When we come to new life in Christ we seek after truth in all our affairs. We desire to know what is real and good and to identify what is harmful so it no longer has any power to impact us negatively.
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)
We become aware that only God can show us the way to new life and where harm can be avoided. Recovery that confronts denial invites God to show us where our thinking and perceiving have become twisted and where our ways and God’s ways are different. God’s power and wisdom will help us make changes according to what God shows us.
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 NLT)
While in recovery we learn to accept responsibility for our actions. We come to realize that our actions yield consequences. Some of us may have deceived ourselves into thinking we could escape the consequences of the things we did. But with time, we have become aware that God has made accountability a necessary element of healthy human living.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8 NIV)
The good news is that God will help us face what we need to deal with. God will show us a good way forward for ourselves and with those we may have harmed as we sort through what we have done. God wants us to live in self-worth before Him and others. We fear the humiliation and pain of naming the truth but with God’s forgiveness there is great joy and deep peace in finally acknowledging truth, even when it reveals our shameful and broken past. Truth leads to freedom. Deceit and denial lead to bondage and death. God encourages us to fearlessly admit truth today. Let’s live in the life and freedom God offers by doing life in God’s way today.
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