Addictions and compulsions steal from us. I think it’s that acknowledgment that helps us move toward recovery. What has been taken from you? What is it that you want back?
No, really . . . think about it. What is your heart’s desire? Do you want freedom? A restored marriage? A better relationship with God? To be able to feel good about yourself and your choices? To be the dad or mom that your children need? To stop feeling like a hypocrite? Something else?
Once we catch sight of our goal, it can become a beacon in our recovery. We begin to have a purpose and a path. Everything we think, do, and say is either moving us toward our goal . . . or away from it.
In our recovery groups we have an exercise we do called Red Dog/Blue Dog. The red dog represents our addiction. The blue dog is the person God created us to be. We challenge participants to consider which dog their choices are feeding. If you decide to skip church again this week, is it likely to make the blue dog stronger, or the red dog? Which dog is going to gain the most from you keeping that secret? Which one will become weaker if you lie about how well you’re doing to those who care about you? The dog who gets fed the most is the one that’s going to win.
Getting a clear picture of our most important goal, works the same way. It’s likely that our past choices have put more than just one thing in our lives at risk, but, even so, knowing what we want back helps us establish a basis for our future decisions.
“Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.” — Proverbs 4:25-26 (NIV)
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