The Road To Recovery
• 8 Recovery Principles •
• Based on the Beatitudes •
by Pastor Rick Warren,
Saddleback Community Church

REALIZE I’m not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable.
"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." Matthew 5:3 (Step 1)

EARNESTLY believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.
"Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4 (Step 2)

CONSCIOUSLY choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.
"Happy are the meek."  Matthew 5:5 (Step 3)

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, 5)

VOLUNTARILY submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.
"Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires."  Matthew 5:6 (Step 6, 7)

EVALUATE all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others,
except when to do so would harm them or others.
"Happy are the merciful. Happy are the peacemakers."  Matthew 5:3 (Step 8, 9)

RESERVE a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God
and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. (Step 10, 11)

YIELD myself to be used by God to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.
"Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires." Matthew 5:10 (Step 12)

Celebrate Recovery Serenity Prayer
GOD, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;

Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it;
Trusting that You will make all things right
If I surrender to Your will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You
Forever in the next.

Amen.

Reinhold Neibuhr-1926

The Eight Principles in Adobe Acrobat (easy to print!)

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