Choice 7: Maintaining Momentum – The Growth Choice Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. Recovery doesn’t end with insight. It requires maintenance. If we don’t stay alert, we can easily drift back into old self-defeating patterns. This drift is called relapse . The Predictable Pattern of Relapse Phase 1: Complacency We get comfortable. One day we st

The Transformation Choice Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. Many of us have lived the cycle: You start a diet… and then fall off. You leave an unhealthy relationship… then drift into another one. You quit smoking… then pick it up again. You stay away from gambling… and then fall right back in. We return to the old patterns we hate, not because we want to, but because our autopilot is still progra

Projection is a psychological defense mechanism in which we attribute our own thoughts, feelings, or unmet needs to someone else. Instead of acknowledging what is happening inside of us, we “project” it outward onto others. For example: A person who feels inadequate may accuse others of judging them. A caretaker may meet their own needs vicariously by projecting them onto others, rather than honestly owning their desires or limitations. Projection is subtle, and most of the t

Choice 3: Consciously Choose to Commit All My Life and Will to Christ’s Care and Control “Letting Go: The Commitment Choice” No matter how hard we try, we eventually discover that we cannot fix ourselves. We begin with guilt over our behavior. We tell ourselves, “I should be able to change… I ought to be able to get out of this.”  But we can’t — and our guilt turns to anger. As time passes, anger becomes fear — fear that nothing will ever change. Our hurts, hang-ups, and habi

Earnestly Believe That God Exists, That I Matter to Him, and That He Has the Power to Help Me Recover “Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  — Matthew 5:4 “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”  — Philippians 2:13 Understanding Step 2 No matter how hard we try to keep everything under control, we eventually discover that we are powerless to control our tendency to do wrong and that our lives are unmanageab

🌿 Celebrate Recovery: Step 1 The First Choice — Realize I’m Not God “I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:3 (NIV) 💡 Introduction: Facing the Truth Part of our human nature is to resist change until our pain exceeds our fear of change. We deny, minimize, or ignore our pain until it becomes unbearable—and only then do we fin