In today’s Castimonia meeting we listened to a great song that I relate to Step 12; Spirit Speaks by Know Hope Collective. Below are the lyrics to this song and what it means to me.
Your spirit speaks, it moves in me
And I’m awakened to Your love
You’re drawing me onto my knees
And I’m astounded by Your love
‘Cause You spoke life into my lungs
You are the air I breathe, You are the air I breathe
Still You move inside of me
You are the song I sing, You are the song I sing, yeah, yeah
You cover me with arms that reach
And I’m amazed by Your sweet grace
You set me free, You washed me clean
And I’m forgiven by Your grace
‘Cause You spoke life into my lungs
You are the air I breathe, You are the air I breathe
Still You move inside of me
You are the song I sing, You are the song I sing, yeah
With every breath I breathe, with every song I sing
I want to shout it out, Lord, I am listening
To every word You speak, I’ll go where You will lead
To love the least of these, my greatest offering
Lord, I am Listening
I don’t claim to have ever heard the voice of God, at least not yet. However, I often joke that the Holy Spirit has an English accent. The reason I state this is because my good friend Ken, who started Merimnao Healing Ministries (the parent ministry over Castimonia), prompted me to start a Christ-centered sexual purity group. I’ll admit, initially I was afraid. I was afraid of what other people would think of me. We were relatively new to the church, maybe 2 years there, and not everyone knew my background. I did know this, I was being called to begin something bigger than me, although at the time I did not realize it. Therefore, I now shout out to the Lord, that I am listening to Him by going wherever He leads me. Sometimes I become frightened about announcing my ministry or what I do, but I have to remember that it is God’s work, not mine, that I do and I need only worry about what He thinks about me, not what others think, thus I “carry this message to others.”
Awakened to Your love
Furthermore, I was awakened to God’s love as shown by my family and my brothers in Christ. Actually, I was astounded by God’s love. In my addiction, I did not believe that someone like me was lovable or worthy of another human’s love, much less that of God. However, as I began to be set free from the chains of sexual addiction and as I was washed clean and forgiven by God’s grace, I saw this as possible. Now, I chose to display God’s love to others, helping them be set free, by God, from the chains of sexual addiction.
The least of these – the most despised and afflicted
I do refer to the men who attend my group as “the least of these” for a reason. The more I learn about sex addiction and attend meetings or trainings, the more I hear about the trauma these men and women went through as children, adolescences, and adults. I hear heartbreaking stories of sexual abuse, physical abuse, verbal and emotional abuse, isolation, abandonment, violence, rape, near-death experiences, etc… When society hears of a “sex addict” the worst of the worst is assumed. These humans are almost always automatically categorized as perverts, child molesters, and rapists; despised by the society that helped cause their affliction. None of these men and women grew up with dreams of becoming a sex addict, it was thrust upon them at a young age, a way to escape what was going on in their life, a survival mechanism that became uncontrollable.
Therefore, I chose to start this group and love the “least of these”, even when nobody else in their life would. This was my greatest offering to the Lord. Coming alongside these men who struggle with sexual purity issues and helping them along the way, just as God placed men in my life to help me along the way.
This is why I relate this song to Step 12, “having had a spiritual awakening, as a result of these steps, I carry the message to others and practice these principles in my own life.” Better yet, “Praise be to God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Take what you like and leave the rest.
