Psalm of the Week - 34:14 - July 18, 2016

Seeking peace and pursuing it has been tough for me. 
My relationship role model was set by my parents. Their relationship(s) during my childhood were stormy.

As an adult in 12 step recovery,
I came to realize that I could not use my parents relationship(s) as my relationship model anymore. It had not been successful for them and it surely had not been successful for me.

One of my biggest revelations after I quit drinking was - You can be angry and not raise your voice.
Seriously, I did not know this at age 33. In my family, if someone was angry, they yelled, hollered, and said bad things. This was my normal.

Another revelation was the following information from page 66 in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous:

But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. And with us, to drink is to die. If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us.

Obviously, my relationship role model was going to have to be based on my spiritual relationship with Jesus.
Jesus is the sunlight in my life. I do not want to block his sunlight with a black cloud of anger.

I apply Psalm 34 in my life like this:

1. Depart evil - My evil was alcoholism/drugs and the lifestyle that goes with it. 
2.  Do good - Sober living and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ ensures that I always seek to do good.
3. Seek peace and pursue it - I actively seek and pursue peace, one day at a time.