Addiction/Recovery
Why does the prospect of making an honest personal inventory, as Life Recovery Step Four states, scare most people?
When someone does a personal inventory, there’s an enormous amount of pain involved. Why? Because it’s painful for a person to come to terms with how they’ve harmed themselves and others. So, out of all the 12 Steps, Step Four is often one of the most challenging steps.
Life Recovery Step Four says, “We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
It won’t be easy as a person takes stock of their life. (more…)
Life Issues
Are you going through a crisis right now? Though your circumstances may seem bleak, take heart—there’s hope! You may be discontent right now during these hard times you are going through. The Apostle Paul struggled with difficult days, too, but he learned that it’s possible to be content with very little. 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.” Here are some tips to help you find contentment in a crisis.
1. Ask for Help.
Since going through a crisis is difficult, if not impossible, you may need to get help. If you need resources, whether it is financial, spiritual, or something else, your church may be a good place to start. (more…)
Addiction/Recovery
“If we try to fix the world before fixing ourselves, we’ll do both badly.”—Steve Arterburn
When you were in the throes of addiction, was getting your next quick-fix more important than anything else—family, career, and even God? After all, your addiction came first no matter how much pain it caused you and your loved ones.
Now that you realize the damage your addiction has caused, you may think it’s your job to fix everyone and everything. But you can’t; you can only fix yourself. Therefore, your main goal is to get healthy and stay sober. In other words, to recover successfully, you must be selfish.
Here are five reasons that explain why recovery is selfish: (more…)
Articles on Recovery, Relationships/Marriage
The old covered walking bridge across the Delaware River had stood for as long as anyone could remember. It connected the town of Portland, Pennsylvania with Columbia, New Jersey. One year during the spring, ice flows combined with a large amount of rain and the swollen river washed away part of the bridge and weakened what remained.
Trust between people is like a bridge built from both sides of a river. When it is built with care and careful planning, it will be durable — capable of weathering the storms of life. Occasionally it will need repair and require periodic maintenance; but individuals in a trusting relationship will feel safe putting a great deal of their emotional weight on the bridge — it’s where keeping one’s promises is expected; sensitive secrets divulged are carefully protected; and personal flaws and weaknesses are accepted. (more…)