Judith Yardley’s angelic, “You Can Change” is a powerful reminder that who you are now is not forever, you might be an addict now, but you can redeem yourself, for God and for yourself. This is a song about hope, about uplifting, and about finding faith in yourself to move forward and truly change.

there are days
You stumble and you fall
And sometimes through it all
You think you’ll never stand again
There are times
When choices weigh you down
And bend you to the ground
That’s a place that we’ve all been but

You can change

Yardley’s song is a Christian message of personal forgiveness and hope and it may help you to power through the worst days, when you need hope and kindness.

Come as You Are – Crowder

Crowder’s “Come As You Are” is a beautiful reminder that change and forgiveness take time. Recovery is a journey but no one is locked out of God’s forgiveness or grace. No matter where you are and no matter where you’ve been, there’s always space at God’s table. You can always turn to him, change, and ask for forgiveness to be received in His light.

There’s hope for the hopeless
And all those who’ve strayed
Come sit at the table
Come taste the grace
There’s rest for the weary
Rest that endures
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t cure

“Come As You Are” is uplifting, plaintive, and beautiful. It’s a reminder that you don’t need to be perfect to find God’s love. He accepts you as you are and gives you the freedom and the space to change and make yourself anew in His Grace.

Love Comes Down – Matt Maher

Matt Maher’s “Love Comes Down” is a reminder that Jesus suffered for our sins. It is a song about forgiveness, about recognizing the awesomeness of God’s decision to sacrifice His only Son for us, and in finding forgiveness here on earth. It can be a powerful reminder that everyone, even the Son of God, was once brought low, and we can all rise up again in His light.

I’m searching for a king and kingdom
Here among the beggars and the weak
The broken and redeemed
I’m finding grace beyond all measure

If you’re searching for a lighthearted and beautiful reminder of God’s grace, Maher’s song is a wonderful place to start.

God of Grace – Finding Faith

Finding Faith’s “God of Grace” is a song of praise, thanking God for taking back the sinner, the alcoholic, the drug addict. It sings to God, creating a beautiful and spiritual energy of prayer that can help you to give thanks to Him and to find peace. God of Grace is about recognizing His Grace and about thanking Him for that.

By grace, I come to You
By grace, I come to You
You’ve forgiven my sin
And welcome me in
By grace, I come to You’

No matter where you are in recovery, it’s easy to align with that message of a higher power accepting you back, because all of us have been taken back into the fold, and forgiven, by His Grace.

You Say – Lauren Daigle

Lauren Daigle’s “You Say” is a song that most people coming out of addiction can align with. Her lyrics discuss negative self-perception, failure to feel, and dealing with negative behavior from your past self. This is a powerful and important reminder about self-framing, about motivation, and about moving forward. Daigle’s hit is a message about healing, about seeing yourself in God’s light, and about personal growth.

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don’t belong, oh, You say I am Yours

For many of us, this can be difficult to believe. But God believes in You, forgives you, welcomes you back. Seeing yourself in that light can empower you to change.

You Are More – Tenth Avenue

Tenth Avenue North’s “You Are More” is a song about redemption, rediscovery, and finding yourself anew as a Christian. The song discusses how people fall and are forgiven, and the struggle to accept and embrace that, as a new person. It’s a poignant reminder that past mistakes do not define you, so long as you make things right and ask for forgiveness.

But don’t you know who you are,
What’s been done for you?
Yeah don’t you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you’ve made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You’ve been remade.

No matter where you’ve been, God is there for you. This song can be a reminder of that, even if you’re struggling to believe it yourself.

Music is a wonderful way to relax, to destress, to find peace, and to connect with God. It’s still important to attend church and to connect with Him among a congregation of your brethren, but music can remind you that you are not alone, that people change, and that you are deserving of forgiveness, no matter what.