Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11: Spiritual Inventory Part 2 will also help you create the inventory for your life, but a few aspects are different from the last lesson.
Remember, without your inventory, your recovery process cannot be complete. It all goes hand-in-hand together.
Be sure you take each lesson one at a time and continue to move through them, even when they seem a bit tough! What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. You can do this!
Also, remember, you are building a stronger relationship with God, so you’ve got His mighty strength on your side!
If you get overwhelmed when writing your inventory, reach out to your accountability support team – the group of people you have put together in the previous lessons.
Your support group can provide motivation and encouragement throughout this process. No one said you needed to do this on your own!
In Celebrate Recovery lesson 11, you will keep working on your inventory, an invaluable tool in recovery! Once you’ve done it, you will know exactly what I mean!
Celebrate Recovery lesson eleven will encompass the previous lessons we have covered.
This lesson goes with Step 4 in Celebrate Recovery (CR) and principle 4 of the Celebrate Recovery 8 Principles. If you haven’t checked those out, don’t be alarmed. While it will help you in understanding this lesson better, we will go over them in detail.
The FREE Moral Inventory Worksheet for this lesson or the one found in the CR study guide will help you along the way.
If you’ve just begun your road to recovery, read Celebrate Recovery Lesson 1: Denial. If you’ve been doing the lessons along with me, go to the last lesson for more assistance in completing your inventory: Celebrate Recovery Lesson 10: Spiritual Inventory Part 1.
What is Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11: Spiritual Inventory Part 2?
Celebrate Recovery principle 4 is: Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. This is an engaging process! Step 4 is: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Keep working the steps as you write your inventory! You WILL get through this, and be glad you did!
Blessed are the pure in heart. – Matthew 5:8 (NIV)
Let us examine our ways and test them and let us return to the Lord. – Lamentations 3:40 (NIV)
| Lesson | Principle | Step | Bible Verses |
| 10 | 4 | 4 | Matthew 5:8; Lamentations 3:40 |
In Celebrate Recovery lesson 11, we get further motivation and encouragement to write our inventory. The free worksheet found at the end of this lesson will aid you in writing your inventory, so be sure to download it!
By now, you have a great accountability team that includes your sponsor, found in Celebrate Recovery Lesson 7: Sponsor. You also started writing your inventory in Celebrate Recovery Lesson 8: Moral. You continued this process in Celebrate Recovery Lesson 9: Inventory and in our last lesson – Celebrate Recovery Lesson 10: Spiritual Inventory Part 1!
If you are behind and need more time to catch up, go ahead and review those past lessons now. You will benefit from doing the lessons in order, rather than skipping around.
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What Does “Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11” Mean?
Understanding what Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11: Spiritual Inventory Part 2 is will help you learn better. You might already know these terms, especially if you have been going to Celebrate Recovery meetings for some time now.
First of all, step studies are where you learn the lessons taught here. They are part of the Christ-centered, 12-step recovery program called Celebrate Recovery.
Celebrate Recovery or CR, is the place where people in recovery study the Celebrate Recovery curriculum created by John Baker and Rick Warren.
Usually, you can sign up for step studies at Celebrate Recovery meetings. They are comprehensive meetings where you join with others in recovery!
Celebrate Recovery is for anyone with hurts, habits, or hang-ups. If you think you wouldn’t fit in, you’d be wrong. We all have issues we struggle with!
Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11 is from John Baker’s Celebrate Recovery Participant’s Guide. This is the fifth lesson in Taking an Honest and Spiritual Inventory: Participant’s Guide 2.
The Celebrate Recovery leader guide is a tad different from the participant’s guide, but all teachings are biblical. The 8 principles are based on the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5 of the New Testament. Study the Celebrate Recovery 8 principles to understand this better.
God blesses those people who make peace. They will be called His children. – Matthew 8:9 (CEV)
Celebrate Recovery Lesson Eleven Highlights
Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11 Notes
Your accountability team will be invaluable right now, so work on making friends at your Celebrate Recovery meetings or during your step study meeting. Ask someone out for coffee for a one-on-one conversation if you are not comfortable in groups!
As you build friendships in recovery, getting through the steps and lessons will be easier. It’s not a one-way street; make sure you offer encouragement for others on the road to recovery, too. You will build lifelong relationships that will mean the world to you!
There are two parts or lessons that deal with your spiritual inventory. Both have lots of questions to help you complete your inventory! We will cover the questions found in the study guide so that you will have that information on hand.
How Do I Complete My Inventory?
As you complete your spiritual inventory, you will find things, such as sin or shortcomings, which are preventing you from moving forward. If you want God to work effectively in your life, make sure you search your heart to identify these problem areas.
