Tag: Spiritual Growth

Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Were entirely ready to have God remove our shortcomings.

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.

This was written by Sam Shoemaker. He was the minister who helped Bill W. and Dr. Bob meet. Those three are the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. I really like this, and have tried to live my life by it. In a similar way, the Apostle Paul talked about how “to live is Christ, to die is gain”. It was more important to be alive and help others than to end the struggle and receive the reward.

I plan to add the 12 steps to this blog. They have helped dozens of people heal, in my life and personal experience. Including myself. I have had the honor of using them to help others, and watching healing take place is a tremendous honor. Some think it’s a cult because they have not talked to a Christian who is involved in it. Almost all the Christian criticism of the program was done by people not involved in helping others heal. Those that stay outside can only hear gossip and rumors. If you want to know more, watch these posts!