Just almost 5 years into my newfound life of Christianity and sobriety and I found myself asking myself,” Why I am doing all this?”

So…without further a due, here are my thoughts and heartfelt answer to this question.

There is SO much more to my voyage than just being physically sober. There is SO much more to sobriety than having the obsession and the compulsion for drugs and alcohol removed from my life. Let’s face it, abstinence is no fun unless you find true happiness in your sobriety. The only way to find this joy, pleasure and contentment with soberness requires continued bodily sobriety as well as emotional stability and of course spiritual renewal. 

BODY, MIND and SOUL 

You see, I have found myself in a process to recreate life as I know it.

For 30 something years I shaped my own reality. I fashioned a world that fit exactly what I wanted. My twisted deception of what was really happening to me and to those around me fashioned a view of humanity where I was the only creature who mattered. Let’s face it, the addicts attitude is pure selfishness.

Now I find myself in the center of a world around me that matters. I see myself in a fact-finding and fact-facing process where I actually search for causes and conditions to my daily affairs. I am uncovering new truths about myself. I want to change for the good. I want to discover the attitudes, thoughts, beliefs and behaviors that don’t line up with the Word of God and make corrections where necessary. In this self-examination I must be brutally honest! And through this inspection of myself I am finding the exact things that have blocked me from success in the past. I ascertain solutions for problems that formerly caused me to stumble or even meet with complete failure. I am learning the exact nature of the defects that I have created in my moral character.

I want to know more of Christ and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death Philippians 3:10

Only when I have acknowledged that I have a problem can it be dealt with. Only when I confess that I have behaved unacceptably can I find forgiveness and possibly, if I am willing, find healing and acquire new attitudes, thoughts, actions, behaviors and a way of life that agrees with God’s perfect plan for my life. And through this course of action I can achieve a life that lives not only for me but for the higher good of those around me and for those I come into contact with. I can actually have a life of purpose. I may even be of service to others!

Also when I find my self-inflicted character defects and begin to deal with them individually I can recognize them when I see them creeping back up into my life. I can identify them, deal with them and hopefully avoid slipping back into my old ways and patterns of life and send almost 5 years of sobriety out the window, falling back into relapse.

My window of reflection that is helping me deal with this development is The Holy Bible.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

I know that sounds harsh but it’s true. When you align your thoughts and actions with the Word of God your whole world will be changed. Your conscience will be challenged. Your logic will be offended. Your thoughts will be confronted. Your actions will be disputed. Even your vocabulary may start to transform.  You may even have to face up to the fact that you have been wrong in many areas of your life. But trust me, I don’t know anyone who has ever fallen prey to themself by following the teachings of the Bible.

My sincere prayer for each of you who read this is to find forgiveness for your past through our Lord Jesus Christ, to find hope for your life through His Word and to find the strength to carry out His plans for you through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13