“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!” Psalm 30:11-12

Ever wonder why we use the word “Celebrate” to describe our Christ-centered 12-step group called Celebrate Recovery? We celebrate the mighty work God is doing in us, transforming pain into purpose, giving hope to the hopeless, turning our sadness into praise. For some, growing in faith starts from the smallest seed and develops into a living and vibrant faith. We start to believe that God loves us right where we are, not because we deserve it, but because of who God is—Love. We celebrate because we have found a way out of our personal hell. A hell that some of us have created by our actions and choices and for some, a hell that was created by others. Spiritual transformation doesn’t happen all at once, it is a life-long journey. As our faith grows, our trust in God grows. Hope becomes more than freedom from our past, it nourishes us daily; as we experience God’s unfailing love, we find ourselves on a new and firm foundation. As faith, hope and love are experienced, a new reality takes hold—we start to live our lives from a place of love instead of fear. When we reach this point in recovery—in our walk with Christ—we are set upon a life of service, and in doing so we continue to grow in love, our faith bolstered and an eternal hope ever-present. This is our daily walk of letting go of self to be more like Jesus. One of the main themes Jesus talked about was one of forgiveness. When we let go of self we realize we are forgiven, and when we are forgiving people God will use us in a mighty way! His love endures forever.

“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

God loves you; Jesus died for you; His Spirit lives in you! Say “yes” to Jesus and live Love! Dana Cramer // Celebrate Recovery at Crossroads Church