12 Steps For Us All
Sunday night I came across a Hallmark movie on the TV. Even though it made me late going to bed we ended up watching the whole thing. The name of the movie is "When Love is Not Enough." It is the story of Lois Wilson, who was the founder of Al-Anon, and her husband, Bill, who was co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. It was a very powerful and intense movie that showed the deeply spiritual foundation of AA. At one point Bill Wilson goes through the 12 steps, and as he recited them, the Lord showed me that we all need to take those same steps. Of course, we need to realize that Jesus Christ is Lord, and He is our Higher Power. I challenge each of us to take these 12 steps and apply them in our lives.
Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable.
Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.
Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 22-24.
Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable.
Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.
Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 22-24.