A 12 Step Spiritual Journey
Rev. Dale Fiegland
When we start the 12 Steps we begin a spiritual journey. This journey begins with understanding God’s power. The questions I have for you are, “How do you get God’s power in your life?” How do you get the power to make the changes you need to make?"
James 4:6 “ God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Grace is the power to change. The Bible says that the key to power in your life is humility. The key barrier to power in your life is pride. When you’re full of pride you can’t change. When your full of humility God gives you the power to change.
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. “ Humility is a choice. Its something you do. You take action. God says to humble yourselves. It is something you do, not God. It’s something you do to yourself. It’s a way of choosing the way I think, act, respond to others; the things I say. It’s a choice. Practicing the 12 Steps helps you to choose to think, act, and speak in a humble way.
Let’s look at Hebrews 12:1 (TLB): “Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.”
There are two things I would like to point out in this verse. First, God has a particular race, a unique plan, for each of us. He has a plan for good, not a life full of dependencies, addictions, and obsessions.
The second thing is that we need to be willing to get rid of all the unnecessary baggage, the past failures in our lives that keep us stuck. Again, it says, “Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up.” For many of us, our past hurts, hang-ups, and habits hold us back, trip us up! Many of us are stuck in bitterness over what someone has done to us. We continue to hold on to the hurt and we refuse to forgive the ones who have hurt us.
You may have been hurt deeply. Perhaps you were abused as a child, or maybe you were or are in a marriage where your spouse committed adultery. I want you to know that I hurt for you. I’m truly sorry for you, sorry that you had to go through that hurt. But holding on to that hurt and not being willing to forgive the person who hurt you in the past is allowing them to continue to hurt you today, in the present.
Working a Christ-centered recovery program will, with God’s power, allow you to find the courage and strength to forgive them. Now don’t get all stressed out. You don’t have to forgive them today! But as you travel down your road to recovery, God will help you find the willingness to forgive them and be free of their hold on your life.
Some of you are bound by guilt. You keep beating yourself up over some past failure. You’re trapped, stuck in your guilt. You think that no one anywhere is as bad as you are, that no one could love the real you, and that no one could ever forgive you for the terrible things that you have done.
You’re wrong. God can. That’s why Jesus went to the cross, for our sins. He knows everything you’ve ever done and everything you’ve ever experienced. And there are many that have faced similar failures and hurts in their life and have accepted Christ’s forgiveness. Others in recovery are here to encourage and support you.
The apostle Paul had a lot to regret about his past. He even participated in Stephen’s murder. Yet in Philippians 3:13 (TLB) he tells us, “No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Here’s the bottom line if you want to be free from your past hurts, hang-ups, and habits: You need to deal with your past bitterness and guilt once and for all. You need to do as Isaiah 43: 18 tells us, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” That doesn’t mean ignore the past. You need to learn from your past, offer forgiveness, make amends, and then release it. Only then can you be free from your guilt, grudges, and grief!
Let’s face it, we have all stumbled over a hurt, hang-up, or habit. But the race isn’t over yet. God isn’t interested in how we started, but how we finish the race.
