Overcoming Hurts, Hang-ups, and Habits

“Before attending Celebrate Recovery, I had the perfect life: perfect career, perfect home, perfect financial picture, perfect performance -- and perfect walls to keep the tears in and the people out! I came to Celebrate Recovery out of desperation to escape the perfect prison I had built for myself.”
 

Many people hear the word “recovery” and think that programs like Celebrate Recovery are just for “those people” addicted to drugs and alcohol.  But the reality is, while chemical dependency is an issue addressed by Celebrate Recovery, it’s not the only one.  In fact, only a third of Celebrate Recovery participants deal with drugs and alcohol.
 

The rest?  Like the participant quoted above, they come for a variety of reasons.
 

“Before Celebrate Recovery, I was struggling with codependency, feelings of failure, and coping with the emotional trauma resulting from sexual abuse,” said one female participant.
 

“I was addicted to porn and in a cycle of acting out, shame, self-condemnation, resignation, and secrecy,” added a male participant.
 

One woman shared, “I hid behind a shell of performance and managed my feelings by trying to control the actions of those closest to me.”
 

“I placed my hope in the wrong things and tried to do things my own way,” added another.
 

The issues – often referred to as hurts, hang-ups, and habits -- addressed at Celebrate Recovery are as varied as the reasons people give for attending.
 

At the 2020 Celebrate Recovery Summit, Jeni Baker from the CR national leadership team described it as a cycle, declaring that, “Life is filled with hurts and if we don’t authentically walk through them with Jesus, we can develop hang-ups, and those hang-ups can lead to destructive habits.”
 

We all have hurts – whether it’s from experiencing childhood hurt or pain; growing up in a dysfunctional family; dealing with verbal, emotional or sexual abuse; or experiencing trauma from racism and racial injustice. 
 

In turn, hurts can lead to hang-ups, which are beliefs we've developed about ourselves or others as a result of our hurts.  Hang-ups could include bitterness, resentment, anger, distrust of others, believing you aren't good enough or that you won't measure up, or having recurring negative thoughts. 
 

Our hurts or hang-ups can then in turn lead us into habits that we use as coping mechanisms to deal with the pain, which can include drug or alcohol addiction, but also anger, codependency, love and relationship addiction, disordered eating, control issues, sexual addiction, gambling addiction, and even online shopping addiction.
 

Through vulnerability, transparency, and a surrender to Jesus Christ as our Higher Power, we find freedom.
 

Like Alcoholics Anonymous, Celebrate Recovery uses the 12 Steps, albeit a Christ-specific version.

The 12 Steps really are a path of growth and maturity for all Christians.  As Christian scholar Dallas Willard once stated, “Any successful plan for spiritual formation, whether for the individual or group, will in fact be significantly similar to the Alcoholics Anonymous program.”
 

The first three steps are often summarized, “I can’t.  God can.  I’ll let Him.”  This is about coming to the end of yourself, recognizing your need for a Savior, and surrendering your life (once) and your will (daily!) to God. 
 

The steps then take you on a journey of inventorying your past – the hurts done to you and by you, as well as the good done to you and by you.  In the process, you identify character defects that you ask God to change.  With the help of a sponsor the inventory is then used identify who you need to forgive or make amends with, and you take the actions necessary to do so.  Finally, you are encouraged to spend time daily in self-examination and prayer in order to follow God’s will, and to carry the message to others through word and deed.
 

If all Christians did that, imagine what the Church would look like!
 

National Community Church’s Celebrate Recovery program on Capitol Hill went on hiatus in December 2019, and we’re looking for potential leaders to strengthen the team and help us bring it back.
 

Would you like to be part of this team seeking to bring freedom and healing to a broken world?  If so, let us know at [email protected].
 

And if you’re not in the DC area, find a Celebrate Recovery near you and jump in!
 

You too can experience the benefits of Celebrate Recovery and help bring those to others.  What benefits?  Let’s let our CR participants share a bit more:
 

“I now no longer consider myself a victim of my past or stained by the worst things I've done or believed about myself, and I accept the full truth that I am a beloved daughter of God and a new creation in Christ,” said one woman.
 

“I am embracing my weakness as a chance to walk in God's strength and purpose for my life as his peace gives me the ability to face any circumstance,” added another.
 

“I still struggle with lust and temptation,” one man admitted, “but with good tools and a focus on God's truth, the sobriety that I thought was completely impossible is now a reality!”
 

“Today, I don’t have to hide in shame and fear anymore or live in comparison to others in order to feel worthy of God’s love,” another man added.
 

Are you ready to begin your recovery journey?
 

Find a CR near you!