Celebrate Recovery helps you overcome addiction by addressing emotional pain and building resilience through a Gospel-centered course and supportive community.

It empowers you to confront your past, heal your wounds, and rebuild your life through the lens of Scripture and other Biblical teachings.

If you want to overcome your hurts, habits, and hang-ups to obtain sobriety and find or grow your Christian faith then Celebrate Recovery is for you.

Key Takeaways

• Celebrate Recovery is for anyone struggling with hurts, habits, or hang-ups, whether they impact their own life or those around them.
• Celebrate Recovery focuses on overcoming addiction by addressing emotional pain and building resilience through Gospel-centered teachings and a supportive community.
• The program differentiates itself by centering lessons on the Bible and teachings of Jesus Christ, fostering spiritual growth and healing.
• Participants benefit from a nurturing environment, sharing experiences and victories, and encouraging one another in their recovery journeys.
• Celebrate Recovery provides a structured path for addressing various issues, including anger, codependency, food and body image, and mental health, promoting overall well-being and spiritual maturity.

What Is The Purpose Of Celebrate Recovery?

Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to helping individuals find healing and transformation through emotional and spiritual maturity.

This ministry is for anyone facing past or current hurts, habits, or hang-ups, whether they impact their own life or those around them. Similar to other 12-Step programs, Celebrate Recovery is a process that participants can use to embrace a new way of living. Meetings take place in-person, but we also offer online Celebrate Recovery meetings for those who can’t attend in person.

However, where Celebrate Recovery differentiates itself from other 12-Step programs is that Celebrate Recovery centers all lessons on the Bible and teachings of Jesus Christ. Here are the fundamentals of Celebrate Recovery:

• Personal Responsibility. Celebrate Recovery emphasizes taking personal responsibility, recognizing our own actions, and understanding that acknowledging our faults is the first step towards healing. It’s important to note that if you are the victim of abuse, especially if you were a child when the abuse happened, then you are NOT GUILTY.
• Focus On The Future. Participants are encouraged to release past hurts and failures, allowing them to focus on a brighter future and the positive changes God has planned.
• Dedication To Jesus Christ. Celebrate Recovery aims to introduce participants to Jesus Christ or renew their commitment, fostering a deeper, more personal relationship with Him as their guide.
• Move To Ministry. The program encourages individuals to use their experiences and healing to serve others, moving them into ministry roles to spread hope and recovery.

Celebrate Recovery is like other 12-Step programs, because Celebrate Recovery focuses on the process individual members can take to experience recovery and live a healthier and happier life free from the guilt or depression that hurts, habit, and hang-ups have on their lives.

Where Celebrate Recovery differentiates itself is by centering teachings from Jesus and Scriptures as the foundation for realized freedom from hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

The Celebrate Recovery movement and process is worthless if it is not rooted in the saving Grace of Jesus Christ, and supported by a dedicated community of believers and the local church.

What Is The History Of Celebrate Recovery?

In 1991, John Baker, a member of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, shared his vision for Celebrate Recovery with Pastor Rick Warren, who encouraged him to bring it to life.

Baker designed Celebrate Recovery around eight teachings from Jesus Christ, known as the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. He believed these principles could help people navigate life’s challenges, leading to wholeness, growth, and spiritual maturity.

The first Celebrate Recovery meeting attracted 43 attendees. Today, over 5 million people have engaged in its 12-Step program, called a Step Study.

As the ministry evolved, it introduced Open Share Groups to address specific issues such as chemical dependency, food addiction, sexual integrity, and mental illness. These groups follow the same CR principles, offering a supportive and structured path to recovery.

Who Is Celebrate Recovery For?

Celebrate Recovery is a safe and confidential community that comes beside local churches to provide support for those who have hurt others, been hurt, or hurt themselves.

What makes Celebrate Recovery unique is its inclusive approach. It’s not limited to those battling addictions. It also supports individuals dealing with the impact of others’ actions, like the spouses of those who have committed adultery or those dealing with codependency.

Participants can seek their Higher Power, God, and turn to their sponsor and accountability partners for ongoing support. This holistic approach ensures that everyone, regardless of their specific struggles, can find healing and growth within the Celebrate Recovery community.

What Does Celebrate Recovery Help With?

Celebrate Recovery is a great choice for people who want to grow their Christian faith and develop a deeper relationship with Jesus Chris while addressing several hurts, habits, and hang-ups in their lives.

