Have you ever boldly asked Jesus to remove your desire to drink? Drawing from the wisdom of Pope Benedict XVI, who once said, "The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort; you were made for greatness," we explore the journey towards sobriety through the lens of faith and greatness.
This episode challenges you to confront your fears and dependencies, encouraging a life lived in full alignment with God's purpose. We discuss how the pursuit of comfort can often lead us away from our divine calling and how embracing discomfort can be the key to unlocking our true potential.
I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. You are NOT alone!
Please subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a thing!
Have you ever boldly asked Jesus to remove your desire to drink? Drawing from the wisdom of Pope Benedict XVI, who once said, "The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort; you were made for greatness," we explore the journey towards sobriety through the lens of faith and greatness.
This episode challenges you to confront your fears and dependencies, encouraging a life lived in full alignment with God's purpose. We discuss how the pursuit of comfort can often lead us away from our divine calling and how embracing discomfort can be the key to unlocking our true potential.
I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. You are NOT alone!
Please subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a thing!
Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives, women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason. I am your host, christi Walker. I'm a wife, mom and a joy-filled Catholic, and I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach, and I am so glad you're here. When I ask a Catholic woman if she believes that Jesus has the ability to heal her from her desire to drink or over-consume alcohol, she almost always says yes, and oftentimes yes, of course, like that's the silliest question. Why would you ask me that? And then, when I ask the next question do you believe that Jesus wants to heal you of your disordered attachment to alcohol? They typically say yes to this as well. They typically say yes to this as well, but more often than not it's interesting because when I ask the third question, I get mixed results. I ask have you ever asked Jesus boldly to remove your desire to drink? And most of the time women say, well, I've asked for help, or I've asked for this and that, but no, I guess I've never asked him to remove the desire to drink. So then I ask do you want Jesus to remove the desire to drink. Now this is where it gets a little more difficult. Drink Now, this is where it gets a little more difficult. Perhaps the thought runs through her mind like that St Augustine quote when he prays to God Lord, make me chaste, but not yet Right. Maybe she's thinking Lord, remove the desire to drink, but not quite yet. Remove the desire to drink, but not quite yet. I have that wedding next month, or the holidays are coming, or that vacation in June is going to be a bust if I can't have a margarita on the beach. Maybe you're even thinking I don't know if I never want to drink again. Maybe it feels too hard or uncomfortable or overwhelming at the present moment. And here's the thing sometimes we are not ready, and if that's where you're at, just be really honest with yourself about that fact.
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But for those of you who are really struggling and you want that desire to drink removed, I encourage you to boldly ask for healing Now. When that healing comes, I also want you to know that it's not going to magically make everything better, because anytime we are trying to detach from something, it is going to be uncomfortable. We still have work that we have to do. We still have a lot of discomfort to work through, even once that actual desire to drink is gone, because then we have to face social situations and maybe you have social anxiety. Maybe you haven't really developed any healthy or good ways to cope when you're overstimulated, when you're stressed out. Maybe you've been heavily relying on alcohol to help you cope with everything. Maybe you like to drink because it makes you feel connected to people and you don't feel like you're going to feel that connection when you go out with your friends if you don't have a drink. And that is uncomfortable, and that's really where it comes down to. It doesn't it Uncomfortable and our brains hate it.
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They don't want us to be uncomfortable. Our brain's job is to seek pleasure, keep us safe and do what is simple. So if we want to make changes that don't align with that, well our brains tell us that's pretty much the worst idea ever and it's probably even dangerous. I know our brains are amazing, but they can be kind of dramatic too, or at least mine can. So when I start thinking I don't really want to do something because, just frankly, I don't want to feel the discomfort that I will experience because of it, I remind myself of a quote that's attributed to Pope Benedict XVI that says the world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for. Let me say that again the world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.
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Now let me ask you this when you hear the phrase you were made for greatness, what thoughts bubble up for you? Does it feel overwhelming, do you feel ill-equipped, maybe unworthy, or maybe you're just too tired? When I first heard that quote years ago, I felt like it was telling me that I needed to be in hustle mode, like I needed to figure out how to get this stuff done and make a huge impact for the Lord. And, quite honestly, that just felt so overwhelming to me and it kept me stuck in inaction or taking very little action. But now, when I think of that quote, this is what I hear the world is full of pleasures for you to enjoy, but you are not made to be enslaved by them. Take heart, dear one. You are set apart. You were made to live in freedom. You were made for God.
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Now, coming to this thought took time. It's one that has been cultivated through a renewal of the mind, like the one that St Paul talks about in Romans 12-2, when he says Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Acceptable and perfect Now, over the years I began to realize that I had been thinking about greatness by worldly standards, and greatness by heavenly standards is something completely different. If we look to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, it defines greatness as the quality or state of being great, as in size, skill, achievement or power. Now, if we go off that definition alone, then of course some or all of those thoughts that I mentioned earlier might run through our minds.
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In fact, in Luke 9, verse 48, when the disciples started arguing about who was the greatest, I'm pretty sure they had in mind the definition above, had in mind the definition above, but Jesus, ever so patient with his disciples as he is with us, placed a child by his side and said Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me, for the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest. I believe he is saying that greatness comes from being childlike, from being trusting, humble and joyfully surrendering our will to the Father, just like he did. Now you may be thinking, yeah, that sounds all well and good, but wow, is that hard to do in this world full of trappings and distractions that lead us away from God, and it's not just us. It was difficult for the disciples to grasp too and, quite honestly, times were a lot tougher back then. They didn't have things like internet grocery delivery or streaming services. In fact, I know it was hard for them because in Luke, chapter 22, they are back at it arguing their heads off about who was the greatest. Now I like to give these disciples the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they were absent during the conversation in chapter 9, but if not, they're a lot like me and they may just need some extra reminders. Anyway, this time Jesus tells his disciples that the greatest isn't the guy at the table being served because he's so successful and skilled, but the one who serves. But the one who serves. Then he just hammers that fact home by clarifying it further for them and he says just like I am the one among you who serves. So Jesus is not just saying to do as I say, but do as I do, and that's what being a disciple of Christ is all about.
