This morning’s topic is a “Musical Topic” where I hand out the lyrics to a “recovery-related” song and we all share. This also relates to our work in Step 5. Below are the lyrics and my discussion on the subject:
Born Again
Third Day
Today I found myself
After searching all these years
And the man that I saw, he wasn’t at all who I thought he’d be
I was lost when you found me here
And I was broken beyond repair
Then you came along and you sang your song over me
(Chorus)
It feels like I’m born again
It feels like I’m living
For the very first time
For the very first time
In my life
Make a promise to me now
Reassure my heart somehow
That the love that I feel is so much more real than anything
I’ve a feeling in my soul
And I pray that I’m not wrong
That the life I have now, it is only the beginning
(Chorus)
It feels like I’m breathing
It feels like I’m moving
For the very first time
For the very first time
I wasn’t looking for something that was more
Than what I had yesterday
Then you came to me and you gave to me
Life and a love that I’ve never known
That I’ve never felt before
(Chorus)
It feels like I’m breathing
It feels like I’m moving
For the very first time
I’m living for the first time
In my life
Topic:
The topic for this meeting is to listen to, read, and share about the lyrics to this song. To me, this song has special meaning. This album was released in July 2008 and the music from this album became widely popular in late 2008 and early 2009. Until 2009, I rarely listened to Christian music, as a matter of fact, I had resentment against the genre thinking all these “Christian” artists were just singing to make money and not for God’s glory, but their own. Funny how things change when one hits rock bottom. As I entered recovery early in 2009, I recall listening to various songs from Third Day. I had heard some music from Third Day during my years of addiction, but never paid much attention to the music or the lyrics until Jesus opened my eyes, my heart, and my mind.
After entering recovery, all of a sudden, all these Christian songs made sense! We all had one thing in common, we all needed God at the center of our lives, I needed God, not my addiction, at the center of my life. When I heard the song “Born Again” I recall the tears coming from deep within. The lyrics spoke to me. After searching all these years, I finally saw the man who I was, in my addiction, and I wasn’t at all who I thought I was. When I hit rock bottom, that is when Jesus found me, completely and totally broken beyond repair, or so I thought! And after entering recovery, and trying to live a life of honesty, my life was beginning to feel like I was really living it for the very first time. Such a huge burden was lifted off of me when I entered recovery.
Then, as the female vocalist sings, the meaning for me was twofold. First, it is me asking God to help me believe that this feeling of love I have is real and true and that it is only the beginning. Secondly, as the female sings, I can picture my wife saying these same words, that I promise her that this new love she feels from me and for me is real and true, and that it is just the beginning of something wonderful.
Living a life of recovery, especially after doing a disclosure, is truly liberating and basically a “do-over” in life, not only with our spouses but with all of our loved ones regardless if the marriage, family, or friendship stays intact. God gives us second (and third, and fourth, and fifth, etc…) chances, so let’s make the best of it. When we enter a life of recovery, we truly are Born Again!
Take what you like and leave the rest.
There can be no mistaking the will of God about prayer and purity, but perhaps we forget these basic truths, or perhaps we in our sinfulness do not know how to approach a holy God about our sexual purity. And it is probably the case that few of us have heard such prayers in our churches. So how do we learn to pray for purity?