Band of Others

TRUTH

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

James‬ ‭2‬:‭21‬-‭23

REFLECTION

I thought (wrongly) for a long time that salvation was solely about rescuing me from myself.

I expected deliverance without effort because I was stuck in habits that had begun to rot.

I confused grace with agency.

It wasn’t that salvation isn’t a rescue. I just wasn’t yet dead enough to accept the help.

It wasn’t that grace wasn’t freely available; I was just still clinging on to attitudes and ideas I wanted to carry over into grace.

To be fully saved I needed to be fully dead.

To be fully dead without actually dying I needed to be wholly miserable.

To be miserable enough to turn to glory without despising it I had to fan the tiny flame of hope that had somehow been lit in the whirlwind.

I had nothing to do with the tiny flame of hope.

That comes from others.

Hours and years and good influence. The right things said at the wrong time will sometimes stick around anyway.

Faith can start fresh in dark times.

We absolutely must take action, though. We must change even though we don’t feel it to be possible.

This is the creep of new life. We must crawl forward as slowly as needed in order to move away from the death that is behind us.

And, thankfully, we never have to be alone for this.

We have salvation and grace, and we may have fellowship too if we open ourselves up to it. The dim flame is all we need to begin.

God, show me fellowship, one person at a time.

SPONSOR

Progress & Perfection is written on Notion, the happier workspace. I’ve been using Notion to organize these daily writings since December 2023. Try Notion now.

NEXT

When you’re ready, here are some tools for you:

1. Book List (amazon link)
   Some of my favorite reads related to recovery and/or wrestling with faith.

2. 4th Step Guide (free download)
   A PDF with instructions and worksheets for a thorough 4th step. Straight from the Big Book. Fearlessness not included.

3. 12-Step Christianity (YouTube)
   My thoughts on the parallels between discipleship and sponsorship.

KEEP LEANING FORWARD

Cheers, Eamonn
Contact on LinkedIn, YouTube & Twitter.