Search your heart to identify any sin you need to get rid of. The questions in this lesson will help you with these areas so that you can address them in the right way.
Work on building your relationship with the Lord throughout this process. Ask the Lord to work in your heart as you complete your spiritual inventory! Everything should glorify Him, so if a truth does not line up with the Bible, it is probably not a biblical truth!
We need to spend time with God to develop our faith. This can be doing a Bible study or just reading the Bible on your own. Do whatever it takes to grow near to Him.
As you spend quiet time with the Lord, consider a few Bibles and reference books to help you focus.
Additionally, there is a Celebrate Recovery Study Bible that you can purchase on Amazon, along with a neat 365-Day Celebrate Recovery Devotional Book for even more motivation and encouragement in your recovery!
You are His child, and He wants to have a strong relationship with you, so what are you waiting for?
Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. – Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
Your Mind
It’s very important that you think about what you are filling your mind with – in the past, present, and future. You can’t change what you’ve exposed yourself to, but you can alter your future by adjusting your mindset to be more positive. Let’s look at the ways you can do this!
Think about what you have filled your mind with in the past. Did you guard your mind due to denial?
If you are stuck in denial still, make sure you go back and review the lesson on denial. Even if you’ve just found a new area that you are in denial about, address it before moving on.
What kind of things do you fill your mind with now? In today’s society, we get caught up in whatever is entertaining – books, movies, television programs, internet sites, social media, and magazines. It’s time to examine these things spiritually. Are you acting like Christ?
Finally, you need to think about how you interact with the Bible. We talked about Bible reading and Bible study in the previous section, but even if you are doing these things, are you living them? Are you applying God’s Word to your life?
Consider concentrating on the positive truths found in the Bible rather than on the negativity that is so alive in the world. Everywhere we turn, there are new ways to complain, grumble, or be negative! Combat this negativity with the positive truths found in the Word of God!
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. – Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Related: The Importance of Studying the Bible
Your Body
Now that we’ve thought about what we are filling our minds with, it’s time to think about our bodies. We have to get real to do this; that means being very honest with how you’ve treated your body. It might be a little emotionally draining to do this, but it will be a freeing experience!
Think about the ways you have mistreated your body. Have you abused drugs, alcohol, food, sex, or some other addiction? If you crave something other than God, you have probably suffered from addiction. We were made to crave God, not the material things of this world.
Another thing to think about is what kinds of activities or habits that you have participated in that have caused you physical harm. You might be thinking that these things weren’t that bad, but if they happened, they need to be noted.
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)
Your Family
Family can be a tough subject! We often find it hardest to get along with the people we are closest to.
Think about the relationships in your life and how they affect you as a person. Discover new ways to interact with those you are closest with!
Think about who you have mistreated in your life, who you have held resentments against, who you owe amends to, and who you have been keeping secrets for – secrets that have placed you in denial about problems in your life. These things are not healthy.
If you have unhealthy relationships in your life, it might be time for some healthy boundaries, family counseling, or some good heart-to-heart conversations. Remember that with the help of the Lord, you can do the impossible!
If you decide to have heart-to-heart conversations with individuals that you trust, make sure you listen to their viewpoints. Listening is a crucial skill that can help you advance when dealing with difficult situations. Remember to first and foremost be a friend to those you love!
My family and I are going to worship and obey the Lord! – Joshua 24:15b (CEV)
Your Church
Let’s talk about your church. Think about whether you have been faithful to your church in the past. Often, we are critical of others rather than supportive. We find it more fulfilling to gossip rather than be obedient and look for the good at church.
Think about the ways you can be or could have been active in your church rather than a critical person who just submitted judgment against the other people. We are advised not to judge others lest we be judged in the same way!
Finally, think about the ways that you have discouraged the support of your family to their church. It can be tempting to have a judgmental or critical viewpoint when it comes to the church of others. We think we are right, so they must be wrong.
Now, consider the ways you could be more supportive at your church and to your family members that go to church. It doesn’t do a lot of good to ponder your mistakes and do nothing about them. Take action and become a supportive, loving individual going forward!
Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer. – Hebrews 10:25 (CEV)
Celebrate Recovery suggests you commit Psalm 139:23-24 to memory and use it as a personal prayer. For great memorization techniques, read Celebrate Recovery Serenity Prayer. Memorizing Scripture is the best way to apply it to your life!
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. – Psalm 139:23-24 (TLB)
Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11 Questions
This part should help you complete your Moral Inventory Worksheet. Take your time and do it right! This is not a race to the finish line.
Note: This is from Taking an Honest and Spiritual Inventory: Participant’s Guide 2 – the CR study guide for this lesson. They’ve been slightly reworded.