Celebrate Recovery isn’t just for those battling chemical dependencies, as less than 30% of participants face issues associated to chemical dependency. This means that Celebrate Recovery is for you if you have sinned, if you’ve been hurt, or if you’ve hurt others.

Here is a short list of some types of issues Celebrate Recovery can help you or someone you know with.

• Anger: Celebrate Recovery helps individuals learn how to manage and overcome anger, teaching them healthy ways to express emotions and resolve conflicts without causing harm.
• Codependency: It addresses codependency by encouraging individuals to establish healthy boundaries, fostering independence, and building self-esteem.
• Food & body image: The program supports those struggling with food issues and body image, promoting a balanced relationship with food and a positive self-image.
• Love & relationship addiction: Celebrate Recovery helps individuals break free from unhealthy relationship patterns and develop healthier, more fulfilling connections.
• Sexual addiction for men: It provides a safe space for men to confront and overcome sexual addiction, promoting purity and accountability.
• Sexual addiction for women: The program supports women in overcoming sexual addiction, fostering healing and healthy relationships.
• Adult child of family dysfunction: It helps adults from dysfunctional families address past traumas, build healthier relationships, and foster emotional healing.
• Chemical dependency: Celebrate Recovery aids individuals in overcoming addiction to drugs and alcohol, promoting sobriety and long-term recovery.
• Mental health: The program offers support for mental health struggles, encouraging individuals to seek help and build emotional resilience.
• Gambling addiction: It provides resources and support for individuals struggling with gambling addiction, promoting responsible behavior and financial stability.

As you can see, Celebrate Recovery is a great place for people dealing with a number of issues. The goal of our ministry is to provide a methodical approach for you to uncover and overcome hurts, habits, and hang-ups that prevents you from experiencing a deeper relationship with God.

What Are Hurts, Habits, and Hang-ups?

Celebrate Recovery exists to help you address ongoing hurts, habits, and hang-ups. These elements are baked right into the Celebrate Recovery mission statement, but you might be wondering “what exactly is a hurt, habit, or hang-up?”

At their core, a hurt, habit, and hang-up is anything that hinders your walk with God.

As Christians, we believe that the purpose of our lives is to grow in our connection with God through Jesus Christ. Hurts, habits, or hang-ups can cause us to seek solutions that foster sin in our lives (lust, anger, mistrust, self-harm) and separate us from experiencing a daily and continual relationship with God.

Celebrate Recovery’s primary focus is to help you overcome these hurts, habits, and hang-ups to grow in your relationship with God.

Now that we understand why Celebrate Recovery is a program that can help you grow closer to God, let’s take a dive into each category to understand what consists of a hurt, habit, or hang-up.

1. Hurts

Hurts are emotional wounds from past experiences that deeply impact how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.

These hurts can be either done to us, or by us, and include many elements such as betrayal, abuse, or loss, that shape our emotional well-being and influence our interactions with others. Here is a short list of examples hurts in Celebrate Recovery:

• Betrayal by a loved one.
• Abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual).
• Loss of a loved one.
• Divorce or broken relationships.
• Bullying or harassment.

2. Habits

Habits are unhealthy behaviors we adopt to escape, distract, or numb our pain.

These can include actions like substance abuse, overeating, or compulsive spending, which we use to temporarily escape from emotional distress.Here are a few examples of habits that Celebrate Recovery can help you overcome:

• Substance abuse (alcohol or drugs)
• Overeating or food addiction
• Gambling
• Compulsive spending or shopping
• Viewing pornography

It’s important to note that less than 30% of Celebrate Participants suffer from habits like alcoholism and other addictions.

3. Hang-Ups

Hang-ups are the negative attitudes and beliefs we hold about ourselves and others.

These often stem from past trauma or emotional scars and can lead to issues such as low self-esteem, resentment, or a fear of rejection.

• Anger
• Low self-esteem or self-worth
• Resentment or unforgiveness
• Perfectionism
• Fear of failure or rejection
• Controlling behavior or codependency

These hurts, habits, and hang-ups can become destructive, contributing to addiction and other harmful behaviors. However, through the Celebrate Recovery program, individuals can learn healthy coping skills and develop a more positive outlook on life.

This Christ-centered approach helps people find healing and growth, transforming their pain into a pathway for personal and spiritual renewal.

What Happens In A Typical Celebrate Recovery Meeting?

