Home of the 3-509th UMT

Action steps assisting recovery

1. Study BIblical material.
   I encourage you to look up the verses below and work through the bible study method described at: http://www.unitministry.com/chapel/tools.php
   
   Substance abuse:
   1 Corinthians 6:15
   1 Corinthians 19-20
   Ephesians 5:15-18
   1 Corinthians 6:9-10
   Proverbs 23:32-35
   Click Here to look up all 5 references.
   
   Freedom from addiction:
   1 Corinthians 6:11
   2 Corinthians 5:17
   John 8:34-36
   Romans 6:18-18
   Galatians 5:19-26
   Ephesians 4:22-24
   Click Here to look up all 6 references.
   
   Prayer:
   Psalm 19:12-14
   Psalm 119:11
   Click Here to look up all 2 references.


2. Seek help from others who know you.
   Seeking help from others can be a daunting endeavor. However, with these hints, I pray you will be reminded of someone who fits into these qualities. First, seek help from someone outside of the military. When reaching out to those outside the military, they may not know exactly the kind of stress military people face, but they know you. Even if geographical boundaries exist, the support of someone who knows you is immeasurable. This also reduces the possibility of becoming overly involved personally or blurring professional lines with potential supervisors or those who report to you. Non-military friends often care greatly about military colleagues, although sometimes it is hard to show. Thus, this keeps open relationships which might otherwise grow stale without the common goal of addiction recovery. Secondly, seek out someone who has overcome an addiction. Although both these qualities are optional, this quality truly makes a bond between two people strong. Those willing to assist recovery who have ventured down the path know first hand the obstacles which can hinder a healthy life. However, proceed cautiously if the assister seems tempted to fall back into old routine. Exercising common sense might warn against meeting in an old hang-out for a "recovery" session.


3. Meet with God at an altar.
   An altar is defined as a place of sacrifice or more loosely, a place to offer something. During chapel, there may be times of invitation to the front of the auditorium where we designate the area as an altar to bring spiritual and emotional burdens to God. Sacrificing was never meant to be easy and this is no less with spiritual and emotional sacrifices. Offering that which has been held onto relinquishes control of the situation to God. Truthfully, altars can be anywhere. The issue is not necessarily location as much as the heart attitude. However, joining God at a public altar certainly communicates to God a physical symbol of a willingness to change. Although recovery can happen without altar experiences, the benefits are clearly observable.


4. Professional assistance.
   Addictions may become serious enough to require professional assistance to cope. Certainly, there is no magic formula to cure addictions, for addicts might have spent years weaving into a dependancy with the addiction. It is normal for full addiction recovery to require professional assistance including counseling, medication, and perhaps hospitalization. Although these measures may seem to go further than necessary, no price is higher than missing out on life due to an addiction!

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