Steps 1 – 3 of how we can grow closer to Christ
In order to preface this blog it is necessary to restate what steps 1 through 3 are.
1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. Scripture reference comes from Romans 7:18 “for I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out.”
2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Scripture reference comes from Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you too will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.
Scripture reference comes from Romans 12:1 “therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.”
The additional principles that go along with these three steps are as follows:
1. Realize I am not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. Scripture reference comes from Matthew 5:3 “happy are those who know they are spiritually poor.”
2. Earnestly believe that God exist, that I mattered to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover. Scripture reference comes from Matthew 5:4 “happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
3. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. Scripture reference comes from Matthew 5:5 “happy are the meek.”
When I look at step one and break it down for individuals I came to realize that the statement did not apply to only addictions and behaviors but also to those who desire to truly follow Christ. We can change the wording and substitute words for addictions and compulsive behaviors because there are many other things that get in our way of truly following Christ and worshiping Him. If we were to change addictions and compulsive behaviors to barriers, or habits, or rituals, etc., then you can see how it does apply to the person who truly desires to become Christ-like. It is in our daily walk that we allow many things to come between God and ourselves without even realizing it. We have become so accustomed to the fast pace and love it when we can be in a routine that it often becomes a barrier that does not allow us let Christ truly lead our actions.
Principal one that goes along with step one puts a very well in stating that we are powerless without Christ. No matter how hard we try to do what is right and what is good we will continue to do the wrong unless we have confessed and admitted that we are powerless against the things of this world and have allowed Christ to be the guiding force and light in our life to choose the path that we choose to walk. This is often referred to many as denial and many Christians live in denial that their walk with God is truly a righteous one. If we are to be honest with ourselves, then we must also realize the many sins we commit during the day as well as the many barriers we allow to come between us and God, which also isolate us from Him, leaving us powerless against the forces of this world.
Step two recognizes the fact that we must come to believe that there is a power greater than ourselves that can restore us to sanity. That higher power of course, is Christ our Lord and Savior. As it states in Hebrews 11:6 “anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” There are many who believe that God exist but are not convinced that he has the power to change us, the power to restore us, and the power to love us unconditionally. It is that recognition of Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and lead us through temptation that allows us to maintain our sanity in the world that has become insane. Principal 2 that goes along with step two uses the word “earnestly” which means “with serious intention” to believe that God exist and that no matter what I have done, I matter to him, and He alone has the power to help me recover. In this phrase we can change the word recover to relinquish. Relinquish what barriers that come between God and ourselves. It is through our belief and acceptance of Christ that we become a new person and that the person from before is now dead and we are risen in Him. So once we realize that we are truly powerless against all things in this world then we must come to the realization that it is only with Christ that we can truly make sense of this world and live life worthy of His calling in this world.
In step three we make that decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God. Once again, there are many of us who have claimed to do this but through our actions, others can see that we really have not committed our lives to Christ. We still continue to fall into the same traps, follow the same methods of madness that we did before we were Christians and still allow those barriers to come between God and ourselves. The principal in this step uses the word “consciously choose” to commit our life to Christ. To be conscious is to be “totally aware” at all times of what we are doing. In our daily lives we must ask ourselves “have I allowed the world, busy schedules, work, money, family, etc., to become a barrier to my pathway to Christ”. I believe if we answer that honestly, we will all have to answer yes; there have been times in my life that I have allowed these things to come between me and Christ and in doing so I have not allowed His will and His desire to be carried out through me. This is one of the hardest things to do because it involves trust. We must be able to trust God and the let go of our decisions and let Him control our decisions in life. I have met very few people in life who I can honestly say I believe that they truly have left their entire life to be guided by Christ. The rest of us are somewhere between 40 and 70% guided by Christ, but we have to hang on to that other percent so that we know that were still in charge. We must come to realize that we are not in charge, God is in charge and if we allow him to take charge, His will, will be done and it will be beneficial to all who surround us.
As I look over steps 1-3, I can see that these steps deal not only with addictions but deal with our life as a whole and how we live as Christians. If we have not met steps one through three and have not eliminated the barriers in our life that we have allowed to come between us and God, we had not admitted that we are powerless in this world without Him, and we still continue to want to control the percentage of our life and not allow him to have total control and maybe we need to sit down and go through steps 1 – 3 and become reacquainted with God. If there is ever a time to do this, the time is now because He is ready, willing, and able to turn your life upside down and back around.
