Do You See Your Calling?

“. . . separated to the gospel of God . . .” (Romans 1:1). Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that the gospel of God should be recognized as the abiding reality. Reality is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell—it is redemption. The need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. As workers, we have to get used to the revelation that redemption is the only reality. Personal holiness is an effect of redemption, not the cause of it. If we place our faith in human goodness we will go under when testing comes. Paul did not say that he separated himself, but “when it pleased God, who separated me” (Galatians 1:15). Paul was not overly interested in his own character. And as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the full reality of redemption. Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God. “Don’t ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes.” To talk that way is a sign that the reality of the gospel of God has not begun to touch me. There is no reckless abandon to God in that. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose—to proclaim the gospel of God (see Romans 9:3). —Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

In the context of mental health and addiction recovery, it's easy to fall into the trap of measuring progress by personal holiness or external change. We want to feel better, do better, be better—and while those desires aren't wrong, they can subtly shift our focus away from the true foundation of our hope: the gospel of God. As Paul reminds us in Romans 1:1, we are separated to the gospel—not by our own efforts or moral achievement, but by the redeeming grace of God. Redemption is not just a theological idea; it is the unshakable reality beneath all our healing. Holiness flows from it, not toward it. When we center our lives on redemption—God’s work, not ours—we begin to rest in something stronger than our own fragile resolve.

This kind of surrender can feel risky, especially in recovery, where so much seems to hinge on daily decisions. But true transformation begins when we stop striving to perfect ourselves and start trusting the One who already bore our sin, our shame, and our failures. The gospel tells us that we are not primarily called to be models of personal strength—we are called to be witnesses to God’s redeeming love. When we let go of self-focus and fix our eyes on Christ, healing becomes less about becoming desirable in our own eyes and more about becoming available to God's grace. In your weakness, in your struggle, you are still called, still loved, and still chosen—to live out and proclaim the reality of redemption. —DH