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The Life Recovery Journey: Inspiring Stories and Biblical Wisdom as You Work the Twelve Steps and Let Them Work You
Previously published in 2012 as The Book of Life Recovery by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., under ISBN 978-1-4143-6139-0. First printing as The Life Recovery Journey in 2015 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Copyright 2012 by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop. All rights reserved.
Cover photograph copyright Darren Falkenberg/Thinkstock. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Stephen Vosloo
Designed by Erik Peterson and Beth Sparkman
Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Literary Agency, 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, www.aliveliterary.com.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NKJV is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.
Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
The Twelve Steps of Life Recovery are adapted from The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and are used here with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to adapt the Twelve Steps does not mean that AAWS has reviewed or approved the contents of this publication, or that AAWS necessarily agrees with the views expressed herein. AA is a program of recovery from alcoholism only use of the Twelve Steps in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after AA, but which address other problems, or in any other non-AA context, does not imply otherwise. Additionally, while AA is a spiritual program, AA is not a religious program. Thus, AA is not affiliated or allied with any sect, denomination, or specific religious belief.
The stories in The Book of Life Recovery are true, first-person accounts. Names, locations, and other identifying details have been changed to safeguard the privacy and dignity of the individuals involved.
The Library of Congress has catalogued the original edition as follows:
Arterburn, Stephen, date.
The book of life recovery : inspiring stories and biblical wisdom for your journey through the twelve steps / Stephen Arterburn, David Stoop.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-1-4143-6139-0 (sc)
1. Twelve-step programs Religious aspects Christianity.I. Stoop, David A.II. Title.
BV4596.T88A77 2012
248.8629 dc23 2012015450
ISBN 978-1-4964-1049-8
ISBN 978-1-4964-1051-1 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-1052-8 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-1050-4 (Apple)
Build: 2015-05-21 16:39:20
The Twelve Steps of Life Recovery
- We admitted we were powerless over our problems and that our lives had become unmanageable.
- We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- We made a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God.
- We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- We humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
- We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
- We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
- We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry it out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The Twelve Steps used in The Life Recovery Journey have been adapted with permission from The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Introduction
T HIS BOOK IS the basic text for life recovery from a biblical perspective. We believe that when Dr. Bob and Bill W. worked with the Reverend Sam Shoemaker to create the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, they developed their ideas from the text of Scripture. In The Life Recovery Bible, we show how each of the Twelve Steps is founded on the principles of the Bible. Now we have added this book as another resource to support your recovery journey.
Inside, you will find an expansion on each of the Twelve Steps to help you better understand what each Step asks of you. The book is structured to allow you to journey through the entire program over the course of a year one month on each Step. You can begin by reading the personal recovery stories at the beginning of each Step. Then read and reread the Step Insight as many times as necessary to make sure you understand what is involved with that specific Step.
Then you will find four Bible studies for each Step, which will help you interact with passages of Scripture that support the teaching of that Step. You might work through one Bible study each week for the month you are focusing on that particular Step. You will enhance the benefit of these studies if you discuss your responses to the studies in a group with others on the same recovery path.
We have found that the Twelve Steps of Life Recovery outline the principles by which anyone can experience healing and recovery for a variety of issues in life. The obvious application of the Twelve Steps is oriented to the individual alcohol or drug addict. But more and more we find the Steps are just as relevant and helpful to sex addicts, codependents, gambling addicts, workaholics, spendaholics, and any person struggling with a compulsive behavior, emotional problem, or character defect that interferes with their ability to live life as God intended. We believe all these problems will yield themselves to the healing power of these biblically sound principles. We have also found that many people who cannot afford to see counselors can find the help they need in a Twelve Step group.