12 Step Bible: Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of A.A., P. 63

1
12 Step Bible
Historians have traced the genesis of the 12 step programs in Alcoholics Anonymous back to the
Oxford Group, an evangelistic movement from the early 1900s. Dr. Frank Buchman, a Lutheran
minister from Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, was the founder of the Oxford Group. Dr. Buchman
experienced a spiritual transformation in 1908 as he visited a small church in Cumberland.
Envisioning the suffering face of the crucified Christ, he realized how his resentments had
separated himself from God's unconditional love. He surrendered his will and willfulness to God
and began to share his experience with others. His work and following grew, with groups
eventually at Oxford, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Williams, Smith and Vassar. Outreach was
conducted through house meetings and members were encouraged to find and work with people
who suffered from problems similar to their own.
Bill Wilson, one of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, traced his journey to sobriety
through the Oxford group. After being visited by an old friend, Ebby Thatcher, who was restored
to sobriety through the Oxford Group, Bill W. was told the principles of the Oxford Group. He
described his conversion experience from that night 20 years after the event in Alcoholics
Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of A.A., p. 63:
"My depression deepened unbearably and finally it seemed to me as though I were at the very
bottom of the pit. I still gagged badly at the notion of a Power greater than myself, but finally,
just for the moment, the last vestige of my proud obstinacy was crushed. All at once I found
myself crying out, 'If there is a God, let Him show Himself! I am ready to do anything, anything!'
"
Suddenly, the room lit up with a great white light. I was caught up into an ecstasy which there
are no words to describe. It seemed to me, in the mind's eye, that I was on a mountain and that a
wind not of air but of spirit was blowing. And then it burst upon me that I was a free man.
Slowly the ecstasy subsided. I lay on the bed, but now for a time I was in another world, a new
world of consciousness. All about me and through me there was a wonderful feeling of Presence,
and I thought to myself, 'So this is the God of the preachers!' A great peace stole over me and I
thought, 'No matter how wrong things seem to be, they are still all right. Things are all right with
God and His world.'"
In the subsequent development of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson eventually distanced

himself from the Oxford Group in order to reach out to Catholics and other groups who were
uncomfortable with the evangelical emphasis. However, many of the traditions of the Oxford
Group continue in the A.A. approach and the Scriptures remain the foundation for recovery for
many of those in A.A. and other 12 Step groups.
Commentaries on the Scriptures are presented in this section of our web site in light of the 12
Step program. Please click on a link in the side panel to see Bible verses grouped according to a
given step number. These comments are primarily the thoughts of one commentator from
12Step.org, so please take them with a grain of salt and, as the 12 step saying goes, "Take
2
what you need and leave the rest". If you feel any of these commentaries need correction,
please contact us.
Step 1 Scriptures
Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become
unmanageable
Psalm 38:3-14 ESV
38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my

