Becoming Whole

Send us a textDo your desires feel like enemies to be conquered, or could they actually be signposts pointing toward your truest fulfillment? In this conversation with Christopher West, we discuss how our hungers—even our unwanted sexual behaviors—reveal something beautiful about our design.Christopher shares his journey from the "starvation diet gospel" of his Catholic upbringing through the "fast food gospel" of cultural gratification to discovering what our souls truly crave. His insights on John Paul II's Theology of the Body offer a radical reframing: we're not just called away from sexual sin but toward glorifying God in our bodies.Whether you're struggling with unwanted behaviors or simply wondering why your faith hasn't eliminated your deepest longings, this episode offers a life-changing perspective. Your hunger isn't your enemy—it's your heart's compass pointing home.Listen in and discover how to transform your yearnings into prayer and your dissatisfactions into signposts toward genuine fulfillment.Resources from this episodeTheology of the Body Institute:The Ask Christopher West podcast:Our Bodies Tell God's Story by Christopher West:Peter Gabriel's "Blood of Eden": YouTube or SpotifyFlorence and the Machine: "Hunger": YouTube or Spotify An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textA simple sentence could transform your recovery journey: "I feel ___ about ___ because ___." In this conversation with Sue Moore of Forgiven Much Ministries, we dive deep into an advanced technique for processing emotions that can break cycles of unwanted behavior.Whether you're struggling with unwanted sexual behavior, processing betrayal trauma, or simply wanting deeper emotional awareness, this conversation offers practical tools for becoming whole. For parents and caregivers, these techniques represent an opportunity to equip the next generation with emotional resilience skills that could prevent future addiction struggles.Ready to transform how you process pain and emotion? Download the reflective listening resources mentioned and begin your journey toward authentic healing today.Resources:TED Talk about addictionFMM Reflective Listening WorkshopBoundaries by Cloud and TownsendFMM Gospel Centered Sexuality Course kicking off this fall An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textOn this episode of the Becoming Whole Podcast, we welcome Sue Moore, the founder and CEO of Giving Much Ministries. Sue walks us through a basic emotions reflection exercise to help us process negative emotions and overcome unwanted sexual behaviors. Learn about her personal journey and how emotional health is crucial for dealing with betrayal, parenting challenges, and personal addictions. Discover practical steps to cultivate emotional resilience by pausing to reflect on your feelings, understanding their origins, and seeking healthier ways to meet your emotional needs. Don't miss this episode filled with hope and actionable advice. An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textWhat kind of legacy are you leaving in your home? For many men, this question cuts deep. They're physically present but emotionally absent—buried in work, numbed by addiction, or simply disconnected from their own hearts. Meanwhile, their families feel the void: wives longing for connection and children navigating life without the emotional safety they desperately need.In this powerful conversation, Aaron Tagert sits down with Joel Warneking, Executive Director of 423 Communities, who shares his journey from sexual addiction to wholeness. Joel's story follows a familiar pattern—childhood exposure to pornography that developed into a full-blown addiction lasting through Bible college and ministry positions. Living a double life of public ministry and private shame eventually led to a breaking point that became his pathway to healing.The heart of this episode explores how men's healing transforms entire family systems. When fathers engage with their own emotional wounds and develop sexual competency, they create safe spaces where rupture and repair can happen naturally. Joel explains how understanding our physiological responses to stress—what happens in our bodies when we feel triggered—allows us to respond thoughtfully rather than reactively to our spouses and children.Perhaps most powerful is the discussion about parenting teens through sexual development. Before parents can effectively guide their children through conversations about sexuality, they must first do their own work. Creating an emotionally safe home where children can bring their struggles without shame becomes the foundation for healing across generations.Whether you're struggling with your own unwanted sexual behaviors, trying to build a healthier family system, or wanting to guide your children through today's hypersexualized culture, this episode offers both hope and practical wisdom. The journey begins with allowing yourself to be fully known so you can be fully loved—by God, others, and even yourself.Resources:423 Communities  Awaken Retreat Sacred By Design RetreatTreading Boldly An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textEver feel completely exhausted despite getting enough sleep? There's a reason for that—and it goes beyond physical fatigue. In this second episode on rest, we dive deep into four often-overlooked forms of restoration that are essential for wholeness and recovery.Continuing our exploration of Dr. Sandra Dalton-Smith's seven types of rest, we move beyond the physical, mental, and emotional to discover spiritual, social, sensory, and creative rest. Each offers a unique pathway to restoration that