Surrendering to God - The Key to Addiction Recovery

Understanding Celebrate Recovery's Lesson 20

Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered 12 step recovery program that helps people find freedom from their hurts, habits, and hang-ups. The program includes 25 lessons that guide participants through the recovery process by teaching biblical principles and providing real-life testimonies. Lesson 20 focuses on an important milestone in recovery: surrendering your life to God.

The Importance of Surrender in Addiction Recovery

Surrender means admitting powerlessness and submitting to a higher power. This concept can be difficult for self-reliant people to grasp at first. However, surrender is a cornerstone of the Celebrate Recovery program. Participants must surrender control to God in order to experience true freedom.

Letting go allows God to begin transforming hearts and renewing minds. It enables His strength to replace human weakness. People cannot white knuckle their way out of addiction. Lasting recovery requires divine empowerment.

What Does Surrender Look Like?

Surrender is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. It requires participants to continually recognize their limitations and look to God for help. Some specific ways to surrender daily include:

• Admitting when you cannot handle problems alone
• Letting go of guilt, worry, and other negative emotions
• Releasing feelings of shame, fear, pride, and selfishness
• Confessing character defects honestly to God
• Acknowledging mistakes and making amends when needed
• Asking for strength, guidance, and direction
• Trusting God’s plan rather than forcing your own

The Relief and Freedom of Letting Go

At first, surrender feels uncomfortable because it goes against human nature to ask for help. However, participants soon discover immense relief and freedom on the other side of surrender. Letting go lightens heavy burdens, calms restless fears, and lifts crushing condemnation.

Surrender allows God’s unconditional love to replace feelings of unworthiness. His grace and forgiveness overwrite shame and regret. Surrender opens the door for transformed minds, healed hearts, restored relationships, and fulfilled lives.

Practical Examples of Surrender in Celebrate Recovery

What does surrender look like in everyday life? Here are some practical examples shared by Celebrate Recovery participants:

Accepting a Job Loss

When Michelle lost her job, she struggled with feelings of anger and fear over how she would provide for her family. Finally, she surrendered those anxieties to God in prayer. Within days, He opened doors to an even better job!

Ending a Toxic Relationship

Alex clung to a codependent romance even though he knew rationally it was unhealthy. When he fully surrendered his need for love and approval to Christ, God gave Alex courage to leave the harmful relationship.

Seeking Help for Addiction

Kara denied her addiction for years, thinking she could hide and manage it alone. Finally hitting rock bottom, she surrendered her life and addiction to God. She entered a Christian rehab program the next day.

The Blessings of a Surrendered Life

Fully embracing surrender positions people for abundant, transformed living through God’s power. Blessings include:

• Freedom from bondage to sin and addiction
• Release from crippling negative emotions
• Healing of painful past wounds
• Restored relationships
• New purpose and potential unlocked
• Intimacy with Jesus through the Holy Spirit
• Confidence, peace and joy

Surrender seems difficult, but God promises amazing redemption on the other side. By submitting their lives completely, Celebrate Recovery participants open the door for resurrection miracles!

FAQs

What exactly does “surrender” mean in Celebrate Recovery?

Surrender means fully giving your life and will over to God and admitting powerlessness over addiction. It is consciously inviting Jesus to take control where you have failed.

Don’t I have to surrender over and over again?

Yes, surrender is not a one-time event. Participants must continually surrender their thoughts, behaviors, habits, relationships and more to God every day.

Why is surrender so vital to overcoming addiction?

Humans cannot overcome deeply entrenched addictions and life-controlling issues on willpower alone. Lasting recovery requires complete dependence on God’s strength and grace.

What blessings come through surrender?

Blessings include freedom from addiction, healing of past wounds, restored relationships, new purpose and potential, intimacy with Christ, and lifted shame, fear and depression.

How will I know if I have fully surrendered?

Indicators include feeling peace instead of anxiety, acting out of love not fear, demonstrating fruits of the spirit, seeking God’s will before your own, and resting in God’s presence.