Reasons We Get Stuck 1 You have not

Reasons We Get Stuck 1. You have not completely worked the previous step

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5: 25).

2. You have not completely surrendered your life and your will to the Lord.

“For good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don't ever trust yourself. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success. ” Proverbs 3: 4 -6

3. You have not accepted Jesus’ work on the cross for your forgiveness

“But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us…from every wrong. ” 1 John 1: 9 (Living)

“So overflowing is his kindness toward us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his Son, by whom we are saved” Ephes. 1: 7 (Living)

4. You really have not forgiven others who have harmed you

“After you have suffered a little while, our God, who is full of kindness through Christ, will give you his eternal glory. He personally will come and pick you up, and set you firmly in place, and make you stronger than ever. ” 1 Peter

5. You are afraid of the risk in making the necessary change

“Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed. I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. ” Isaiah 41: 10 (Living)

“That is why we can say without any doubt or fear, "The Lord is my Helper, and I am not afraid of anything that mere man can do to me. " Hebrews 13: 6 (Living)

6. You are not willing to “own” your responsibility

“Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover…if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139: 23 GNB)

7. You have not developed an effective support team

“Be with wise men and become wise. Be with evil men and become evil. ” Proverbs 13: 20 (Living)

“Dear brothers, you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other. ” Galatians 5: 13 (Living)

“Share each other’s troubles and problems, and so obey our Lord’s command” (Galatians 6: 2 TLB)

Chris Wilkerson www. crrhcc. com/discussion

The purpose of any addiction is to regain control over intolerably emotional state of feeling helpless, trapped or powerless.

Addictions are not just substance abuses (drugs, alcohol), but also behaviors, such as anger. In humans, the common denominator behind any compulsive behavior is the desire for a, “quick fix or mood changer, ” for how we feel. We have the need to feel better, escape the trap of helplessness.

Addictive behavior is never random, it’s learned, because there is always a reason and a reward. Whatever is rewarded gets repeated

You can’t get addicted to a substance or behavior that doesn’t do something for you

Hurts – are feelings. Hurts often result in an emotional reaction to another person’s behavior or to a disturbing situation such as abuse, abandonment, codependency, divorce or relationship issues. When these hurts are very important to us and become overwhelming, they result in feeling frustrated, helpless, trapped, powerless and out of control.

Hang-ups - Is a negative mental attitude that is used to cope with people or adversity including anger, depression, fear and unforgiveness. Instead of responding with a direct action to deal with how they feel, people learn to respond with a displaced or substitute behavior that helps them escape the trap of feeling helpless, powerless and out of control.

Hang-ups result in displaced thinking with quick fixes and mood changers of how we feel with drugs, alcohol, porn, gambling or any behavior that temporarily helps/empowers a person regain control over how they feel.

Habits - Is an addiction to someone or something; alcohol, drugs, food, gambling, sex, porn, shopping and smoking. All addictions serve an emotional purpose. Habits are displaced behaviors used to reverse feelings of helplessness, escape the trap and regain

3 R’S • RECOGNIZE OUR HURTS • REFRAME OUR HANG-UPS • REPLACE OUR HABITS

Once you Recognize the problem, you can Reframe the pros and cons and Replace the cons with direct healthy behavior that empowers you to regain control!

Fork in the Road = We can regain control of helpless feelings with displaced substitute behaviors (quick fixes or mood changers of drugs or other behaviors), or direct healthy behaviors that empower us.

Direct Behavior

What we really seek is not a drink, a drug, food, porn or a bet, but a sense of empowerment, in the face of feeling helpless.

At CR we learn to Recognize the Hurt, Reframe the Hang-up and Replace the Habit.

DR. Chris Wilkerson www. crrhcc. com/discussion