Week 4, Day 28 - Rev. Shoemaker's Values
"So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." Romans 7:25
REFLECT
Millions of people have begun the road to recovery from alcoholism and substance abuse by following the guidelines known as "The Twelve Steps." Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in the 1950's by two men known as Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob. The real genius behind the program however, was the pastor of Calvary Episcopal Church in New York by the name of Rev. Sam Shoemaker. Calvary Church ran a rescue mission, and Rev. Shoemaker found that the only way to break the bondage of alcoholism was through a rigorous process of self-examination, acknowledgement of personal culpability, dependence on God and prayer, and a commitment to restitution for harm done.
While the Twelve Steps are not a biblical theology of change, per se, it is clear that they are based in biblical values. It takes a leap of faith to begin this process:
WE ADMITTED WE:
1. Were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable.2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongdoings.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and practice these principles in all our affairs.
It is not surprising that the Twelve Steps have been applied to many other oppressive and compulsive life behaviors. As Romans 7 says, there are certain "laws" at work in our lives, and dependency on our creator God is the only way to true freedom.
MAKE IT REAL
Underline two of the Twelve Steps above that have some application to your life circumstances right now.
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