Heal FASTER with Personal Awareness

One of our core beliefs at Warfare of Grace is that sexual acting out doesn’t come from nowhere. There is always a process by which we, who otherwise say and try to behave like we love Jesus our Lord, convince ourselves that acting out is the only option. In the end, our mind has switched to an entirely different way of thinking. Much like Paul in Romans 7, we experience our body fighting us and leading us to wrong.

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ~ Romans 7:15-18

The process of acting out is different for everyone. Each person has developed reasons for depending on sexually acting out as a coping mechanism. These systems can be very complicated and difficult to unwind. One might wonder, how do we keep track of how we are doing? How do we keep out of these patterns of sin?

While the first and primary answer is to allow Jesus to infiltrate into every corner of your being through the Holy Spirit, that process can take a long time. Your whole life in fact. It is a constant process of leaning further and further into His grace and truth, allowing our mind to be rewired to reflect His mind. This is a beautiful process, and goes way beyond just “stopping acting out”. At Warfare of Grace, we hope that every man will come to an understanding of Jesus like this. That he will all be able to come into contact with the Holy Spirit in a real and consistent way. That he can rely on His strength in times of trouble, and worship humbly in times of peace. Yes, that is our wish.

But beyond this, there is the matter of training our body to obey the law of God. Again, Paul gives us a gem, “So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27) This discipline takes many forms including boundaries, study, application of calming techniques, mindfulness, prayer and meditation and so much more. It’s a beautiful working of God’s ways into our very bones so that our existence reflects dependence on Him! One of the nice things about this side of the healing journey is that on this behavioral level, there are concrete indicators that we are, or are not, on a healing path! In order to identify these indicators, Warfare of Grace uses the FASTER scale.

The FASTER scale is a tool developed by Michael Dye in his recovery work The Genesis Process. Devon, who founded Warfare of Grace, was introduced to this tool through Pure Desire Ministries and their 7 Pillars of Freedom workbook. The purpose of the FASTER scale is to identify paths through which the addict journeys in order to justify acting out. He can identify where he is on the scale and then replace his present behaviors with restorative ones. Namely, the behaviors that are on top of the scale in an area called Restoration. Appropriate, since that is exactly what God is trying to do. Restore us.

While this particular blog is simply to introduce this tool, we do have a couple notes for good use of the scale to help you.

• Process Intentionally: The FASTER scale can be incredibly helpful if you use it properly. Using it improperly will be lackluster at best. Here is how to use it on a weekly basis. Put the scale in front of you and read the entire thing, highlighting or circling every indicator that you have experienced in the last week. Note what surprises you and what does not. When ready, answer the questions that follow with as complete of answers as possible. Finally, jump off the scale by setting restoration in motion. Soon, as you repeat this process, you will be able to see patterns of how you personally move through the FASTER scale.
• Use the scale as often as is possible. The FASTER scale is something that needs to get worked into your most common thoughts. When you have a moment of emotion or if you find yourself offput, it’s important that one of your first thoughts be “where am I on the scale?” and then be able to identify that. This is something that can only happen as you emphasize the use of it. Read it again and again until you can pick out behaviors from each section of the scale.
• Find your “home sweet home”. Most people who deal with addiction are living squarely in the middle of the FASTER scale somewhere. For Devon, our founder, it was the area of ticked off. Before healing up, he thought that those behaviors were intrinsic to who he was. Imagine his surprise when Jesus started to change his heart and being angry started to drift away. What about you? Examine the scale and see where you generally spend your time. It will be a helpful reminder that entering restoration is intentional. We all have to practice it.
• Beware triggers that skip through the scale. Because Devon spent most of his life in the ticked off area of the scale, it was very easy for him to return to that spot. Normal life would make him feel very much like following an angry path naturally, and he had to identify those triggers ad submit them to God. You’ll find that you have triggers that can pull you to particular spots on the scale as well. What are they? How can you submit them to God? In addition to these questions, it’s good to note that a linear look at the scale is not always the most accurate look, since triggers can move us directly to a particular point of the scale.
• Get off the scale through restoration. Restoration is not on the FASTER scale for a reason. That reason is that it is a completely different scale. Life can be lived in restoration, even if life does not “feel good” at the moment or is full of struggle. Restoration is where we are truly trusting in God and accepting His will for our lives. It is admitting His sovereignty and love for us, and that we are made for His glory. Thus, if we want to get off the FASTER scale, we simply need to start to do the actions listed in the restoration section.  When we do, we will generate the context required for more restoration and will defy the lies of the scale.
• The scale is cumulative. As you work through the FASTER scale, note that each step is like a pyramid that is adding layers. When you are in Ticked off, you are also in every step that came before (forgetting priorities, anxiety, speeding up). While this may seem to imply that you need to work your way backwards to restoration, that is not actually true! The best way to get back into restoration is to go straight to it by performing the actions of restoration. If we try to walk back up the scale, we will simply add more weight to be carried. Restoration is about letting go of the weight that is on our shoulders.

We imagine that these instructions may be hard to take in all at one time. If you are working with a Warfare of Grace coach, you can ask them about how to use the scale and get their reflections on it. Otherwise, we hope that this personal reflection tool will help you to get away from acting out through self-awareness.