AFTER DISCOVERING MY SINFUL HABITS AND ATTITUDES AND CONFESSING THEM,
I AM NOW WILLING TO LET GOD CHANGE ME

Welcome to the third week of step six. Today I want to talk about a subject some of us may find difficult to associate with letting God change us. difficult because many of us through our addictions and compulsions have spent our lives intentionally not allowing people into the most personal areas in our lives for fear of getting hurt, fear of looking weak, and fear of others taking advantage of us. What I am talking about is vulnerability. Vulnerability by definition is the state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.. There are areas in our lives, as we walk this path to recovery where we need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable,

It is essential in our lives when it comes to allowing God to change us into becoming all He is calling us to be our hearts and our lives are fully open to Him. Our days of keeping secrets are over. If we hold back when it comes to being open with Him we will stunt our spiritual growth and possibly relapse into our old ways of thinking aand behaving

Psalm 139:23-24  says Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about;   See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life. David asked God to search for sin and point it out, even to the level of testing his thoughts. This is exploratory surgery for sin. How are you going to recognize sin in the hidden areas of your character unless God points it out?

Hebrews 4:12-13  The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.  13  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. God knows and sees everything we do. He understands all our actions and our motives and He wants to guide us and to help us to change our bad habits and develop good habits that align with His Word and are pleasing to Him.

When it comes to allowing God to change us we need to accept that others may not understand how we have changed or why we have changed and they may ridicule our new way of living.

Early in my recovery my wife and I used to run a ‘kids club’ at the Salvation Army and one of the local papers came to do an article on it. It was part of The Salvation Army’s National Alcohol Awareness week. There was another local paper approached about also running the story. The editor of the paper at the time refused to allow the journalist who was interested to run the article. The journalist explained the reason the story was rejected like this.”Sorry, the editor has his own alcohol and drug issues and to run the story is a bit close to home.”

In recovery, we all have a responsibility to help others see and understand not just what God has done for us but also what He wants to do for them if they will let Him. We do this by treating them with mercy and kindness and providing what we can to help them to walk the road God has planned for them. In Psalm 12:5  the Bible says Into the hovels of the poor, Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks: “I’ve had enough; I’m on my way To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched.”

Recovery comes with a purpose and a plan it is found in Step 12 Having gone through these steps and discovering the importance of an individual relationship with God through Jesus, I will try to live according to His principles and to lead others to a personal relationship with Him. Step six is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be so we can help others become what He wants them to be.

Join me through the week at livingliferecovery.com as we progress in the process of becoming more like Jesus through understanding of His calling on our lives,

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