We will be moving onto Step 5 this week, but to help remind you that Inventory is not a one-time deal, here is a preview of Step 10...
Step 10: We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
Principle 7: Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.Theme of step 10 “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”
Tonight we will focus on the “how-to’s”of Step 10.
In Step 10 / Principle 7 we begin applying what we have discovered in the first 9 steps. We humbly live daily—in reality, not denial. We make amends for our mistakes and poor decisions. We offer forgiveness when others hurt or offend us. We start to take positive action – instead of constant reaction. We grow daily in our new relationship with Jesus Christ and others. Instead of attempting to be in control of every situation and every person…we start to exhibit self-control. Yet it isn’t even self-control that I want…that will eventually fail me…what I really need is to be under God’s control. How on earth do I do that? How so I live under God’s control?The answer is what we have been doing all through the Steps. I live under God’s control by letting Him lead me through the Steps. The Steps and Principles basically teach us to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew
The success of the 12 steps, of Celebrate Recovery, and of victory over your hurts and habits is to reject the message of the world, which says you just have to love yourself, love yourself, love yourself…that’s exactly how we end up hurt and addicted in the first place! What you really need is to learn to love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul; then love others. Loving yourself must be a result of God's love of you; you don't have to manufacture it for yourself. Getting your full attention on God and learning to trust and love Him is what the steps are all about. That’s were the victory is. Just so we all understand what God means by love, read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
Maybe you’re not sure that the 12 Steps give you victory becuase God used them to being you to Himself. Well let’s see. You know that you cannot keep those two commands on my own (love God, love others). You know that submitting to God is the only way you can. Thus, you must decide to submit to God if there is going to be any change. The first step in actually submitting to Him is through inventory as He begins to guide you into all truth about you and your life. Along the way you need to admit it when you fall short and you have to continue to humble yourself, asking God to remove all shortcomings and failures You need to make a list of people you’ve hurt and make amends to those people. You also need to forgive those who have hurt you so that the resentment and anger can end. You continue to do this through prayer, reading the Bible, and involvement with God’s people in order to improve your reliance and relationship with God. You also need to tell others about what God has done in your life. I need to do all of this too. This is the process of recovery; it’s also how God draws you and I close to Himself. It’s nothing new, the Bible has said this all along.
Step 10 Daily Action Plan
1. Continue to take a daily inventory, and when you are wrong, promptly make your amends.2. Summarize the events of your day in your journal.
3. Submit to God through the 7 principles and 12 steps
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