ONE STEP
The One Decision to surrender my fears and secrets to Jesus brought my first understanding of grace.
I expected Christi to kick me out of the house and to lose everything. Instead, I found I was not alone. My wife was willing to fight for our marriage, and my small group provided a safe place for transparency.
Making the One Decision brought me to a crossroads between my past and future. I could hope God had me, or I could do all the right things, but I never fully trusted that He would lead me through life's daily fears.
My surrender to Jesus required me to trust Him with my secrets, but now I needed to take the One Step of trusting Him with every day of my life.
It started within hours of my confession. I joined an online accountability program, and we were signed up for marriage counseling.
The simplest and most significant step came in my routine. My mornings now began with putting action to my trust in a quiet time of prayer. My lunch hour, which I would normally spend seeking out or talking to inappropriate people, was now spent leaving work, parking under a tree at a nearby park, and reading the Bible.
Something was different. The times of prayer and reading no longer seemed like a checklist item but a part of a relationship with Jesus.
When I share my story, I use the analogy of two hands. Imagine holding onto a rope with two hands as you are falling off a cliff. Jesus is there with you and asks you to let go of the rope so He can show you that you are safe. But in fear, you only let go with one hand, still trusting what you see and not trusting what He asks of you. There will be a point when your strength to hold the rope will give out. It is not until you give Him both hands, letting go of the rope, that you realize He already has a plan in place to keep you from falling. But you are unable to see the plan until you trust Him 100%.
As the days turned into weeks and months, I gained a new understanding of how I was defined. I believed I was defined by my actions and my thoughts. Taking the One Step allowed me to understand that I was defined by Jesus.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2
Change was no longer based on my ability to be perfect. Change was defined by my daily trust and surrender to Jesus Christ.
In the book The Game Plan by Joe Dallas, he talks about sexual purity and sexual sobriety.
We always fail and still can fail when all we focus on is the goal of purity. We are all sinners, and when we sin, if our only focus is purity, we will see ourselves as failures. The normal response is to believe we must start the journey from the beginning.
This is not the reality Jesus gives us in our surrender to Him.
Sobriety is another story. The Bible tells us that God’s mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). What if we focused on the grace found in today's sobriety instead of on the goal of purity?
It starts by seeking Him FIRST, asking Him for grace throughout the day, protection from temptation, and giving thanks for His love. Your day is no longer focused on what you will not do to achieve the goal but on the one who will lead you to it.
You will find success in the grace of the day. When you do this daily, taking the One Step of daily sobriety, you can look back and see you are walking a journey of purity. Even if you stumble, you get up, confess, thank Jesus for His forgiveness, and continue the journey.
A life that was once defined by One Day, which led to One Lie and grew into One Fear, is now changed by embracing the One Possibility of change, making the One Decision of surrender, and taking One Step of faith. Where does this lead?
One New Life!
Contact us at info@changinglanes.org to discover how your life can be changed.