Run with Endurance

On Thursday morning of the Celebrate Recovery Summit our leadership Team recently attended, Johnny Baker opened the day of teaching with a lesson on Freedom. One striking statement he made was, “when I am sober I can work on my core issues in a productive way.” As many of you understand from the teaching you find in our CR, sobriety relates to all of our struggles, not just drugs and alcohol. Sober, in one definitive understanding is knowing what clouds an accurate judgement of our weaknesses.

Biblically, Johnny’s teaching is supported by Galatians 5:1,

Galatians 5:1 (CSB)

1 For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.

The freedom sobriety supplies is a freedom from doing the things that cause others pain. Many of us come to recovery because we have hurt the ones we love and the healing we find begins with the power to NOT continue doing or saying what hurts other people. Knowing our actions have hurt the ones we love and continuing those actions is the opposite of freedom—it’s the source of addiction.

Next Johnny pointed to Hebrews 12:1,

Hebrews 12:1 (CSB)

1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,

Our hurts, hang–ups, and habits are like a parachute on the back of a sprinter, or chains around their legs in a competition they trained their entire life to win. The steps of recovery and the relationship with Jesus Christ are positive steps in the direction of freedom. We encourage you to follow our ministry in the coming days and months as our leadership incorporates this teaching and others from the CR Summit for your benefit.