Expect to Change

By Kareena Holloway, Fellowship Bible Church Rogers Celebrate Recovery Ministry TEAM Women's Encourager Coach, 10/30/2019


When I started coming to Celebrate Recovery over nine years ago, I was desperate to change, but I didn’t know how.  On my own will, I tried to do the right thing, but I still ended up doing the wrong thing again due to a lifetime of unhealed hurts, habits, and hang-ups.  God’s awesome living Word has a scripture that explains this perfectly:

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 
Romans 7:15-18

Upon coming to CR the first time, I learned about that same scripture in Step 1 of the 12 Steps of Recovery:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. 

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. 
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 
Romans 7:18 NIV

It was comforting to learn that I wasn’t alone in this desire to change. From that very first night, I learned that I had a family of fellow strugglers who would not judge, criticize, or reject me, but would show me God's love in the way they would listen and hold me accountable. Also, hearing the phrase, that “hurt people hurt people” showed me that when I hurt someone or when hurt happened to me any time in my life, it wasn’t because the person just didn’t like me, it was because they still had unhealed hurts habits, and hang-ups. That knowledge didn’t excuse their behavior, but it helped me to understand as I processed through to the place of forgiveness.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19

Being in recovery for over nine years now, I have seen seasons of change in my life and in those around me who are willing to trust God to help them heal.  I have seen countless people grow from being shut off and anxious to becoming open and loving toward others. 


So, whether you’ve been a part of Celebrate Recovery for years or you’re just starting out, know that you can expect to change and continually grow as God works in you to will and act according to His good purpose. God cares deeply for you and your future. Hope to see you Friday night!

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