The Intersection of Spirituality, Psychology and Theology

One of the foundations for having a healthy relationship is respecting the boundaries that each person has communicated. This goes beyond being polite and involves listening intently and honoring what the other person requests.

This is especially applicable regarding what is and what is not acceptable to the person. When we tell another person what we are OK and not OK with, it establishes a boundary that should not be cr...

Lets be honest, sometimes we let our emotions get the best of us.

Its easy to understand the function and purpose of some positive emotions, nothing can feel better than being joyous or being completely at peace in the moment but what is the function, purpose and traps that we find in some negative emotions. More importantly, how can we find our way out of these traps, recover from the negative emotions that sometimes can...

Rigorous honesty is essential in becoming entirely ready.

·         Codependency, addictions and trauma usually involve a denial of truth because of the tragic and painful circumstances associated with them.

·         In addition to that, many of us have been raised in shame-based families which deeply reinforces a denial of truth and distorts our perception.   

·         The denial and distortion of truth gives the adversary room to ...

Trauma is a complex issue that has many negative emotions that are like the addict or codependent.

For this reason, the 5th step can be a very effective way of uncovering toxic emotions, discovering God’s love for them and discarding the lies of the enemy that holds each of us back from a full relationship with Christ and others. The natural tendency is to question God about the reasons for the trauma and/or ensure that j...

All people on this side of heaven would benefit from consistent contrary action, which put simply means to do the opposite of what our sin nature tempts us to do. This demonstrates a willingness to go to any length to cooperate with God.

This is where we must persevere, through our rigorous  honesty, our honest exploration of who we are versus who we want to be, who the Lord has designed us to be. While this can be an exha...

Is your understanding of Christ a ritualistic and rutty experience, or are you engaging yourself with the Living God? Religiosity could be defined as making a way to God entirely through human effort. A life run on self-propulsion is destined to fail, while one that is Holy Spirit driven is certain to lead us to the promises of God! To characterize this struggle of right relationship with God, we can look at two acronyms that will ...

Keep Your Motives Pure.

·         Making amends is not about forgiveness, believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins is how we receive forgiveness. 

·         Making amends is not about getting things off your chest, that’s what the 4th and 5th Steps are for. 

·         Making amends are centered on repairing the damage you’ve caused in other people’s lives.

·         Making amends requires a great deal of courage due to facin...

Giving the Holy Spirit room to operate in our conflicts.

·         As our recovery progresses, the Holy Spirit can guide us in understanding our part in conflicts.

·         When we are agitated or doubtful, we become a target for the adversary. He manipulates circumstances in our relationships to create conflict, strife and division in the body of Christ.

·         We need to pause and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction b...

What are amends? 

·                  To make right where we have done wrong.

·                  If finances were involved, we need to pay back what we owe.

·                  Living/Indirect Amends are done when we cannot directly apologize or make financial restitution due to death or it would cause further harm. This demonstrates that we are willing to make restitution for whatever harm we have inflicted. An example of this would be...

You might feel apprehensive about sharing the hope of Christ in recovery, do not be discouraged. Just remember to share your experience, strength and hope about Christ and how He saved you from addictions, codependency or trauma and you have said volumes to another.

Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. (Psalm 66:16, NIV)

·         Knowing how to properly help others witho...

The Fifth Step of Life Recovery is about beginning to level our pride which can often hinder our walk with the Lord though the recovery process. In theory many feel that "there is no reason why I cannot admit these things to the Lord and move on.” While this may seem applicable, practical experience teaches us otherwise.

We have found that sharing these experiences with a trusted friend takes the power out of these c...

What would Jesus say and do for someone struggling with a mental health problem?

We need the Holy Spirit to understand the Bible, and people, always pray before helping people in crisis. Death and Life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. (Proverbs 18:21 ESV) We have the power to hurt and help depending on how we approach people in crisis.

•1 in 5 people will experience a men...

All of us struggle with this step for two distinct reasons. The first is grappling with the question of why would God allow these terrible things to happen in my life? The difficulty arises from not accepting the fact that Christ is more concerned with the eternal than the temporal issues.

He does not promise us a trouble-free life; He does however, promise us supernatural comfort in difficult times.

Step 3 – Ma...

Regarding step four, there are some similarities that apply to addictions, codependency and trauma that will help bridge the gap of understanding. All human beings experience some degree of impairment from pride, fear, shame and resentment.

These toxic emotions should be targeted in a 4th step due to their harmful effects on relationships. These insidious emotions block the Holy Spirit from operating fully in our lives. D...

Discussing step two in a group of Christians with varied traits and problems requires a basic understanding of the commonalities frequently encountered in those afflicted with addictions, codependency and trauma. All people have the potential to experience a preoccupation with self and their problems. When a preoccupation occurs, the decision-making process can be hindered by elevated levels of fear, shame, anger and resentment.

Regarding step one, there is a commonality between Addiction, Codependency and Trauma, and it resides in our inability to control people, places and things which to some degree cause powerlessness and unmanageability in all of us. 

·         One aspect of the insanity with addiction/codependency and trauma is the need for control.  

·         We attempt to control our feelings with substances, relationships and activities.

·...

Humility is vital when asking God to remove our defects of character. This movement from pride to humility is instantaneous for some, but often, this change occurred after an honest and thorough personal inventory and then contrary action until Christ has transformed us.

 We must continue to ask Christ for daily help because of the pervasive sin nature that we all have. In those with addiction, codependency and trauma, the...

A successful transformational process for all Christians requires our full cooperation with God.

This is what “being entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character” is all about. The first principle of cooperation is being rigorously honest about where we are, so that Christ can take us where we need to go. In addition to that, a willingness to go to any length to change will lead us into a closer relationsh...