By being humble and honest and calling upon God and others for help, you can overcome your addictions through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Just as we have recovered, you can recover and enjoy all the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Share you feelings on each element of this paragraph. Please give it prayerful consideration and effort:
Humility
Humility is a topic I plan to study about next. I feel like humility is sometimes a tough topic – especially in our culture of “do more, be perfect, look as if everything is fine.” I want to be confident, I want to have courage, but I also want to be humble and prayerful and submissive to God. Is finding that balance hard? I don’t think it probably is. My guess is that Aaron thought Ammon was being proud and boastful when Ammon was talking about how great instruments they had been in God’s hands to bring so many of their brethren to the truth. This is why Aaron called him out. But Ammon’s response was even better: “I know that of my own strength I am nothing…I don’t boast of my own strength, but I boast of my God; for in his strength I know I can do all things (paraphrased).”
I want to be humble. I want to always submit my will to God and then be confident that, with his guidance and direction, I can do all things.
I want to study the words of the prophets, both ancient and modern, regarding humility: how to receive it, how to show it, and how to keep it as a character attribute in my life.
I feel being aware of it is the first step. I know that, during the time I was acting out in my addiction, humility was the farthest thing from my mind. But today I want to be humble and submit my will to God.
Honesty
This is a significant step in my recovery from my addiction. Being able to be 100% honest – with Becky, with myself, with my family, and most importantly, with God, is essential for full-time recovery from addiction. Lying and secrets are the core ingredients of addiction. The moment I’m tempted to hide something, or talk around it, or not be completely honest about how I feel, what I’m thinking or where I’m at today, that’s the big red-flag where I need to really assess which way I’m facing.
I also want to be honest with myself and think clearly about what I feel, where I’m at, etc. I don’t want to go through the motions and do things to be seen of others. I want to do good things when no one is looking. I want to live in recovery even at the most non-influential times.
I’m grateful to be working with a sponsor, which I feels helps with my honesty. I’m also grateful to do the AEIOU’s with Becky each night where we talk about our day and how things are going.
Calling upon God
I really feel this is crucial for my recovery too. To me, this is one of the most critical parts of submitting my will to Him. By calling upon God, I’m asking Him for help. I’m telling him and admitting that I can’t do this on my own – that I need His strength. By calling upon God, I’m also being aware of my surroundings. If I see a girl and can tell I may be tempted to lust after her, calling upon God is honestly admitting that I am aware of my surroundings and I can’t fight the giant on my own. Just that simple recognition and surrender is (and has been) my key to living in recovery.
I feel like calling upon God is like practicing foul shots or shooting – the more I practice, the better I get and the closer I feel to Him. But if I get casual or only practice right before a game, when I’m in the heat of battle, my guard is let down and I’m not as accurate or ready.
Prayer is so simple yet so essential.
I’m grateful that today, I started my study out with prayer. I’m grateful that today, I’m willing to say prayers in the moment of temptation.
Calling upon others
This is why I have a sponsor. This is why I’m willing to talk to Becky every night. This is why I’ve talked to my parents about things. This is why I go to group meetings. This is why I’ve been meeting with a professional counselor. This is why I’ve met with my Bishop. This is why I’ve even talked to a few close friends about my addiction.
Openness, honesty, no hiding – calling upon others is one of the ways to fortify myself against the fiery darts of Satan. Like I said earlier, the moment I’m tempted to hide something from others is the moment I need to assess where I’m at and why I’m choosing to have secrets.
You CAN overcome your addiction
I feel this. I believe this. Today is 290 of my recovery and I know that each day has only been possible because I’ve been willing to submit to Him and trust that He will help me get through the day.
Never in my life before that I would be able to truly surrender to lust. But due to submitting to Him through prayer and awareness, I really feel like I’ve been successful in that endeavor. Sure, the temptation is there – that’s the natural man part of me and that’s not going to go away; but I have control of how I react to that natural man – I can be submissive and recognize that nothing good will come from looking on another woman to lust after her, even if I may try to justify and say, “Well, I’m not really ‘lusting’ – I’m just looking.” “Once is too many times and 1,000 times is never enough.”
I’m grateful to have hope today that I CAN overcome my addiction and live a clean and virtuous life.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ
This one could be an entire post in and of itself. I’m grateful for the Atonement. I know that everything I’ve been doing, all the recovery, this program – all of it is teaching my how to use the Atonement in my life. I recognize that the Atonement is complex – it may be something I never fully understand until the next life, but I feel like I understand it more today and I’m willing to use it through submission, honesty, and immediate repentance.
I’m grateful that my addiction has been a way for me to learn how to submit more fully to my Heavenly Father and use the Atonement in my life.
We have recovered
I’m in recovery. I don’t think it will ever be over. But today, one day at a time, I’m in recovery. I’m grateful for this understanding and feel this all ties to Humility, Honesty, and Submitting to God.
You CAN recover
Yes, I’m in recovery and am grateful for this awareness. I believe I can recover as long as I continue to do the things I’ve been writing about.
You can enjoy all the blessings of the gospel
I’m grateful for this awareness too. I’m grateful that the gospel brings peace and happiness into my life as I live it. I’m grateful for the testimony I have, even when I was in the thick of my addiction – a testimony that at least helped me not make even more grave mistakes that would have cost me everything (I was way too close as it was).
I’m grateful for this assignment today. I’m grateful to think about these things and write them out.
Today is going to be a great day in recovery.
Hasta luego!
Nate
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