A typical Celebrate Recovery meeting is structured to foster community, healing, and spiritual growth. Each evening begins with a large group meeting featuring worship and either a lesson or a personal testimony. This time of collective reflection and praise sets a positive and supportive tone for the night.

Following the large group session, participants break into gender-specific small groups where they can share their experiences and struggles in a safe, confidential environment.

We maintain this safety by strictly adhering to five Small Group Guidelines that ensure respect and confidentiality for each individual. We ask that participants be open to talk about their honest emotions and troubles, but we do not require sharing during small group sessions.

Before and after the small groups, everyone gathers in the Cafe for a family-style meal. This relaxed setting provides an opportunity for participants to connect, share stories, and support one another, further building the sense of community that is essential to the Celebrate Recovery experience.

What Are The 12 Steps Of Celebrate Recovery?

The 12 Steps of Celebrate Recovery are a Christ-centered approach to overcoming life’s challenges, promoting healing and growth through biblical principles, personal reflection, and supportive community.

While all Celebrate Recovery meetings are different, you will likely find that you recite the 12 Steps each day during the large group portion of the meeting. This is because like other 12-Step programs, Celebrate Recovery uses these steps to position recovery as an achievable journey that you can find happiness and fulfillment through a better relationship with God.

You will notice similarities between the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery. This was done to make Alcoholics Anonymous members more familiar and comfortable when they attend a Celebrate Recovery meeting, and the 12 Steps at Celebrate Recovery introduce scripture to accompany each step to help you deepen your understanding of how recovery connects your relationship with God.

Here is a list of the Celebrate Recovery 12 Steps:

• Step 1:  We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.
  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:18 NIV
• Step 2: We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. Philippians 2:13 NIV
• Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.
  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1 NIV
• Step 4: We made a searching and fearless honest inventory of ourselves.                    Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40 NIV
• Step 5: We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our hurts, hang-ups, and habits.
  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16a NIV
• Step 6: We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:10 NIV

• Step 7: We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.
  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 NIV

• Step 8: We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
  Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31 NIV

• Step 9: We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
  Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24 NIV

• Step 10: We continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
  So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12

• Step 11: We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry that out.
  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16a NIV

• Step 12: Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.
  Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore them gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Galatians 6:1 NIV

Celebrate Recovery’s 12 Steps provide a methodology that you can use to focus on sobriety. While the 12 Steps are essential to provide a structured and continual approach to equip yourself for a lifelong journey of sobriety, it’s important to remember that the 12 Steps are not treatments.

The 12 Steps, and Celebrate Recovery as a whole, is meant to provide an established process that can help you build your relationship with Christ while building the process to overcome your hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

What are the 8 Principles of Celebrate Recovery?

Along with the 12 Steps that we talked about in the previous section, Celebrate Recovery also focuses on the 8 Principles of recovery.

These principles, which spell out R.E.C.O.V.E.R.Y. with the first letter of each phrase, are based on the Beatitudes, which are the blessings and sayings shared by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew.

The 8 Principles are an essential part of recovery, because they help us understand how to apply biblical principles of conviction, surrender, confession, conversion, prayer, quiet time, helping one another, and witnessing in our recovery process.

Remember, the goal of recovery is to help you gain a deeper relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Here is a list of each of the 8 Principles of Celebrate Recovery.

https://www.therapyforchristians.com/blog/what-is-celebrate-recovery

1. 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. (Step 1)
   Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 NIV
2. Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step 2)
   Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 NIV
3. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3)
   Blessed are the meek,for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 NIV
4. Openly examine and confess my hurts, hang-ups, and habits to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps 4 and 5)
   Blessed are the pure in heart,for they will see God. Matthew 5:8 NIV
5. Voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. (Steps 6 and 7)
   Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6 NIV
6. Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others. (Steps 8 and 9)
   Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 NIV; Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 NIV
7. Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. (Steps 10 and 11)
8. Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. (Step 12)
   Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 NIV

See How Celebrate Recovery Can Help You Find Freedom

Celebrate Recovery offers a powerful, Christ-centered approach to overcoming life’s challenges. By addressing emotional pain, building resilience, and fostering a supportive community, it empowers individuals to confront their past, heal their wounds, and rebuild their lives.

If you’re seeking freedom from hurts, habits, and hang-ups while growing in your Christian faith, Celebrate Recovery is for you.

Join us in-person every Monday, watch online, or you can use this tool to find a local Celebrate Recovery meeting near you!