Helped by Humility

As Christmas approaches we were delighted that Euan Macleod was able to contribute a guest blog. Euan regularly leads groups here at Hope For Addiction UK and is a great asset to us and a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You may ask: What possible relevance could the nativity have for someone recovering from addiction? Fair enough. We all know that Jesus would go on to deliver a body of teaching that became the blue print for recovery programs throughout the world, but RIGHT NOW, He’s just a baby wriggling around in a feeding trough in his swaddling clothes. What on earth can He contribute to our on going struggle to stay clean?

Now, I could draw the parallel between the shepherd’s reputation and your own. They weren’t trusted and people assumed they were thieves (most of them were but that doesn’t make it any less insulting). Yet in spite of their reputation, they were the first witnesses of the chosen Messiah!

Or I could talk about the importance of dedicating yourself to recovery and cite Anna’s unwavering devotion as a template for your own life. I might even compare Mary’s sacrifices to the sacrifices you will need to make in order to birth a life of sobriety. However, instead I want to talk to you about the greatest monument to YOUR self worth in all history. The BABY Jesus.

Here’s how Paul describes the nativity in the book of Philippians:

Though [Jesus] was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; and took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being…

In other words, Jesus, being in very nature God, left heaven's splendour and took up residence in the womb of a teenager. Then, after being evacuated from her body, His formative years (like ours) were lived out in complete helplessness.

Think about that for a second: God had to be fed, nursed and changed. If you laid Him on the floor He would lie there until you picked Him up again. He became a helpless wriggling dependant because He loves you. Here’s my point: Your behaviour may have enraged your family and friends. Your failed attempts at sobriety may have even infuriated the staff here at ‘Hope for Addiction UK’. Yet the LORD of Heavens armies seems to have taken a liking to you despite your many flaws. So much so that He was willing to humiliate Himself in order to enact a plan that would end with Him dying on a cross for you.

Don’t build your self worth on other people, whose opinions of you go up and down depending on your behaviour. Instead, build your self worth on the actions of a person whose opinion of you is unwavering. Your conduct: past, present and future cannot change what God has already done for you. What’s more: You don’t need to prove your love for Him, you just need to learn to bask in HIS love for you! That’s where your sense of self worth should come from. And with that, comes more stability in your recovery.

So the next time you’re ravaged with the kind of self doubt and shame that, in the past, has reinforced your drug seeking behaviour, chew on this ASTONISHING truth: God humiliated Himself for YOU!