Emotional Sobriety: Practice Encourages Progress

August 05, 2019, By: Jimmy Scruggs

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” Galatians 5:13-15
Practice encourages progress. Early in my sobriety I read an article from AA co-founder Bill W. called “Emotional Sobriety – The Next Frontier.” I was fascinated with the article because I realized emotional sobriety was something really lacking in my life. I was still relying on others to make me feel whole instead of understanding that this transformation was an inside job and it had to be grounded in God. We know how emotional our lives can be when we rely on people, places and things to set our agenda and control our actions. As a Christ follower in Celebrate Recovery, I am learning to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide my path. God within is the grounding strength where real emotional sobriety springs from. The Apostle Paul talks about this in Galatians—the Fruit of the Spirit—one of which is self-control. When we get caught up in the emotion of fear, negativity and anger related to past and current relationships, what will we do? We have two choices: react in the same old obsessive compulsive behavior that tears relationships apart and keeps us in an emotional abyss, or we can rely on Jesus and acknowledge His power within us to free us from ourselves. Once we start to accept that emotions are a part of our makeup and they don’t have to have control over us we are well on the way towards emotional sobriety. Spiritual maturity doesn’t happen overnight or by chance, but rather by faith, trust and hard work. We learn to daily turn our will over to God, but when we fail in this—and we all fail in this—we learn something amazing about Him: His Grace is enough! His Mercy endures forever!
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Galatians 5:22-26
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

Celebrate Recovery at Crossroads Church Calendar August 5-11, 2019

Friday, August 9: Testimony Night
  • 6pm: Join us for dessert and fellowship prior to our large group meeting.
  • 6:30pm: Please join us for an hour of worship and a Recovery testimony.
  • 7:30pm: Open Share Groups.
  • 8:30pm: Solid Rock Café.