Recovery sometimes seems so repetitive. It often feels like we are just rehashing the same old things over and over again. We yearn for something new and fresh.
If you went through and read every post of this blog, you would definitely find a number of recurring themes. Among them are:
“Sexual addiction is not about sex,”
“You’re not uniquely sinful, or beyond help,”
“You need to reach out and talk to someone,”
“There IS hope” . . . and many others.
Continual repetition can be irritating at times. We may find ourselves thinking, “I already know this stuff. Why are we talking about it AGAIN?” But, in truth, our whole being—body, mind and spirit—benefits from this repetition:
BODY —Although our addictive behaviors begin as a way to avoid unwanted feelings and fears, they are further locked in by the physical habit that develops from doing something over and over. Just like brushing your teeth or driving, once a body memory has been created, you no longer have to think through each step. The activity can be done in an almost mindless state. It has taken years of practicing the now-unwanted behaviors to get to that point, and it will take many repetitions of new thoughts and behaviors for them to become the new automatic “go-to.”
MIND—The limbic part of our brain that originally connected addictive behaviors with a way to survive difficult feelings and situations only rewrites those connections through experience. Knowing something in your head isn’t good enough to create those changes. A truth only becomes an experience when we begin to actually FEEL in our hearts that it is true. That can only happen with God’s help and many repetitions.
SPIRIT—The Holy Spirit awakens our own spirit to God’s truth as we are ready to receive it. As we mature he can reveal more and more to us. It is not unlike teaching our children. It would make no sense to try to explain something to a three-year-old using college-level terms. We would speak to the child in words and concepts that they could understand. God, too, only teaches us as much as we can currently assimilate.
We’ve probably all had the experience of re-reading a book or scripture and having something jump out at us that we would swear wasn’t there before. That’s simply the Holy Spirit pointing out something we previously weren’t ready or able to see.
Even though we think we’re hearing things we’ve heard before, each hearing is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to enlighten or enliven a new aspect of that truth in our spirit.
“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body.” — 2 Peter 1:12-13 (NIV)
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