Excerpts from A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR RICK WARREN

The Bible clearly states "all have sinned."  It is my nature to sin, and it is yours too.  None of us is untainted.  Because of sin, we’ve all hurt ourselves, we’ve all hurt other people, and others have hurt us.  This means each of us need repentance and recovery in order to live our lives the way God intended.

 

You’ve undoubtedly heard the expression that "time heals all wounds."   Unfortunately, it isn’t true.  As a pastor I frequently talk with people who are still carrying hurts from 30 or 40 years ago.  The truth is - time often makes things worse.  Wounds that are left untended fester and spread infection throughout your entire body.  Time only extends the pain if the problem isn’t dealt with.

 

What we need is a biblical and balanced program to help people overcome their hurts, habits and hang-ups. Celebrate Recovery is that program. Based on the actual words of Jesus rather than psychological theory, our recovery program is unique, and more effective in helping people change than anything else I’ve seen or heard of.  Over the years I’ve witnessed how the Holy Spirit has used this program to transform literally thousands of lives at Saddleback Church and help people grow toward full Christlike maturity.

 

Most people are familiar with the classic 12 step program of A.A. and other groups.  While undoubtedly many lives have been helped through the twelve steps, I’ve always been uncomfortable with that program’s vagueness about the nature of God, the saving power of Jesus Christ, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.   So I began an intense study of the Scriptures to discover what God had to say about "recovery."  To my amazement, I found the principles of recovery, and even their logical order, given by Christ in his most famous message, the Sermon on the Mount.

 

This recovery program is based on God’s Word, the Bible.  When Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount, he began by stating "Eight Ways to Be Happy."  Today we call them the Beatitudes.   From a conventional viewpoint, most of these statements didn’t make sense.   They sounded like contradictions.  But when you fully understand what Jesus is saying, you’ll realize that these eight principles are God’s road to recovery, wholeness, growth, and spiritual maturity.

 

This recovery program is forward-looking.   Rather than wallowing in the past, or dredging up and rehearsing painful memories over and over, Celebrate Recovery focuses on the future.  Regardless of what has already happened, the solution is to start making wise choices now and depend on Christ’s power to help me make those changes.

 

This recovery program emphasizes personal responsibility.  Instead of playing the "accuse and excuse" game of victimization, this program helps people face up to their own poor choices and deal with what they can do something about.  We cannot control all that happens to us.  But we can control how we respond to everything.  That is a secret of happiness.  When we stop wasting time fixing the blame, we have more energy to fix the problem.  When you stop hiding your own faults and stop hurling accusations at others, then the healing power of Christ can begin working in your mind, will, and emotions.

 

This recovery program utilizes the biblical truth that we need each other in order to grow spiritually and emotionally.   It is built around small group interaction and the fellowship of a caring community.  There are many therapies, growth programs, and counselors today that are built around one-on-one interaction.  But Celebrate Recovery is built on the New Testament principle that we don’t get well by ourselves.  We need each other.   Fellowship and accountability are two important components of spiritual growth.

 

This recovery program addresses all types of habits, hurts and hang-ups.  Some recovery programs deal only with alcohol or drugs or another single problem.  But Celebrate Recovery is a "large umbrella" program under which a limitless number of issues can be dealt with.   At Saddleback Church, only one out of three who attend Celebrate Recovery are dealing with alcohol or drugs.  We have dozens of other specialized groups too.

 

CELEBRATE RECOVERY’S EIGHT RECOVERY PRINCIPLES
The Road to Recovery Based on the Beatitudes

 

1. Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. (Step 1)

 

“Happy are those who know that they are spiritually poor.”

 

2. Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step 2)

 

“Happy are those how mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

 

3. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3)

 

“Happy are the meek.”

 

4. Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps  4 and 5)

 

“Happy are the pure in heart.”

 

5. Voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. (Steps 6 and 7)

 

“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires”

 

6. Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others. (Steps 8 and 9)

 

“Happy are the merciful.”  

 

“Happy are the peacemakers”

 

7. Reserve a time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. (Steps 10 and 11)

 

8. Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. (Step 12)

 

“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.”

 

Twelve Steps and Their Biblical Comparisons

 

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.

 

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:18

 

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

 

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:13

 

3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

 

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

 

Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40

 

5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

 

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16

 

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

 

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10

 

7. We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.

 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

 

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

 

Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31

 

9. We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

 

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew

5:23-24

 

10. We continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

 

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12

 

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry that out.

 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16

 

12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

 

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore them gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Galatians 6:1