Hope for Addiction

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’ve surrendered enough for God to accept you, there is good news: His mercy does not depend on the strength of your resolve.

We know the weight of trying harder, making promises, and falling short. We share the same need for grace. That’s why this distinction matters so deeply.

Step Three of AA and CR's path calls for a decision to turn our lives and wills over to God. But who is the God we trust, and what makes us right with Him? Scripture gives us a sure foundation: God has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, and salvation rests on Christ’s finished work.

Romans 12:1 calls believers to surrender in response to God’s mercy. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. His sacrifice secured what no amount of effort, completed steps, or determination could earn.

We come to Him in repentance and faith, empty-handed. In Christ, we receive forgiveness, new life, and acceptance with God. We can stop striving to make ourselves worthy of what He freely gives.

There is still obedience to learn and sin to turn from. But we walk forward as people who belong to Him, held by His grace and strengthened by His Spirit. Even in the struggle, our confidence rests in our Savior.

God’s mercy is the foundation of our surrender. There is rest, and real hope in that truth.

To download the full chart examining the steps next to scripture, go to hopeforaddiction.com/toolkit

Romans 5:8 • Romans 12:1 • Ephesians 2:8–10

"A god begotten in the shadows of a fallen heart will quite naturally be no true likeness of the true God." -A.W. Tozer

What do we think when we think of God? And where did that belief come from?

Our wounds can influence the answer. So do our desires. We may imagine a God who is too distant to care, too holy to approach, or one willing to overlook the sin that is destroying us and keeping us from freedom.

This matters when we talk about addiction. We need refuge, forgiveness, and freedom. More importantly, we need the truth about the One we are trusting.

The gospel exposes our sin in the same breath it announces our hope: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. We can bring Him the bo***ge we cannot break and the distorted beliefs we have held about Him.

God’s character is not determined by our experiences or preferences. And He has made Himself known to us, accessible here and now.

We cannot correct our understanding of God without actively seeking Him. Its simple, but we know its not easy.

Come to a Recovering Hope meeting where others are seeking to know Him. Find one near you: hopeforaddiction.com/program

The newest episode of Abounding Hope is available! Liz Beck and Lara Kees continue our series on biblical and cultural language, exploring identity, transformation, and how Scripture equips us to care for one another with truth and love.

The struggle is real. What's greater is God’s promises to those who are in Christ.

Watch today, and share with someone who is walking alongside a loved one through addiction: youtu.be/SbQfUJ4xOxY

Maybe someone you love is struggling with addiction.

Maybe your family has been living in chaos for years. Maybe you’ve tried treatment, boundaries, counseling, support groups, church, and you still don’t know what recovery looks like.

Hope for Addiction exists to help individuals and families understand addiction through a biblical lens for lasting change, not just sobriety.

Through Scripture-based recovery programs, family support, discipleship, residential ministry, counseling partnerships, and the local church, we walk with people toward something deeper than behavior change alone.

Addiction doesn’t happen in isolation. Recovery shouldn’t either.

If you’ve been wondering what biblical hope can look like in the middle of addiction, we’d love to show you.

Learn more at hopeforaddiction.com, or go to linktr.ee/Hope4Addiction to find resources, meeting locations, local partner churches and recovery material.

As a Christian it is easy to see why Alcoholics Anonymous' Step 2 misses the mark.

"Power greater than ourselves" is the strength and sanity is the desired outcome. This supports a polytheistic religion and sanity becomes the addict's greatest need.

Celebrate Recovery's Step 2 is a little trickier. It uses the exact same language and adds a bible verse. Then it's amended with a "principle" that claims Jesus as the only Higher Power.

But CR makes the Twelve Steps the operative path through which Jesus' power is accessed and recovery is achieved.

There are at least three theological problems with CR's step 2:

1. Jesus is placed inside AA’s category.
CR gives AA’s Higher Power a Christian name, but Jesus cannot be placed inside a category created by AA. He is not the power behind the steps. Scripture reveals Him as Creator, Lord, Savior, and the only mediator between God and man.

2. The stated objective is recovery, not reconciliation.
Step Two presents this power as able to “restore us to sanity.” Principle Two says God has the power “to help me recover.” The person comes to Jesus because He can produce the desired recovery outcome, not first as a sinner coming to the Savior for forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

3. The steps still function as the path.
CR’s Step Twelve describes a spiritual experience occurring “as the result of these steps.” So Jesus may be called the power, but the steps remain the process credited with bringing the person to the spiritual result.

Liz and Lara go into greater detail on why the words and definitions we use reveal what we believe about addiction, ourselves and God. 🎧 Watch or listen to the Abounding Hope podcast episode “Why Words Matter: Building a Biblical View of Addiction.” youtu.be/MeogZ0v8V_s

The most impactful moments in the life of someone living in our transitional homes are often small and quiet. A collection of seemingly small victories lead to the beautiful, dramatic success stories we share.

It might seem normal or basic to some, but when a woman with children is just trying to survive, a stable bedtime routine is not a priority.

The first night a mom and her kids walk through our doors, our parenting coach gets to work, not with paperwork, but with presence. Together, they learn the rhythm of a routine: a bath, a story, a prayer, a hug. Simple things. But for kids who've known chaos, consistency is everything. It brings healing and trust to the relationship, and mom and kid can start to grow together.

A bedtime routine tells a child: You are safe. You are loved.
That's what stability looks like. And it starts at bedtime. 🌙

Mom is reading to her child for the first time, and child knows peace for the first time.

Learn more about our short and long-term transitional housing at ahometodwell.com (link in bio)