Humans experience emotions both on a personal level and on a social level that interact in our psyche to produce a wide range of feelings: fear, guilt, stress, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, love, anger, shame, pride, loneliness, etc. 

These feelings occur in varying degrees throughout life, mediated by your level of maturity at the time they present themselves. Your ability to express your feelings and/or control the expression of them is a function of your self-concept and your willingness to self-regulate to meet the criteria of the goal. Your desired change is dependent upon both intent and action as seen by the consistency displayed through your daily decisions. These decisions  are responsible for your reality, not what you may have hoped for but didn't fulfill the criteria (your wishful thinking).  It's your identity that withstands attacks (bad feelings) against your well-being (Páez-Gallego, J., Gallardo-López, J. A., López-Noguero, F., & Rodrigo-Moriche, M. P. (2020)).

 

Intentionality and regulation are guard rails for your overall health. The strength of each dictates your what action you'll take and whether you are letting your feelings control your responses. Your well-being from maintaining a psycho-social balance is achieved when your thoughts and behavior are grounded by faith in God and projected into a social world. (Psycho-your identity in Christ; + Social-your affiliation with a group of Christian believers = Christian Cognitive Consistency.)  

• Read more here about how to use emotional feelings "as an innate guidance system that is essential to optimal human health, psychosocial development, moral conscience, and even spiritual experiences" (Peil-Kauffman, K. 2020)).

• Take the self quizzes in the "Capture your Vision" tab to try to determine what's really driving your daily decisions?

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The answers to your self-reflective quizzes are meant to have you think about whether or not you do things that line up with your longer-term goals. Addiction recovery is a lofty goal and its success is made up of daily decisions that shape your outcome. Whether you notice that you have been making short-term, self-pleasing decisions that fall short of your goals is not the point of the exercises. The point is, as Alcoholics Anonymous also points out, you need to depend on a God, a "Higher Power", to overcome the web of problems that addiction generates. When you choose the Christian God, you can overcome your past missteps and move on avoiding common pitfalls (Hebrews 10:17-22). 

 

With a heartfelt repentance and confession to God for mismanaging your priorities, you gain a sure hope for your future because you can see that how following Jesus is like the new sidewalk that you decide to take to avoid the hole. When you listen and follow God, you'll be led to the new neighborhood where you'll be encouraged to practice your integrity to Him. Because you make a freewill decision to choose a new way through life using Christian Cognitive Consistency, you'll find the strength to use your Christ identity to break old habits and make all things new (Genesis 1:1-2, Hebrews 1:2-3, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:18).

 

If you decide to add self-discipline to your skills and knowledge about the true nature of God, you'll be able to make decisions that express your faith. Your commitment to Christ is the kick start to a relationship that is deeply personal, so the impact is that you'll apply it universally, not discriminately (Joel 2:12-14, 23, Matthew 5:43-45, 2 Peter 1:5-8). It's your sure Christian hope that keeps you grounded in reality but makes you resilient while living in it. Resiliency is the name for the trait that shows your capacity to recover quickly from unwelcome or unexpected life events. That's means you will not abandon your faith because of obstacles or missteps, or if you "don't get what you want when you want it". 

• Read the Introduction Tab for quick way to frame how this heart change will build your courage and confidence. 

 

Your identity in Christ means that you can have a sure hope for a new normal when you implement God's Word because you have the Holy Spirit and are familiar with the seed/time/harvest principle from reading the Holy Bible (Genesis 8:22, Galatians 6:7-9). The Holy Spirit is continuous flow of inner energy that seeps out of you when you express your faith in God. It's like a never-ending supply of wood or coals that are needed to fuel a fire; your part is to take the wood and put it on the fire so it keeps burning brightly. Long-term relief from addiction comes when you are willing to trade your own will power (your own A, B, C’s), for the Spirit infused power, D and then do your part, A + B so He can do His to empower your steps to produce  C  . When you are willing to trade self-reliance for Christ’s sufficiency, you will be equipped with the power to overcome, but it doesn't reveal itself until you take the physical steps of faith necessary to make it happen (1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 3:5, Hebrews 11:1, 8, Matthew 14:29, Galatians 6:9). It's your faith mixed with the power released by the Holy Spirit that makes the Word come alive in your life and this motivates perseverance and continual use.

• Read more at Appendix 1J; Prove God, Take Loving Action.

• Revisit God's principles in Appendix 1G.

 

Confidence and strength comes from your acceptance of and dependence on Christ because of your free-will decision to trade your old self for a new identity, hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:1-3). Research Professor Brown declares "When your needs for love, belongingness, and worthiness” are met you gain courage. When you realize that these needs are met by God, unconditionally, you gain the wherewithal you need to endure trials. Your confidence attracts healthy relationships that will support your new habits along the journey through life (Brown, B., 2012, p. 217, Haslam, et al, 2009). When you choose to trust Christ, your Attitude and Behaviors are infused by the power of the Holy Spirit so your Consequences reflect your faith; D(A+B) = C   (Joshua 1:7-9). Your new identity in Christ, the Holy Spirit in you (D), steers your problem-solving, decision-making and resulting actions because your identity includes having the ability to incorporate the mind of Christ.

• More from Bren`e Brown @ https://brenebrown.com/about/ 

• Courage is defined here from a Christian perspective; the voluntary desire and accompanying action to implement long-term, self-sacrificial decisions.  

 

Hope, courage* and resiliency are yours when your thoughts are founded on and grounded in an identity in Christ (Matthew 7:24-25). Dependence on yourself or anybody else is futile-it’s like spinning your wheels while expecting to arrive at your destination (2 Corinthians 12:10, Philippians 4:19).​ People who make Godly, confident decisions do so because they have gained a new perspective. When trouble from this world arises, they don’t say to themselves “why me” instead, they say, “why not me”? Renewing your mind to God's truth is the basis for an optimistic attitude because when you make up your mind to hope in Christ, you believe that no matter what circumstances come your way, you can persevere because of God and because you know to act out your faith decisions (Philippians 4:12-13,8, 3:14, Romans 5:3-5, 12:12, 2 Peter 1:2-3).​ 

 

A conscientious and humble Christian can see and wants to choose a Godly action so they voluntarily put limits on and accept limits imposed on their behavior by authority - both God’s and man’s (Romans 13:1, 1 Samuel 26:21-24, 1 John 2:5-6). This is how you prove your faith to yourself and those watching you. Will you use choose to believe in the character of God and voluntarily impose boundaries on yourself (the ability to judge and discern truth) so that what you say you want, you do (1 Peter 3:10, Matthew 5:37)? Your identity, grounded in Christ, 

1. accepts the truth easier,

2. develops character integrity to a perfect God,

3. finds freedom from people-pleasing and approval seeking, and

4. gains a clearer purpose and a broader perspective from which to frame the situations that arise in daily life.

 

*Please note: this is an introduction to identity in Christ and is further defined throughout the materials on this site. ​

• Some scriptures to motivate the courage and confidence you gain with an identity in Christ: John 1:12, 1 Corinthians 6:17, 27, Romans 6:6, Ephesians 1:4-6, Galatians 3:27-28, 1 Peter 2:9-10, Philippians 4:13, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Colossians 3:1-3, Ephesians 5:1, 2, 15-21. ​

• There is freedom that comes with knowing it is your choice to live inside the boundaries of God's principles,  summarized in Appendix 1G and applied in Appendix 2H.

• Read Philippians 3:3-30. Do you possess and express the attitude of Christ?