Tag: Christian identity

Molded by God: Identity, Healing, and the Beauty of Being Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (Psalm 139:14)

Timothy R. BermanLeave a comment

I always had this inclination that something was wrong. And whenever that feeling rose up, I was convinced it was because of someone else. Someone failing me. Someone not stepping up. Someone not doing the honorable thing. I lived with this constant sense that other people were the reason I suffered. And underneath all of that? A deep ache that no one truly cared, no one appreciated me, no one saw the effort I poured out trying to prove myself.

I chased validation like oxygen. I wanted approval so badly that I shaped myself around what I thought others wanted. I tried to be the “better person” in the eyes of everyone else, all while never actually seeing who I was. I was blind to my own entitlement, blind to my victimhood, blind to the way I was both the victim and the villain in someone else’s story. Hypervigilant. Defensive. Exhausted. And yes—hurt by real betrayals, real lies, real wounds that left me carrying depression, resentment, bitterness, and anxiety like a backpack full of bricks.

And then came the moment that broke me open.

My father had just been released from the hospital after months in intensive care from a brutal auto accident. I had given up everything to be there. And yet, I found myself standing on a cold Seattle curb in January of 2005 with nothing but a backpack, work boots, and three cartons of cigarettes. No home. No money. No plan. No one.

I walked the streets of Seattle wondering if this was the end of me.

But God had other plans.

A transitional housing program took me in. I rested. I worked. I rebuilt. And slowly—slowly—I found my way back to faith. But even then, I still couldn’t see myself clearly. I still felt unworthy. I still lived for validation. I still believed I had to earn dignity, earn love, earn respect.

It wasn’t until years later that the Holy Spirit began breaking the spiritual blindness I had carried for so long. And the revelation was simple, but it shook me to my core:

I didn’t know who I was. And I didn’t know how my Heavenly Father saw me.

Anchor Verse — Psalm 139:14 (NASB2020): “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.”

Two words rise like mountains in this verse: fearfully and wonderfully. Fearfully — yārē’ — to stand in awe, reverence, astonishment. Wonderfully — pālā’ — marvelous, extraordinary, beyond human ability.

This is not casual language. This is identity language. God is not saying, “You’re barely acceptable.” He is saying, “You are My intentional, awe-inspiring work.” We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:10). Even when we feel like a mistake, God calls us purposeful, crafted, and known (Psalm 139:1–4).

So today, let’s walk slowly through what it means to be fearfully and wonderfully made—especially when we don’t feel like it. Especially when addiction, shame, trauma, or codependency have distorted the mirror we look into. Especially when our past tells us one story, but God is trying to tell us another.

Access the full devotional message at the new Sacred Sobriety website – be sure to subscribe, leave a comment, and share

From Surviving to Thriving: The Spiritual Awakening Every Christian in Recovery Needs

Timothy R. BermanLeave a comment

If you’re not familiar with the early story of Alcoholics Anonymous, it’s often said that the ideas behind the Twelve Steps were shaped by the Oxford Group—a gathering of Christian men committed to honesty, confession, restitution, and surrender. Bill Wilson, one of AA’s founders, was deeply influenced by them. But today’s devotional isn’t about the origins of AA. It’s about a man named Rowland Hazard, whose struggle with alcoholism led him to seek help from the famed psychiatrist Carl Jung in the early 1930s.

After extensive treatment, Jung told Hazard something that sounds harsh but is deeply honest: his condition was hopeless from a medical standpoint. His only hope, Jung said, was a spiritual experience—a profound awakening that would transform him from the inside out. That realization eventually shaped the foundation of AA itself. Hazard’s spiritual awakening, experienced through the Oxford Group, was shared with Bill Wilson, and from that encounter the Twelve Steps were born.

Let’s sit with that for a moment. Because in my own journey—through recovery, sobriety, homelessness, fear, doubt, and a faith crisis—I had to face the same truth: everything was utterly hopeless until I had a spiritual awakening. Some call it “hitting bottom.” But I’ve come to see it as the moment the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us in a way the intellect alone could never reach.

Today, many try to think their way into faith. They know about God but never come to know God Himself. And that brings us to the heart of today’s message: What does it mean to truly know God—and Jesus Christ whom He has sent? (John 17:3)

Our anchor verse is Isaiah 1:18–20, where God invites us to “come and reason together.”

Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: if your sins are like scarlet, will they become like snow? If they are red like crimson, will they become like wool? If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

This is not an intellectual debate—it is an invitation to examine our hearts, our wounds, our failures, and our inability to save ourselves. It is a call to return, to be still, and to know that He is God.

Today, we explore what it means to know Christ, to know the Father, and to know who we truly are through a genuine spiritual awakening.

Access the full post at the new Sacred Sobriety: A Path for the Soul Website

Our Heavenly Family: What the Gospel Teaches About Premortal Life and the Plan of Progression

Timothy R. BermanLeave a comment

What if your identity didn’t start at birth—but before time as you know it?

Culture and society constantly attempt to define you by your past, your struggles, or your achievements, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ offers a radically different foundation: you are not an accident—you are a child of God.

This truth sits at the very heart of Latter-day Saint belief and shapes everything from purpose to destiny. If you’ve ever wondered, Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? —this doctrine answers all three with clarity, hope, and eternal perspective. Understanding this inherent identity offers comfort amidst life’s challenges and reassures you that your existence is meaningful and intentional.