Your Mind
- Since taking Jesus Christ as your Higher Power, how has your life been transformed? What have you given up? (Refer to Romans 12:2)
- When have you used denial to try to guard your mind?
- Are you filling your mind with unhealthy television shows, movies, websites, magazines, or books?
- When have you failed to contemplate the positive truths of the Word of God? Be specific.
Related: 25 Fabulous Ways to Improve Your Patience
Your Body
- What past habits or activities have caused you physical harm?
- How have you mistreated your body?
- How did past addictions or abuse negatively affect your body?
- What have you done now to restore the temple of God?
Related: How to Build a Relationship with God (Get Started Today)
Your Family
- Have you verbally, physically, or emotionally mistreated your family members?
- Who in your family do you resent? Why?
- Who do you owe amends to? Why? (You do not need to make amends right now)
- What family secret have you been denying?
- How have your familial relationships improved since you’ve been in recovery? Be specific.
Related: How to Build a Spiritual Friendship for Life
Related: Top 25 Traits of a Spiritual Marriage
Your Church
- How would you rate your church participation in the past? (From Very Involved to Never Attended)
- Before recovery, why did you go to church?
- Have you discouraged your family from going to church? How? Why?
- Since starting recovery, how would you rate your church participation or attendance?
Related: Celebrate Recovery Lesson One – Denial
More Valuable Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11 Resources
A CR Video – Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11: Spiritual Inventory Part 2
Free Recovery Lesson 10 Inventory Worksheet
As we have talked about the various sections of the Inventory Worksheet, we wanted to give you a free printable worksheet for use with this lesson. This is the same worksheet given in the last lesson – CR Lesson 10 – Spiritual Inventory Part 1. Enjoy!
Recovery Moral Inventory Worksheet
My Story – Celebrate Recovery Lesson Eleven
I am Michele, a grateful believer in Christ Jesus. I celebrate recovery from alcoholism and other addictions, and I still struggle with social anxiety and perfectionism.
In writing about Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11: Spiritual Inventory Part 2, a few things came to mind.
As mentioned in the previous lessons, I feel that sharing my inventory would be too personal as that is something reserved for me, God, and my sponsor, Angi.
I would hate to cross boundaries by sharing too much, but I would like to elaborate a bit about my inventory in relation to this lesson, so here it goes!
My Mind
I’d love to share with you some of the things that have worked for me over the years in case you are struggling with the same things that I am. For example, I struggle with social anxiety or rather have trouble in groups of people.
When my anxiety is truly cumbersome, I have learned to pray to God rather than turn to drugs and alcohol to soothe me. And guess what? It truly works!
When having an anxiety attack, if I will only recite the Serenity Prayer or just pray my concerns out loud to the Lord, I feel so much better! Also, if I make the time to do Bible study, my mind calms and I no longer feel the sort of anxiety that I was going through earlier.
I’m not guaranteeing that Bible study and prayer will work for you, but what does it hurt to give it a try? Meditating on the words of the Serenity Prayer can truly bring you into a state of calm that you may need in a given moment. I would highly recommend memorizing the prayer.
Another trick I’ve learned to combat my anxiety and frequent worry is trusting God. It’s never easy when we are worrying about something out of our control, but when we trust Him, we can let it go. Let me just repeat that: Let it go! You can find so much comfort in this!
If you need to spice up your time with God or the time you set aside to do a Bible study, try one of the methods taught on Sharing Life and Love: SOAP, SWORD, HEAR, and more! Trying something new can often get you motivated and inspired! Why not give it a shot?
My Body
When I was doing drugs and drinking alcohol, I loved the feeling of “getting high.” It would give my mood a “lift” that I felt I needed to get through life with it’s ups and downs. No matter what was going on, I always felt like there were trials, tribulations, and challenges.
While I can’t guarantee this will work for you, I know that you can find that “high” from life if you just look for it. It’s gaining a new mindset, basically. You have to expect to “get high” or feel better from God, rather than the things of this world. If you set your mind right, you’ll feel it.
For example, when I feel the need to have a lift in my day, I can easily pray or study my Bible, and I’ll almost instantly feel better. I definitely don’t mean to sound like a preacher or someone who is holier than thou because that is not who I am at all!
In fact, if you know me – really know me, you know I’ve had issues with addictions since I was little! Addictions, for me, fulfilled me in a way that nothing else could. Now, I find the “high” that I once got from addictions from a new excitement in something healthy.
If you just have a little faith that this can work for you, it will. But you have to truly believe that you can get a “spiritual high” from something other than drugs and alcohol. You can turn almost anything into a spiritual quest if you really think about it.