bones because of my sin.
38:4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for
me.
38:5 My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,
38:6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.
38:7 For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
38:8 I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
38:9 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
38:10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone
from me.
38:11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand
far off.
38:12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and
meditate treachery all day long.
38:13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his
mouth.
38:14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
12Step.org Comments:
Here we see the psalmist in great pain and misery because of the sin in his life. As addicts we
can identify with these types of feelings or conditions that have come from our sin as well. No
sane person would want to find themselves in this state of corruption and decay. But because of
the sin in our addictive behaviors and our inability to say no to those behaviors, we find
ourselves feeling bad in body, heart, mind and soul. Notice the many areas of consequences. In
the soul there is a feeling "as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me." In the body, there is "no
soundness in the flesh" and even a "loathsome disease". In the heart there is "turmoil of my
heart" and the resulting groaning. In relationships, there is a turning away of lovers, friends and
family. In society there are "snares" and people say mischievous and deceitful things about us.
There is a hint in this psalm also of the solution in laying it before God (38:9). These are what
3
should be covered in the following steps of the program - how to turn it over to God and begin
making things right before God and man. But first we have to admit that we need help, that we
are powerless to overcome this addiction in our own strength.
Proverbs 26:11-12 ESV
26:11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
26:12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for
him.
Both of these verses from Proverbs can be relevant to how we probably have lived before taking
the first step. In verse 11, the fool returns to his folly as a dog returns to its vomit. Our addictive
behaviors have been our folly, that which makes a fool out of us. And just as the dog returns to
what it knows and is familiar with, even though it may be unhealthy and nasty from an objective
viewpoint, so also we have returned to our own addictive behaviors over and over again, even
though they are unhealthy and nasty from any objective viewpoint. What may have blinded us to
the insanity of this behavior is given in the next verse, verse 12. If we have been wise in our own
eyes, saying to ourselves that most everyone or everything else is stupid or wrong or too
inhibited or dull in their beliefs and life (name your own excuse that allows you to be wise in
your own eyes), then we set ourselves up for being a fool or worse. In reality, we have really
become addicted and have let that addiction rule our reason, rather than the other way around.
We usually only wake up to this fact when we find our lives out of control and have to admit that
perhaps we were not so wise after all. This can be a difficult thing to do, but is the first step on
the road to recovery.
Mark 5:2-15 ESV
5:2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the
tombs a man with an unclean spirit.
5:3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain,
5:4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains
apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.
5:5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and
cutting himself with stones.
5:6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.
5:7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of
the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
5:8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
5:9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we
are many.”
5:10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
4
5:11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside,
5:12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.”
5:13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs;
and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and
drowned in the sea.
5:14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see
what it was that had happened.
5:15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the
legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
This passage tells of the healing by Jesus of a man who had many demons. In modern times we
may wonder about what demon possession was really about. But regardless of our conclusions,
there are many parallels between someone with demon possession and how we can act in our
addictive behaviors. Verse 5:5 tells of the man crying and cutting himself with stones day and
night. If we have gone very far into our addictive behaviors we most likely have found ourselves
crying and hating ourselves afterwards for what we have done. The hatred may even have gone
as far as cutting or doing bodily harm to ourselves in one way or another. It may go on day and
night, having no end to the addictive behavior until we finally collapse in sheer exhaustion. And
when we get up from the sleep of exhaustion the addictive behavior may take over again until
exhaustion, creating an utterly self-destructive form of living. Also, we see in verses 5:3 and 5:4
about the incredible strength of this man. In our addictive behaviors with our adrenalin rushing
through us, we also can often have a physical strength beyond our normal day to day strength.
This may even be a source of pride and one reason that we turn to our addictive behavior, to have
a feeling of strength or empowerment that we normally cannot find within ourselves. The lie of
the addiction is, of course, that when we are through with our addictive behavior then we are
usually weaker overall than before, having exhausted our strength or goodwill from others in
often daredevil or foolhardy schemes that bring us no lasting good and often destruction. In
verses 5:6 and 5:7 we see the answer to this man's dilemma. By God's grace this demon
possessed man has the sense to run and worship Jesus. Whether it was the demons within this
man or the man himself, there was an acknowledgement of Jesus' position as the "Son of the
most high God". Following this, Jesus yielded His power over the man's demons and by verse
5:15 we see that this man had been returned to his right mind. So from the 12 step perspective,
one might say that this passage covers steps 1 through 3. The last phrase in verse 15 is very
telling also. Instead of rejoicing with this man that he had been delivered, the towns people
"were afraid". So it may be also as we turn from our addictive habits. Instead of support and
appreciation it may be that others shun us or are afraid of us, especially those who somehow
benefit from our addiction (e.g., fellow addicts). This should not deter us from moving forward.
In the context of the 12 step program, going forward would mean creating an inventory, the 4th
step. In the case of this demon possessed man, an inventory would remind him strongly what he
had been delivered from and help motivate him to never return to that state of being again.
Romans 7:18-23 ESV

