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Recovery Christian Center Daily Devotion - 7/28/12 - Step 12 - Remember Where We Came From

"Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But—“When God our Savior revealed His kindness and love, He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of His grace He declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone." Titus 3:3-8 NLT

Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these step, we tried to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs. (12 Steps For Christian Recovery)

There is no doubt that as a result of a relationship with Christ, the process of recovery, and some willingness to change and allow God to change us that we are vastly different than who we were when we first came to Christ. We have moved from self centeredness to Christ centeredness, from fear to faith, from self destruction to spiritual rebuilding, from denial to self awareness and God awareness, from isolation and loneliness to a relationship with Christ and fellowship with other believers. We are no longer dying spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. Instead we have found abundant life. We who mostly sadness and pain have found indescribable joy! We are grateful and in love with Jesus.

While we understand that God has forgiven us and forgotten our transgressions, we can never afford to forget where we came from or that it is Christ that has made this miraculous change in us. If we forget we can begin to think that we had a hand in it and that leads us to pride and self righteousness. In order to carry this Gospel Message we must remember that we still need it ourselves. We can't afford to be judgmental of others because we are still a work in process. We can't be intolerant or impatient with others still in bondage because, when we are honest with ourselves, we still have some things we need to be delivered from as well. The Word tells us love covers a multitude of sins, so we can't afford not to show the love God has shown us to everyone we encounter. The best message we can carry is the power of example.