Read more about spiritual goals to see what I mean! Shana does a great job of explaining that you can turn any goal into one that will glorify God and gives plenty of examples of this. For more examples, read my article on spiritual goals.
My Family
In my experience, people don’t just talk about God and Christ in everyday conversation. Those are meant for those late-night one-on-one conversations with a new best friend, not conversations you’d have with your friends or family when talking about everyday life.
So, while I delve off-topic, I was trying to say that we should be talking about the amazing things of our Christian life in our conversations. We should talk about the stories of the Bible and what they mean to us, but in my experience, this doesn’t happen all that often.
It seems to be that people would rather gossip about other people rather than talk about where we will be spending our eternal life. Think about that for a second. Our eternal life will be where we spend a long amount of time! Isn’t it something that is worthy of our attention?
So, without going into detail about my family, so as not to be a gossip myself, I will say that I’ve been around a lot of gossip in my life and would much prefer to talk about what is on my heart rather than what happened with so-and-so. We should be excited about Christ!
I encourage you to forgo the gossip and start learning how to talk about your salvation, your relationship with God, your spiritual goals, your spiritual struggles, and the things in your Christian walk that you are excited about!
Of course, we cannot spend all of our time talking about or studying Christ, or we will miss out on the life He died to give us here on Earth. There must be a healthy balance. With an addictive personality, I struggle daily with this! I’m either on fire for God or need to be put on fire!!
My Church
I’ve always thought that church is a place to go to get your “spiritual high” for the week. You were to go and learn about God and apply that knowledge to your life. I thought if I did that right, I was doing the Christian life the right way.
There’s nothing wrong with going to church, learning about God, and applying that to your life. But did you ever think that maybe we were called to gather together to praise and worship Him, not “get something” out of the church experience? We were meant to glorify God!
Don’t get me wrong; I’m far from perfect. My husband and I are still trying to get involved in the right church. But I wouldn’t be following my calling if I didn’t share with you the things the Lord laid on my heart – what the true purpose of church is!
I was reading a book the other day that talked about how to praise God in everything you do. Praise was something I pretty much only think of as music. I didn’t really know you could praise God in other ways, but it’s true. Consider prayer, for example!
At church, we need to be praising and worshiping God, but it doesn’t stop there. There are things we can do to glorify Him at home. I’m hoping to publish an article on how to love God through the many ways we can praise Him during the day – practical ways!
Stay tuned for a great article on the ways we can praise God throughout the day. This will hopefully help you on your walk with Christ! Be inspired as you learn about Jesus! Use that excitement to find a new kind of “high” that you cannot find with drugs and alcohol!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Celebrate Recovery 12 steps?
The Celebrate Recovery 12 Steps are as follows. These are identical to those used in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
- We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.
- We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- We decided to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.
- We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- We admitted to God, ourselves, and 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 Him to remove all 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 that out.
- Having a spiritual experience resulting from these steps, we try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.
How do you do Celebrate Recovery?
If you want to participate or check out Celebrate Recovery, attend a meeting near you. There is no pressure, and you can remain completely anonymous during the meeting. That is the best first step for getting involved in recovery. Then, you can attend small groups and step studies!
What are 8 principles of Celebrate Recovery?
The 8 principles of Celebrate Recovery are:
- Realize I’m not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.
- Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover.
- Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control.
- Openly examine and confess my faults to me, to God, and to someone I trust.
- Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects.
- Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others, except when to do so would harm them or others.
- Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.
- Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.
Why is it important to do a written inventory in recovery?
It is very therapeutic to do a written inventory when you are in recovery. It’s a smart idea to write down your thoughts and feelings to process them better. Plus, you will always have a record of what you were going through in the past and what you have overcome! How liberating!
What is the Celebrate Recovery Serenity Prayer?
The Celebrate Recovery Serenity Prayer is, God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. This powerful prayer should be committed to memory. Print a FREE copy of the Serenity Prayer!
Conclusion
We have covered quite a bit of information to assist you on your road to recovery and while you complete your inventory! We have talked about the following:
- What is Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11: Spiritual Inventory Part 2?
- An Introduction to Celebrate Recovery
- Notes from Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11
- Questions from the Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11 Study Guide
- The FREE Recovery Inventory Worksheet
- My Story for Celebrate Recovery Lesson 11
- & More!
If you appreciate the work that’s gone into this article, please share it on social media or even leave a comment, as we love hearing from our readers!
Visit the shop!! There are plenty of FREE Serenity Prayer printables and FREE Recovery study guides!
The next article will start a new book! We’ll look at Celebrate Recovery Lesson 12: Confess!
Get ready to get personal with that lesson! This will move you into a new kind of freedom! How exciting!
