Step 3 states, “We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.”
Last week I discussed the importance of Principle 3. How we, as individuals, are given the CHOICE, the opportunity to CHOOSE to turn over our lives and wills to the care and control of Christ. It’s OUR decision. It’s YOUR decision. Well, this morning I’d like to discuss the biblical comparison, the Scripture that’s connected to Step 3:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Romans 12:1 NIV
Here Paul encourages us, the Church, the body of Christ, to consider our bodies, our hearts, our minds, our words, our thoughts, our deeds, over EVERYTHING, as a living sacrifice TO God. This is KEY TO RECOVERY. What I’ve come to realize over the past few years is that our hurts, habits, and hang-ups are grown out of misplaced and misdirected worship. Instead of worshiping God, the Creator, we worship something or someone. We become what the Bible calls an idolater (one who worships something OTHER THAN God).
Crazy, right?
Think about it. Some of us LOVE food. We CAN’T do without it. So, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to food, to our stomachs. Others LOVE pornography. So, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to porn, to our lust, to our sexual appetite. Then, there are those of us who were abused sexually, physically, emotionally, mentally. We CAN’T let go. We CAN’T move passed it. So, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to the pain, the hurt, the resentment, the fear. The THING, whatever it is, seats itself upon the throne of our lives and rules over us in God’s place…except there’s no grace, no mercy, no love, no hope.We voluntarily remain the victim. Sacrificing not just our bodies, but our marriages, our children, our relationships, our happiness, our joy.
If you want to find “success” in your recovery you’ve got to shift the direction of your worship. The verse above says TO God. It’s not a question of ARE you a worshiper, but WHAT and WHO you are worshiping. Once you learn to live out this step, once you learn to direct your worship to God, to turn your life and will over to His care and control, you’ll find that your desires changes as well. Believe me, it’s NOT IMMEDIATE. It remains a DAILY struggle, but in Christ, you find the strength and the courage to overcome it.
WHAT or WHO are you worshiping?
WHAT or WHO are you sacrificing?
Recovery will remain nothing more than a good idea until Jesus becomes a PRIORITY.
Last week I discussed the importance of Principle 3. How we, as individuals, are given the CHOICE, the opportunity to CHOOSE to turn over our lives and wills to the care and control of Christ. It’s OUR decision. It’s YOUR decision. Well, this morning I’d like to discuss the biblical comparison, the Scripture that’s connected to Step 3:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Romans 12:1 NIV
Here Paul encourages us, the Church, the body of Christ, to consider our bodies, our hearts, our minds, our words, our thoughts, our deeds, over EVERYTHING, as a living sacrifice TO God. This is KEY TO RECOVERY. What I’ve come to realize over the past few years is that our hurts, habits, and hang-ups are grown out of misplaced and misdirected worship. Instead of worshiping God, the Creator, we worship something or someone. We become what the Bible calls an idolater (one who worships something OTHER THAN God).
Crazy, right?
Think about it. Some of us LOVE food. We CAN’T do without it. So, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to food, to our stomachs. Others LOVE pornography. So, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to porn, to our lust, to our sexual appetite. Then, there are those of us who were abused sexually, physically, emotionally, mentally. We CAN’T let go. We CAN’T move passed it. So, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to the pain, the hurt, the resentment, the fear. The THING, whatever it is, seats itself upon the throne of our lives and rules over us in God’s place…except there’s no grace, no mercy, no love, no hope.We voluntarily remain the victim. Sacrificing not just our bodies, but our marriages, our children, our relationships, our happiness, our joy.
If you want to find “success” in your recovery you’ve got to shift the direction of your worship. The verse above says TO God. It’s not a question of ARE you a worshiper, but WHAT and WHO you are worshiping. Once you learn to live out this step, once you learn to direct your worship to God, to turn your life and will over to His care and control, you’ll find that your desires changes as well. Believe me, it’s NOT IMMEDIATE. It remains a DAILY struggle, but in Christ, you find the strength and the courage to overcome it.
WHAT or WHO are you worshiping?
WHAT or WHO are you sacrificing?
Recovery will remain nothing more than a good idea until Jesus becomes a PRIORITY.
No comments:
Post a Comment