In order to preface this blog it is necessary to restate what steps 1 through 3 are.
1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. Scripture reference comes from Romans 7:18 “for I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out.”
2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Scripture reference comes from Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who works in you too will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.
Scripture reference comes from Romans 12:1 “therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.”
The additional principles that go along with these three steps are as follows:
1. Realize I am not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. Scripture reference comes from Matthew 5:3 “happy are those who know they are spiritually poor.”
2. Earnestly believe that God exist, that I mattered to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover. Scripture reference comes from Matthew 5:4 “happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
3. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. Scripture reference comes from Matthew 5:5 “happy are the meek.”
When I look at step one and break it down for individuals I came to realize that the statement did not apply to only addictions and behaviors but also to those who desire to truly follow Christ. We can change the wording and substitute words for addictions and compulsive behaviors because there are many other things that get in our way of truly following Christ and worshiping Him. If we were to change addictions and compulsive behaviors to barriers, or habits, or rituals, etc., then you can see how it does apply to the person who truly desires to become Christ-like. It is in our daily walk that we allow many things to come between God and ourselves without even realizing it. We have become so accustomed to the fast pace and love it when we can be in a routine that it often becomes a barrier that does not allow us let Christ truly lead our actions.
Principal one that goes along with step one puts a very well in stating that we are powerless without Christ. No matter how hard we try to do what is right and what is good we will continue to do the wrong unless we have confessed and admitted that we are powerless against the things of this world and have allowed Christ to be the guiding force and light in our life to choose the path that we choose to walk. This is often referred to many as denial and many Christians live in denial that their walk with God is truly a righteous one. If we are to be honest with ourselves, then we must also realize the many sins we commit during the day as well as the many barriers we allow to come between us and God, which also isolate us from Him, leaving us powerless against the forces of this world.
Step two recognizes the fact that we must come to believe that there is a power greater than ourselves that can restore us to sanity. That higher power of course, is Christ our Lord and Savior. As it states in Hebrews 11:6 “anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” There are many who believe that God exist but are not convinced that he has the power to change us, the power to restore us, and the power to love us unconditionally. It is that recognition of Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and lead us through temptation that allows us to maintain our sanity in the world that has become insane. Principal 2 that goes along with step two uses the word “earnestly” which means “with serious intention” to believe that God exist and that no matter what I have done, I matter to him, and He alone has the power to help me recover. In this phrase we can change the word recover to relinquish. Relinquish what barriers that come between God and ourselves. It is through our belief and acceptance of Christ that we become a new person and that the person from before is now dead and we are risen in Him. So once we realize that we are truly powerless against all things in this world then we must come to the realization that it is only with Christ that we can truly make sense of this world and live life worthy of His calling in this world.
In step three we make that decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God. Once again, there are many of us who have claimed to do this but through our actions, others can see that we really have not committed our lives to Christ. We still continue to fall into the same traps, follow the same methods of madness that we did before we were Christians and still allow those barriers to come between God and ourselves. The principal in this step uses the word “consciously choose” to commit our life to Christ. To be conscious is to be “totally aware” at all times of what we are doing. In our daily lives we must ask ourselves “have I allowed the world, busy schedules, work, money, family, etc., to become a barrier to my pathway to Christ”. I believe if we answer that honestly, we will all have to answer yes; there have been times in my life that I have allowed these things to come between me and Christ and in doing so I have not allowed His will and His desire to be carried out through me. This is one of the hardest things to do because it involves trust. We must be able to trust God and the let go of our decisions and let Him control our decisions in life. I have met very few people in life who I can honestly say I believe that they truly have left their entire life to be guided by Christ. The rest of us are somewhere between 40 and 70% guided by Christ, but we have to hang on to that other percent so that we know that were still in charge. We must come to realize that we are not in charge, God is in charge and if we allow him to take charge, His will, will be done and it will be beneficial to all who surround us.
As I look over steps 1-3, I can see that these steps deal not only with addictions but deal with our life as a whole and how we live as Christians. If we have not met steps one through three and have not eliminated the barriers in our life that we have allowed to come between us and God, we had not admitted that we are powerless in this world without Him, and we still continue to want to control the percentage of our life and not allow him to have total control and maybe we need to sit down and go through steps 1 – 3 and become reacquainted with God. If there is ever a time to do this, the time is now because He is ready, willing, and able to turn your life upside down and back around.
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