Celebrate Recovery,
12 Steps,
And Biblical Comparisons 1.
We have admitted that we are powerless over our addictions and our compulsive behaviors,
That our lives have become unmanageable.
Romans 7,
18,
NIV,
For I know nothing good lives in me,
That is,
In my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good,
But I cannot carry it out.
2.
That we came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Philippians 2,
13,
NIV,
For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
3.
We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.
Romans 12,
1,
Therefore I urge you,
Brothers,
In view of God's mercy,
To offer your bodies holy and pleasing to God.
This is your spiritual act of worship.
4.
We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Lamentations 3,
40,
NIV,
Let us examine our ways and test them.
Let us return to the Lord.
5.
We admitted to God,
To ourselves,
And to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
James 5,
1,
6a,
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
6.
We are entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
James 4,
10,
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.
7.
We humbly ask him to remove all our shortcomings.
1 John 1,
9,
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
8.
We made a list of all persons we have harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Luke 6,
31,
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
9.
We made direct amends to such people whenever possible,
Except when to do so would injure them or others.
Matthew 5,
23-24 Therefore,
If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Leave that gift there in front of the altar.
First,
Go and be reconciled to your brother.
Then come and offer your gift.
Number 10.
We continue to take personal inventory and when we're wrong,
Promptly admit it.
1 Corinthians 10,
12 So if you think you are standing firm,
Be careful that you don't fall.
Number 11.
We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God,
Praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Colossians 3,
16a Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Number 12.
Having had a spiritual experience as a result of these steps,
We try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.
Galatians 6,
1 Brothers,
If someone is caught in a sin,
You who are spiritual should restore them gently.
But watch yourselves where you may be tempted.
Prayer for Serenity God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace,
Taking as Jesus did the sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that you will make things right.
If I surrender to your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next.
Amen.