5
7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to
do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within
me.
7:21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
7:22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and
making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
This is a classic passage for addicts that tells of how the apostle Paul was ultimately powerless
over the sin in his life apart from the power of God. He had the will to do what is right, but at the
same time he also had the inclination to do what brought him into the "captivity of sin". In the
facing of our addiction and the taking of our first step, we also become aware of how powerless
we are over the sin of our addictive behaviors. We realize that no matter how strongly we might
will or want ourselves to be a certain way, to do a certain thing or to not do a certain thing, then
we find that we are not able to carry through with that in a consistent manner. We find ourselves
back to the same old self-destructive behaviors that we have grown accustomed to, that have
become so much a part of our lives. In our "flesh", we are not able to carry through on staying
away from our addictive behaviors, even though we may want to and know at some level how
self-destructive they are. We have been powerless over our addictive behaviors and our life has
become unmanageable.
Step 2 Scriptures
Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
Psalm 18:2-6 ESV
18:2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I
take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
18:3 I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
18:4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;
18:5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple
he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
David proclaims the strength, protection and deliverance that comes from the Lord. When David
was overcome with sorrow and fear, he called upon the Lord, and the Lord heard him in his
6
distress and brought safety and deliverance. During the second step, we search for a power that
can deliver us from the insanity of our addictive behaviors. This power needs to be something or
someone on whom we can rely and in whom we can have confidence. David's witness in the
Psalms as well as the experiences of many, many others as recorded in the Bible and throughout
history attest to the faithfulness of the Lord in providing safety and deliverance from distress
when we turn to Him in our sincere need.
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls.
11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
This is a promise that when we come to Jesus we will find rest. This is so much needed to save
us from the insanity of our addiction that we admitted in step 1. We have carried the yoke of
slavery of our addiction for a long time. Jesus promises a different type of a yoke, one that is
light and easy, one in which we can find rest and peace. And how needed is that rest! Addictive
behaviors usually rob us of this rest, whether it is from staying up all hours of the night and
morning as we seek our addiction of choice or whether it is from the troubled sleep that we have
from a guilty conscience and polluted body and mind from our addictive behaviors. How blessed
is the rest and peace that comes, then, from the One who is our peace.
Matthew 12:18-21 ESV
12:18 Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well
pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
12:19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
12:20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
12:21 until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.
This is from a prophecy from the book of Isaiah about the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy
when He showed Himself to be a Messiah of meekness and yet justice, gentleness and strength,
victorious and trustworthy. He did not strive or cry out but went forth in quiet victory, bringing
justice. He is someone in whom we can trust. In the second step of the 12 step program, that is
what it is all about - someone whom we can trust to carry us out of our sin and the burdens of our
addiction. And Jesus brings this deliverance in such an approachable way, not striving or crying
out, but gently offering to us the victory through His grace and gentleness towards us.
7
Hebrews 2:14-18 ESV
2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of
the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death,
that is, the devil,
2:15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
2:16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for
the sins of the people.
2:18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are
being tempted.
This passage from Hebrews states how Christ took the form of human flesh and blood as He
walked this earth. He did this out of compassion and love, to deliver us who were "subject to
lifelong slavery". And the way that He could do this is that sin was not found in His life. We are
not like that. From our first step, we know that sin has not only been in our lives, but it has taken
control of our lives, making us powerless over the sin. Jesus had no sin in His life, even though
He lived as a human being like us. Being a human being, He knows firsthand how trials and
temptations can abound - "he is able to help them that are tempted". Being sinless, He can act as
our high priest before God, reconciling us to God in spite of our sins. He is unique in the history
of mankind, for no other man lived a sinless life before God. And we can be very thankful,
because Christ Jesus didn't live such a life in order to condemn us or set Himself apart, but so
that He could identify with us, make the perfect sacrifice and save us through His love.
Step 3 Scriptures
Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we
understood God
Psalm 3:1-6 ESV
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

3:1 O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
3:2 many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah
3:3 But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
3:4 I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
3:5 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
3:6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all
around.
8
When we are setting our face towards finding the Truth about a Higher Power who can restore us
to sanity, and as we turn more and more to the God that we find in that search, then sometimes it
may seem that things can get difficult. It might seem that those who would want to entice us
back into our addictive habits are "many" that would "rise up against me". Just by selling what
they are selling or doing what they are doing these people, businesses or organizations can be
sources of temptation for us, whether it be alcohol, pornography, easy credit, gambling,
prescription or illegal drugs, or whatever our area of temptation or those of our loved ones might
be. We can realize, though, that it has always been so. There have always been those in every age
who aim to bring down the righteous, to destroy righteousness in their own lives and the lives of
others. In this Psalm, David was to some extent reaping what he sowed because of his sin with
Bathsheba and the killing of her husband Uriah. The prophet Nathan predicted that trouble would
not leave David's house because of this sin. In a similar way, we are reaping from the sin in our
lives. And yet, David knew that in spite of his sin God still loved him and wanted the best for
him. David turned to God as his shield and found rest and sustenance in God's protection. We,
too, can turn to God and in His mercy we can find rest, sustenance and deliverance from the evil
and temptations around us. We no longer have to be afraid of the "ten thousands of people" that
may be in the businesses, organizations or in unhealthy belief systems that can be sources of
temptation for us. We have found our protection, our rest and our peace in God.
Psalm 142:1-7 ESV
A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

