Asking God to Grow My Character: The Journey Continues, Participant's Guide 6

A Recovery Program Based on Eight Principles from the Beatitudes

John Baker, Johnny Baker

• Publisher: HarperChristian Resources
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN:
  9780310131496
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Mental Health & Wellbeing

Celebrate Recovery introduces The Journey Continues—four new participant's guides designed as a revolutionary, new second step study curriculum. This step study is taken after completing The Journey Begins (Participant Guides 1-4). In the five lessons in Guide 6: Asking God to Grow My Character, you will experience Christ-centered and biblically-based studies filled with brand new acrostics, deeper questions, and more helpful Bible verses. The content in Guide 6 will focus on a deeper study of the fourth recovery principle:

• Openly examine and confess my faults to God, to myself, and to someone I trust. "Happy are the pure in heart" (Matthew 5:8).

By working through the lessons and exercises found in each of the four participant's guides of The Journey Continues you will find a deeper sense of true peace and serenity, continue to restore and develop stronger relationships with others and with God, and find deeper freedom from life's hurts, hang-ups, and habits.

Lesson 10

SPIRITUAL
INVENTORY 1

Principle 4: Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.

“Happy are the pure in heart.” (Matthew 5:8)

Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:40)

Please begin your time together by reading “Growing Up, Day 89” from the Celebrate Recovery Daily Devotional.

Before you begin this exercise, find Lesson 10 (Participant’s Guide 2) from the previous The Journey Begins step studies. Use it as a reference to what you wrote in your first or most recent moral inventory. This time, challenge yourself to dig deeper, to look past your main recovery issue and ask yourself some hard questions. Your first inventory was likely focused on your main recovery issue, the thing that brought you to Celebrate Recovery in the first place. Now, try to see if any secondary issues may have revealed themselves. This doesn’t mean that you should ignore your primary issue or leave things off this inventory, but it does mean you should see if anything new needs your attention.

To help get started on your new inventory, here are some key areas that deserve examination.

Relationships

Those we have hurt

The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This means that we’ve all been hurt by others, and we have all hurt others with our actions. Remember, you don’t need to go all the way back to before you began recovery. Instead, focus on issues that may have come up since your last moral inventory.

Who has been hurt by your actions?

Have you hurt anyone and feel like you are beyond forgiveness?

What actions can you take to make it right?

(Note: The people who you name in these areas will go in Column 1 of your Celebrate Recovery Inventory Worksheet.)

People who have hurt us

Are you still holding a grudge or seeking revenge against anyone?

Who are you unwilling to forgive?

(Note: The people who you name in these areas will go in Column 5 of your Celebrate Recovery Inventory Worksheet.)

Priorities

The desires of our heart reveal what we love. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34).

What things have you put above God or His people?

What have you held back and not turned over to Jesus?

In what ways are you still following your will instead of God’s will?

Attitude

The Bible says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 18).

How do you see your circumstances today?

Have you cultivated an “attitude of gratitude” or do you

grumble and complain?

Are you worried? Are you anxious?

How is your temper?

Do you use anger, intimidation, or sarcasm to manipulate people?

Integrity

Are you the same person at church and out in the world?

Do you pretend you have it all together?

At the end of the day do you regret how you acted?

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

Your Relationships

1. Is there anyone from a prior moral inventory who you haven’t forgiven?

[Your Response Here]

2. Is there anyone from a prior moral inventory to whom you have not made amends?

[Your Response Here]

3. What is holding you back?

[Your Response Here]

4. Has anyone hurt you recently? Has this person hurt you in the past? Is this a pattern?

[Your Response Here]

5. Who have you hurt recently?

[Your Response Here]

6. Did you make amends when you realized you hurt them? Did you do it promptly?

[Your Response Here]...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Ebook Instructions
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• The Road to Recovery: Eight Principles Based On the Beatitudes
• Twelve Steps and Their Biblical Comparisons
• Serenity Prayer
• Celebrate Recovery’s Small Group Guidelines
• Lesson 7: Sponsor
• Lesson 8: Truth
• Lesson 9: Inventory
• Lesson 10: Spiritual Inventory 1
• Lesson 11: Spiritual Inventory 2
• Afterword