This last Sunday evening at my LDS Addiciton Recovery 12 step Meeting we had a visiting leader as the normal leader was out of town. At the close of the meeting the leader will usually share a thought he has prepared for the night. What set this time apart from the others is the visiting leader was a recovered pornography addict himself. You could have heard a pin drop in the room it was so silent. We hung on every single word he uttered! It was amazing. He had us all with his first line, “Brethren, I don’t know if you know this or not, but you are the cream of the crop! You truly are.”
All eyes were immediately on him.
“Who, us?” each person seemed to say in their mind (I know I did!).
Here are a few of the excerpts from his riveting speech to us:
“There are 3 qualities that each of you have simply by being here:
- Humility. It takes a humble heart to seek to overcome something that you cannot do by yourself.
- Courage. It takes courage to come here. I remember being outside those doors the first time, terrified to come inside.
- Generosity. You share what you have found, what you struggle with, and how you overcome, with others.”
“Brethren, you are the cream of the crop because you are here. For every single one of you here tonight there should be hundreds behind each of you.”
“Please do not walk out of here with any shame. If you do, it is the wrong voice that you are listening to.”
“We were all taken from a very secure and comfortable environment. We left the home of our Heavenly Father to come to earth. As mortals we are vulnerable and naive.”
“The Lord gave us our weakness. It was a ‘gift’ from Him. Think about what that means!”
“If we can take steps towards honesty and humility we will be closer to our Father in Heaven. Humility is giving your will to the Savior.”
“Remember, healthy guilt is good — it drives us to change, but shame is not good. Do not let yourself feel shame.”
“I once was addicted as you are now. But that changed. God changed me. I don’t have it anymore. It is gone. I do not struggle any longer.”
His personal witness of his own struggle and being able to overcome it through the power of God and working the 12 steps was a powerful reminder to each of this that there is hope and that there is a solution we each can benefit from.
What an incredible night it was. I thoroughly enjoy working with my fellow brothers to help them work each of their steps and to ultimately find themselves actively engaged in serving God while He (God) heals us of our addiction. What an incredible miracle to be part of. I honestly would not trade my gift away, because of the wonders that I have seen, experienced, and continue to experience. I am a better person because of my battle. I don’t even have the scars I once had — I truly am becoming transformed. I will be forever grateful and I will continue to share what I have found with others.
If you’re new to my blog, please read a few more entries. If you struggle with pornography or other sex addiction, please know that you are not alone and that there is a solution. Happiness is real and can be yours too. You can make amends for all the damage that has been done. Not having to carry the burden of our past mistakes and blunders is a gift beyond measure!
The hope is real my friends!
My name is Mike
Hi my name is Mike... 