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Another thing to note is that when we look at the Bible, the term greatness nearly always points to God, to things he is doing and to things he has done. Ephesians 1.11 tells us done. Ephesians 1.11 tells us In Him we were also chosen and destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to His holy will. Look, god knew that we were going to struggle, but he had a rescue plan for us. And when we break free of the fear of letting go, the fear of being uncomfortable, the fear of not enough, the fear of not really knowing who we are without that thing that has had a stronghold on us for so long, and we surrender, emptying our hands at the foot of the cross, that my sisters will make room for the blessings we will receive by surrendering and letting go.
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Not leaning into that discomfort can mean feeling sleepy in our faith and in our life. We are dissatisfied, we are lukewarm, we can become negative and feel like victims, and we can completely check out of our life and just go through the emotions, missing out on all the good that God has for us when we surrender to His will and place our trust in Him. It means that we will live fully, alive and fully present. It means that we will hear His voice more clearly. It means that we love creation, not for creation's sake, but because God created it for us to enjoy, created it for us to enjoy.
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So if you are looking to drink less or not at all, if you are looking to re-examine your relationship with alcohol, I hope that this reflection will help you do just that. Fear is one of the strongest emotions that can keep us stuck, and I encourage you to take that fear to the Lord. I encourage you to write out what it is that is holding you back and keeping you stuck, doing that thing that you do not want to do. You know that when you drink, you're not just numbing the bad, you're also numbing the joy. You are missing out on things that you should see and hear and feel and experience fully, not through a haze, not through a buzz. Yes, yes, we do have to live these emotions and learn how to process emotions and get through our stress responses and calm our bodies. But turning to alcohol, to do that, for us is just like slapping a bandaidaid on a big festering wound and it will never get better unless we take the time to really examine it, clean it out properly and put on the healing balm that is going to facilitate healing. I encourage you to look at what you're afraid of.
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I would also encourage you to ask yourself is there anyone that I need to forgive? Now, your gut reaction might be like many of us, including myself, when you're like no, of course I don't. I can't think of anyone I need to forgive. Or you think I've already forgiven that person. But often, almost always, drinking is a symptom of a bigger, deeper issue, and forgiveness true forgiveness can be very healing in helping to get to the root of that habit. So, if you are willing, I would invite you to do this quick exercise. It might not be quick for you, depending on how many people that you need to forgive and this includes yourself, by the way, that you need to forgive and this includes yourself, by the way but start by invoking the beautiful and powerful name of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, and simply say in the name of Jesus, I forgive, blank for blank, and do that as often as you need to do. Sometimes we have to forgive over and over and over before it finally takes root and we are really truly able to forgive. Now I'll do another podcast episode on forgiveness and about the lies that we believe about forgiveness and the truths about it, but for the purposes of this podcast episode, I'm just going to leave it at that. In the name of Jesus, I forgive blank for blank. In the name of Jesus, I forgive blank for blank.
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If you need help on your journey to discover the level of sobriety that is right for you, I have so many options for you. I have this podcast with lots of episodes. I encourage you and invite you to go through and listen to them. Listen to my interviews with experts and that will help you gain clarity and confidence around your decisions to drink or not drink. I also have a free resource called Drink Less or Not at All A Catholic Guide to Freedom. Free resource called Drink Less or Not at All A Catholic Guide to Freedom, which includes tools that I use with my coaching clients. You can grab that from the show notes. There's a link there for you.
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I also have my Sacred Sobriety Lab. This is where you will get curious about your drinking habits. This is not a rigid program. I do not tell you what to drink, when to drink, how to drink, or that you should abstain. This program is a sacred work. This program is meant to help you gain the clarity and confidence you need to make the decisions to drink less or not at all from a place of peace. But even more than that, I want you to come away from the lab very rooted in your identity as a daughter, a beloved daughter of God. I want you to understand that you are set apart, that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and God did not create you to live a life of dissatisfaction, of lukewarmness or just going through the motions. And, most of all, he wants you to be in relationship with him. And that is one of the biggest components of the sacred sobriety lab and why it's called sacred, of the Sacred Sobriety Lab and why it's called sacred. You can find out more about that by going to sacredsobrietylabcom.
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I also offer one-on-one coaching. I'm happy to talk to you. I offer free 30-minute discussions. Whether you decide to work with me or not, you will leave knowing what your next steps are. You can live a life free of the bondage that alcohol is causing you right now. You can live in freedom, and it will be such a giant weight lifted off your shoulders when you don't have that, and everything that comes with it looming over you all the time. I promise you that.
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Well, that does it for this episode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I would invite you to share it with a friend who might also get value from it as well. And make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing. I am the Catholic sobriety coach, and if you would like to learn how to work with me or learn more about the coaching that I offer, visit my website, thecatholicsobrietycoachcom. Follow me on Instagram at the Catholic Sobriety Coach. I look forward to speaking to you next time and remember I am here for you, I am praying for you. You are not alone.