Selfish Faith and Recovery

Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? Mark 4:21

Ashamed and afraid of discovery, I did everything I could to keep my drug use secret. I lied. I used in the dark. I isolated. I certainly didn’t share my struggle with anyone. In my early attempts at recovery, still ashamed, I tried maintain my secret and so, I kept my recovery efforts private as well. When I came to step 12, I read that if I had truly found recovery, that I would carry that message of the new life to those still in the struggle. I planned to skip that step. I only needed 11 steps.

As it turned out, I wasn’t ready for sharing my recovery because I hadn’t really found it yet. At that point, I still thought that I could pick and choose which parts of recovery I would keep and which parts I would skip. I thought I was pursuing the new life, but I was still just doing things my way, which was my problem in the first place. I refused to stop following me, and so, I soon resumed using.

In today’s passage, Jesus said that the light he shines in us isn’t meant to be hidden. When he illuminates our lives, this necessarily must shine for others to see. If others cannot see the light we think we have, then we’re fooling ourselves. If we refuse to share what God has done for us, then we likely haven’t undergone the transformation we so desperately need. Authentic faith keeps its eyes on God, doing his will. If we are still hiding our so-called faith, then we’re living selfishly, and thereby, not actually living by faith.

I’m not saying I must go door to door, hitting people over the head with my Bible. I’m just saying that if God has truly transformed me from a life of being enslaved to myself and the pill to a life of following him, then that will be obvious to others. When others are struggling and want to know what God has done for me, I must be willing to share that truth, letting his light shine through me. A selfish faith or recovery is false and will soon be exposed. Authentic faith and recovery will shine brightly to all who need it.