12 Steps Toward Wholeness
STEP ONE: We confess that we are powerless by ourselves, unable to manage our lives.
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 16:25
Suffering from a controlling issue, habit, or addiction puts an individual on an endless cycle of failure. We purpose to stop or change, we fail; we try harder, we fail; feel guilt, and fail again. Over and over, on and on.
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top mast.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Proverbs 23:29-35
Paul says in Romans 7:19 ~ “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”
How do we get out of this vicious go-around cycle?
STEP ONE: “We confess that we are powerless by ourselves, unable to manage our lives.”
The never-ending cycle of life-controlling bondage can only begin to be broken by the act of absolute surrender. We must come to the place where we:
- Acknowledge our problem
- Agree with God that we ourselves can’t “fix” it
- Admit that we are at the end of ourselves – we’ve tried and failed
- Accept that we need God – He is bigger than we are
In recovery there’s an adage that says; “Surrender, and win!” In Christianity we may hear; “the way up is down.” No matter how you say it the FIRST STEP in recovery demands we break free of denial and blame; humble ourselves, and stop struggling in our own strength.
Coming to the place of admitting our powerlessness. Admitting we can’t do this on our own, we have reached the bottom, now, we can start to move up the path of complete recovery, healing, and restoration.
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