True recovery isn’t an event or an episode, it’s a lifestyle.
When we become Christians we are saved from the eternal consequences of our sin. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we find new life, new direction, and new hope. This salvation can’t be earned. It is a gift from God. It is free to all those who are willing to accept it.
But there is more to the Christian walk than just grabbing salvation and coasting into heaven. God wants more for us than to leave us in the state in which we came to him. In relationship with fellow believers and a gracious God we can begin to challenge our beliefs, change our behaviors, and heal our wounds. This is sanctification. It is a lifelong process of becoming more like Christ.
Addiction is all about instant gratification. Unfortunately, we often drag those addictive thought processes into our recovery and expect that it will be instant, as well. We can get impatient with the idea that we’re not “done” yet. We get frustrated that no matter how much progress we’ve made, there always seems to be more work to do. Sometimes we even wonder what’s wrong with us . . . shouldn’t we be “all better” by now?
We forget that it’s a process. We forget that, day-by-day, victory-by-victory, we’re becoming more the person God always intended us to be—reflecting more of the image of Christ.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” — 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV)
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