many of us desperately need but rarely recognize.For anyone on a recovery journey or supporting a loved one through betrayal trauma, these forms of rest aren't luxuries—they're essential practices for healing and growth. Join us as we discover God's multifaceted invitation to find rest for our weary souls.Ready to experience deeper restoration? Subscribe now and discover which form of rest might be your missing piece.Resources:Sacred RestRest QuizHealthy, Holy Alternatives from Awaken 360Boundaries by Cloud and TownsendLectio Divina Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textWhat if the missing piece in your recovery journey isn't more discipline or accountability, but specific kinds of rest you've been overlooking? Dr. Sondra Dalton-Smith's concept of "sacred rest" offers a framework for understanding why many of us remain stuck in cycles of unwanted sexual behavior despite our best efforts. Kyle Bowman and I explore how three distinct types of rest—physical, mental, and emotional—directly impact our ability to heal from sexual brokenness.This conversation challenges the subtle Gnosticism that pervades Christian thinking—the idea that physical limitations are spiritual weaknesses rather than divine design. Even Jesus slept! Your recovery journey might transform not through trying harder but through resting more intentionally in the ways your body, mind, and heart truly need.Resources:Sacred RestRest QuizHealthy, Holy Alternatives from Awaken 360Boundaries by Cloud and TownsendLectio Divina An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textRecovery fatigue is a rarely discussed but a common experience for men trying to rebuild after betrayal. What happens when all the meetings, check-ins, and recovery work start to feel overwhelming or—worse yet—like they're not making a difference?Dan Drake, a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified sex addiction therapist with over 20 years of experience, joins us to unpack this challenging reality. He shares insights on how recovery motivation makes all the difference: "If I'm checking boxes trying to do these things to get my wife back and stop her from pestering me, that's going to be a different motivation than 'I get to do these things to thrive and become a better human being.'"Resources:Awaken RetreatThe Intimacy PyramidKintsugi Recovery Partners (Find a Disclosure Guide)Books:Surviving the HolidaysBuilding True IntimacyFull Disclosure (For the Disclosing Individual)Full Disclosure: Seeking Truth After Sexual Betrayal Vol 1 (For Partners)Full Disclosure: Seeking Truth After Sexual Betrayal Vol 2 (For Partners)Full Disclosure: Seeking Truth After Sexual Betrayal Vol 3 (For Partners) An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textCaught between exploding and imploding? You're not alone. This episode uncovers the hidden connection between acting out (through behaviors like porn, alcohol, or overworking) and acting in (through withdrawal, passive-aggression, and emotional shutdown). What looks like self-control on the surface might actually be self-contempt in disguise.Ready for transformation? Join us for the men's Awaken retreat (October 3-5) or the women's Sacred by Design retreat (November 7-8). Space is limited, so reserve your spot today through the link in our show notes.Resources:Retreat linksDr. Nathanson on ShameMinwalla ModelBrene Brown's Ted Talk on Shame An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textWhat if your recovery from unwanted sexual behaviors could be strengthened by simple physical practices you've overlooked? In this episode, we dive into often-forgotten physical disciplines that transform spiritual recovery. From breathing techniques that calm the nervous system during moments of temptation to the profound impact of proper hydration on decision-making, we explore how our bodies are designed to function optimally through specific practices.Whether you're just beginning your recovery journey or have been walking it for years, these physical disciplines offer practical tools for creating the optimal conditions where spiritual transformation can flourish. This is part 2 of this podcast, and we encourage you to listen to part 1 if you haven't already.Resources:Harvard Prof Arthur Brooks An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Send us a textHave you ever considered that your body might be your greatest ally—not your enemy—in recovery from unwanted sexual behaviors? Many of us approach healing as primarily spiritual or psychological, overlooking the role our physical existence plays in transformation.Your body isn't just a vessel carrying your spirit through life; it's an integrated part of who God designed you to be. From the very beginning, Genesis shows humanity as formed from dust and brought to life by divine breath—we are simultaneously matter and spirit. This isn't incidental to your recovery journey—it's foundational.In this episode, Josh Glaser and James Craig explore five physical disciplines that God has woven into our design as assets for healing: breathing, hydration, eating, sleeping, and exercise. These aren't merely biological necessities but theological realities that point to our dependence on our Creator. Each discipline, when practiced intentionally, helps regulate our bodies and minds, creating space for healthier choices and emotional stability.Resources:Harvard Prof Arthur Brooks An Invitation for our annual women's retreat. Sacred By Design Women's Retreat 2025 - Register Today! Free Resources to help you on your journey to Becoming Whole 👉Men's Overcoming Lust & Temptation Devotional👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)