✅ Peter Scazzero’s Core Summary of the 12 Steps to Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

1. Recognize Yourself Honestly
   Face your true inner self as it is, not the image or role that others see on the surface.

2. Acknowledge the Influence of the Past
   Accept how your family, wounds, and past events still affect who you are today—without avoiding or denying them.

3. Don’t Suppress Emotions
   Instead of rejecting feelings such as anger, fear, or sadness, bring them into God’s light and deal with them in healthy ways.

4. Affirm God-Given Desires
   Enjoy human desires such as art, joy, rest, and intimacy without guilt, seeing them as gifts to be experienced in God.

5. See All of Life as Sacred
   Refuse to divide life into “holy” and “secular.” Walk with God in every ordinary part of daily life.

6. Embrace Your Limits
   Do not hide or feel ashamed of your weaknesses and boundaries. Reveal them honestly and rely on God’s strength.

7. Practice Pure Love
   Relate to others with unconditional respect and love, not through control or manipulation.

8. Take Personal Responsibility
   Own your thoughts, emotions, actions, and goals instead of blaming people or circumstances.

9. Express Convictions Peacefully
   Share your beliefs and values clearly but without hostility, holding truth and love together.

10. Integrate Intimacy with God into Daily Life
    Reject the separation between ministry and spirituality. Work and live from ongoing communion with God.

11. Accept Loss and Grief
    Do not escape from pain. Allow it to lead you toward deeper maturity and healing.

12. Live an Incarnational Faith
    Let your faith become tangible and visible through daily actions that embody God’s love and truth.