The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are children of the covenant— (3 Nephi 20:26)
I have seen so many people suffering from addiction who feel like they must be the scum of the earth, spiritually. They perceive and believe themselves to be the weakest of the weak. The lowliest of the low. The least of the least.
I know that’s how I felt when I was constantly trying and failing again and again to maintain an abstinent life. But, then, when I finally gave up trying to fix myself, trying to maintain abstinence myself (took Step One) and came to Christ just as weak and unworthy as I was (Step Two), I found Him–one day at a time–sufficient to turn me away from my addiction. When I prayed and asked (as Enos did in Enos 1: 7), “Lord, how is it done,” I received the testimony–from Him personally–that even before I was born, I had covenanted with Him to follow Him into mortality (1 Nephi 8:5-8) and to find salvation from my fallen state in no one and nothing except Him.
It was then and there I realized I was a child of that covenant with Christ, even before I joined the Church! The “spiritual awakening” process of the steps has brought me a recurring reaffirmation of that Eternal Reality.
And so it was, that try as I might, I could find no lasting recovery in any other name, way or means except by coming to Him and Him alone. No other source, except Jesus Christ, would bring me power to turn away from my addiction. Other people might be able to find the power to recover in “the fellowship,” or “the group” or in a vague and distant conception of “God,” whom they chose to call “H.P.”(Higher Power), but I could not.
Why?
Because I was under covenant to Jesus Christ to raise Him up first. Now, in Step Seven, I am realizing that it is the same for every single weakness I perceive in myself. Only by surrendering them to Christ—and Christ alone—can I be free of them.
(Excerpt from Patterns of Light, Step 7 — Wk 1, Day 4.)
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