The idea that your identity predates your mortal experience invites a profound reflection on the nature of your soul. It posits that you were known to God before the foundation of the world, reinforcing a sense of belonging that transcends earthly definitions. This foundational belief encourages individuals to look beyond transient labels and societal expectations, fostering a deeper connection with the divine.

In this post, we’ll walk through the doctrine of our Heavenly Family as taught in Chapter 2 of the Gospel Principles manual—unpacking it through scripture, thoughtful explanation, and real-life application. We will explore how viewing yourself as a beloved child of Heavenly Parents impacts your day-to-day life, the decisions you make, and the way you interact with others. By examining scripture, we’ll delve into key passages that illuminate your divine lineage and help you internalize the powerful message that you are part of a larger, eternal family.

Join us as we navigate these teachings together, uncovering the significance of your eternal identity and how it serves as a guiding light through trials and triumphs alike. Through this exploration, may you gain a renewed perspective on your divine worth and a deeper understanding of your eternal purpose.

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Powerless Over the Storm — Not Powerless Over the Sail

Timothy R. BermanLeave a comment

Ever have one of those moments where clarity doesn’t arrive with fireworks, but with a quiet, unmistakable shift inside your chest—a soft Aha, a gentle epiphany that feels less like a thought and more like a whisper settling into your spirit? That happened to me as I was preparing for today’s devotional message. I was sitting with A. W. Tozer’s The Set of the Sail, revisiting the opening chapter, when something in those pages caught me off guard. And then it hit me—clean, sharp, and humbling. How have I missed what the Third Step may truly be inviting us into?

For anyone unfamiliar, the Third Step in recovery says that we “made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” On the surface, it sounds simple enough—surrender your will, your autonomy, your desires. Let God take the helm. But beneath that simplicity lies the raw truth that brought many of us to recovery in the first place: we finally saw how far we had drifted, how powerless we had become, how our lives had unraveled into chaos, disorder, and ruin. And in that unraveling, we recognized our need for a power greater than ourselves to intervene.

But here’s the part we rarely talk about. That moment of surrender doesn’t usually feel holy. It doesn’t feel triumphant. It feels like waking up from a long, heavy fog—numb, disoriented, spiritually exhausted. Faith feels distant. Purpose feels fractured. And somewhere in the stillness of that inner ache, a question rises: Am I drifting? And the honest answer is yes. We have drifted. And that truth cuts through the noise of our anxious, chaotic thoughts with a clarity we can’t ignore. Because in that moment, we’re no longer moved by emotion—we’re moved by a deliberate, trembling desire to choose something different.

Tozer writes that the direction of a life is not determined by the strength of the wind, but by the set of the will. He echoes Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s line: “It is the set of the sails and not the gales which tells us the way to go.” That line stopped me. Because if we’re honest—with ourselves and with our Heavenly Father—when we’re standing in the middle of doubt, fear, anxiety, or spiritual fatigue, this truth matters more than we realize.

It matters because the confrontation of the Third Step is not merely about surrender. It is about resetting the sails of our recovery, our faith, and our lives. It is about choosing—sometimes with trembling hands—to turn the bow of our soul back toward the One who has been waiting to guide us all along.

Anchor Verse: “Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15, NRSVUE

I know—at first glance, this verse can feel like a cliché. It’s the kind of Scripture that ends up on wall art, coffee mugs, and Christian décor aisles. And for those who know the context, it might even raise a question: Why use Joshua 24:15 here? Why bring in a verse where Joshua is telling Israel to choose between the Lord and the gods of their ancestors or the gods of the Amorites?

But that’s exactly why I love this verse. Because Joshua isn’t simply telling Israel to “choose God.” He’s confronting them with a deeper truth: if you do not choose to serve the Lord, you will still serve something. You will serve the gods of your past, or the gods of the culture around you—but you will serve something.

And suddenly, the connection to the Third Step becomes painfully clear.

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Genesis 1:26–28: Created for Fellowship, Fruitfulness, and Freedom

Timothy R. BermanLeave a comment

When God created humanity, He didn’t begin with rules, shame, or expectations. He began with blessing, purpose, and relationship. Before we ever failed, He called us very good. And for those of us walking the long road of recovery — from addiction, fear, codependency, or spiritual exhaustion — Genesis 1 reminds us of something we often forget: God’s original intention for us has not changed. He still loves us, still calls us, and still longs to bless us as we surrender to Him.

Hello and welcome, fellow Travelers.

Today, I want to walk with you as we continue our journey through Genesis, exploring what it means to walk in Sacred Sobriety — a path where God restores what was lost, heals what was broken, and reclaims what fear and shame tried to steal. Our anchor verse is Genesis 1:26–28, a passage that reveals God’s heart for us from the very beginning.

ANCHOR VERSE — Genesis 1:26–28 (NASB)

Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule…” God created mankind in His own image… male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…”

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we come to You as people in need of Your restoring touch. Thank you for opening our hearts to Your original intention for us — fellowship, fruitfulness, and blessing. Thank you for healing the places where fear, pride, and shame have distorted our view of You. Teach us to surrender, not out of fear, but out of trust. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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