Celebrate Recovery® is as effective as it is because we identify the path to recovery as part of a spiritual journey, especially at Step 11 and Step 12. Those steps talk about improving our conscious contact with God, and increasing in power to carry out His will for us. While this is a core need for everyone, it is especially important for those of us in recovery, as this relationship provides the power to stay in recovery.
At the same time, finding the words to describe our journey can sometimes be difficult. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of listening to pastor and author Gary Rohmayer, as he spoke about talking about our Spiritual Journeys, and offered some resources to help along our journey. In his talk, Gary offered four excellent questions to start a conversation with someone else about their journey:
- Where are you now on your Spiritual Journey?
- Where would you like to be on your Spiritual Journey in six months to a year?
- What is standing between you and that point?
- What will it take to move you beyond those barriers?
Since it can be hard to put “where I am in my journey” into words, Gary offered some categories to help you see where you fit.
- Not Interested:
- Aware but not very interested
- OK for you but it’s not for me
- Hold many misconceptions of Christianity
- Negative view of Christianity and religion
- Believes all religions are the same
- Indifferent attitude toward spiritual issues
- Curiously Searching:
- Realizes there is more to life than what is seen
- Attends Christian events out of curiosity not out of need
- Struggles with negative view of Christianity
- Questions the belief that all religions lead to the same God
- Searching Aggressively:
- Takes steps to find needed answers
- Intellectually believes in God
- Begins to grasp the implications of Christ’s claims
- Understands the difference between Christianity and religion
- Struggles with intellectualizing Christianity
- Faith Commitment:
- Realizes they are powerless to achieve God’s forgiveness
- Believes that Jesus is God and has received Him as risen Lord and only Savior
- Has made a decision to turn their lives and wills over to the care and control of Jesus
- Experiencing New Life:
- Has entered into a mentoring relationship with another follower
- Grasps the meaning of the gospel and core elements of following Jesus
- Shares Christ naturally
- Struggles with changing values and assurance of Christianity
- Growing in Community:
- Grows in intimacy with God through prayer and bible study
- Has a deepening relationship with other followers in a local church
- Has come under the authority of Biblical values
- Experiences freedom over self-defeating habits
- Discovers that not all Christians are growing
- Living Missionally:
- Craves intimacy with God through spiritual disciplines
- Shares their faith effectively
- Mentors others spiritually
- Gives generously
- Serves their community
- Understands the centrality of the gospel in their lives
Stop and look through the groupings one more time. Where do you think you fit? Maybe you’re clearly in one grouping, perhaps you fall somewhere between two. If our goal in life is growing, getting better, getting stronger, being more able to tap God’s power to deal with our hurts, habits, and hang-ups, what is holding you back from that next level?
These are excellent questions, but Gary added a fifth question during his talk, that I believe is more powerful: How can I help?
How can your Celebrate Recovery® group be one of those resources to help you live out Step 11? Consider bringing this page to your next chat with your Sponsor. Or, at your next Open Share, use these questions to help you talk about spiritual experience this past week. When your accountability partner checks in, you might share how it has grown through what you’ve experienced this month, and what you’ve learned about God along the way. You might identify some of the barriers you are struggling with and discuss ways to overcome them. Remember that God wants you to connect with you even more than you want to right now!
If you are working on living out Step 12, a tool like this can help you explain the changes that have happened along your path to recovery, and might be a tool to help draw others out to learn where they are on their journey. We grow when we share the changes that have happened in our lives, and can help others decide to do the same.
I want to offer a special word of thanks to Gary and his wife Mary, who have graciously allowed us to include his material here! Gary’s website, YourJourneyResources.com, has a variety of printed materials for sale to make journey conversations easier. Check them out.
Source: https://www.YourJourneyResources.com/Discipleship-s/25.htm