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Safe Passagesupport for those struggling with homosexuality
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For historical context, here are the famous "17 Steps", adapted with permission by Turning Point, an open Desert Stream support group which preceeded Safe Passage (whose materials are more loosely structured from various sources).
THE SEVENTEEN STEPS *
1. We admitted that we were powerless over our homosexual struggle and that our emotional lives were unmanageable.
2. We came to believe the love and grace of God, our Heavenly Father, who forgives us and accepts us in spite of all that we are and have done.
3. We learned to see purpose in our suffering, that our failed lives are under God's control, who is able to bring good out of trouble.
4. We came to believe that Jesus had already broken the power of homosexuality and that He could therefore restore our true identity.
5. We came to perceive that we had accepted a lie about ourselves, an illusion that had trapped us in a false identity, and resolved to abstain from believing that lie in any form.
6. We learned to claim our true identity, that we are part of God's heterosexual creation, and that God calls us to rediscover our heterosexual identity in Him through Jesus.
7. We resolved to entrust our lives to Jesus, our loving Savior, and to live by faith, praising Him for our true emerging identity, confident that it would become visible to us in His good time.
8. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we made a searching and fearless personal inventory of ourselves.
9. As forgiven people free from condemnation, we determined to root out fear, hidden hostility and contempt for the world.
10. We admitted to ourselves, to God, and to another brother or sister in Christ, the exact nature of our wrongs and sought God's forgiveness.
11. We humbly asked God, by His Holy Spirit, to remove our defects of character, and to conform us daily to the character of Jesus.
12. We learned to forgive others and sought the forgiveness of those we had harmed.
13. We determined to live no longer in fear of the world, believing that God's victorious control turns all that is against us into our favor, bringing advantage out of sorrow and order from disaster, and giving us strength in times of trial.
14. We determined to mature in our relationships, as equals, with men and women, seeking neither emotional dominance over people nor dependency on them.
15. We sought, through confident praying, and the wisdom of Scripture and the fellowship of believers, for an ongoing growth in our relationship with Jesus, a humble acceptance of His Lordship, and the power to live within His will for our lives.
16. We determined to practice these steps in all our lives' activities, continuing to take personal inventory, and promptly admitting when we were wrong.
17. Born of our faith in Jesus, with a love that demands nothing, we tried to carry this message to people struggling with homosexuality.
* The 17-steps are adapted from the 14-steps of Homosexuals Anonymous, 5 of which are modified from the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and are adapted with permission of Homosexuals Anonymous Fellowship Services.
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