142:1
With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
142:2 I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.
142:3 When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they
have hidden a trap for me.
142:4 Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to
me; no one cares for my soul.
142:5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the
living."
142:6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for
they are too strong for me!
142:7 Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will
surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.
This is a cry, a plea for help from God, from the LORD who is the only one who can truly
deliver.It is a cry from when "my spirit is overwhelmed within me". It is a cry when "there was
no man that would acknowledge me". It is a cry when "no man cared for my soul". It is a cry to
9
bring "my soul out of prison". And the hope and belief of David in this psalm is that the LORD
will be "my refuge and my portion in the land of the living." The LORD will "deliver me from
my persecutors". The LORD will "deal bountifully with me." We have the benefit of being able
to look back in time and see that the LORD did indeed fulfill all of these pleas of David. We
have the advantage of time also in that in this age God has given us the way of the cross, of
redemption through Christ Jesus. In the situation of our recovery, our enemies are the addictions
that we have allowed or brought into our lives. The power behind these addictions is also crafty,
having "secretly laid a snare" for us. In our addiction, we usually come to the point where "no
man cared for my soul" and our soul is in the prison of our addictive behaviors. We can have
confidence that when we cry to the LORD in sincerity and honesty for deliverance through the
grace that is in Christ Jesus, that the LORD will "deal bountifully" with us as well.
Matthew 4:18-23 ESV
4:18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter)
and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
4:19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
4:20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
4:21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and
John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called
them.
4:22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
4:23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the
gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
Peter, Andrew, James and John all followed Jesus when He called them from their regular tasks.
They obviously sensed in some manner that this was a call from a Higher Power, from their God.
So they turned over their lives to God, leaving behind the familiar so that they could know and
experience the true life that comes from following the true God.
Matthew 6:24-34 ESV
6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you
will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the
body more than clothing?
6:26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet
your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
6:27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
6:28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
10
grow: they neither toil nor spin,

6:29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is
thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
6:31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or
'What shall we wear?'
6:32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them all.
6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be
added to you.
6:34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Here Christ Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that we need to put God first and foremost
in our lives, above the pursuit of money (mammon) or any other earthly concern..And having
done that, then we can trust God in faith to take care of all of our day to day needs. We just need
to trust and obey Him," turning our lives over to God as we understand God" so far in our walk
of living in the Truth.
Luke 9:59-62 ESV
9:59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my
father."
9:60 And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and
proclaim the kingdom of God."
9:61 Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my
home."
9:62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the
kingdom of God."
Here is Luke's Gospel we see Jesus telling His followers that following Him requires great
commitment. It requires following Him above and beyond what we might have thought was
valuable before we began following Him.
John 1:12-13 ESV
1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God,
11
1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God.
In this passage we find that through believing "on his name", that is the name of Jesus, we are re-
born as a child of God. This re-birth is not from a willing of man or of birth, but it is through the
power and grace of God through Christ Jesus. If we have found Jesus Christ to be our Higher
Power, then by this belief in Him we are re-born as God's child by God's grace. God in Christ
Jesus then provides the power that can lead us away from the insanity of our addictive behaviors.
Step 4 Scriptures
Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
Proverbs 4:23-27
4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
4:24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
This group of verses from Proverbs speaks to many issues in working our 4th step. These
proverbs tell us how important it is to be protective of our heart, for out of our heart come the
issues of life. In the 4th step, we examine how we have violated this advice. We look back to
find the ways that we have not guarded our heart, ways that we have let foolishness and folly
rule our feelings rather than a loving and careful spirit. We examine how to put away the
deceitful words and ways that we have found in our addictive ways. We begin to see how to
direct our lives in a straight path, not being distracted by the temptations of the world, the
triggers of our addiction. Probably most to the point for the 4th step is verse 4:26. We are told to
ponder the path of our feet and let all of our ways be established. In the 4th step we ponder what
we have done in our lives and how that has affected our lives. We examine the good and the
bad. In that examination, we begin to understand what was worthwhile and what was not
worthwhile. Where was God in our lives trying to direct us and protect us, and how did we
ignore God or rebel against God's leading? In understanding how God has sought to work in our
lives in the past, we can better understand how to walk in the future, to have all of our ways be
established in the ways of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:39-45
3:39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
12
3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
3:42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not
3:43
pitied.
3:44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.
3:45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.
It is fitting that these words are from the book of Lamentations, for the book describes the
aftermath of falling away from the ways of righteousness, as we have done in our addictive
behaviors. We are told in verse 40 to search and examine our ways and turn again to the LORD.
This is what we are to do in step 4 of our program. We examine our life in the light of God's
righteousness, making a moral inventory of our lives. In this inventory we will probably see at
least some of these things in our lives that the subsequent verses talk about - how we have
blocked God's pity, pardon and answered prayers from our life. As Christians we have hope that
through the blood of Christ we can find forgiveness for these sins and a redeemed relationship
with God. This examination of our lives also begins to set up a precendent where we can invite
our God to examine our lives as well (Psalm 17:3, 26:2) that we might continue to be found in
God.
Matthew 5:4
5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives many instances of how we are blessed. In this verse,
He tells us that we are blessed when we mourn appropriately. Step 4 can be a step of mourning
those places in our lives where we messed up and missed the good life that God would have
liked to have given us. In this mourning, though, we become blessed as we find the healing and
comfort from the Lord.
Luke 12:1-7
In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of
12:1 people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples
first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be
12:2
known.
Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and
12:3 that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the
housetops.
12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after
13
that have no more that they can do.

But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath
12:5
power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before
12:6
God?
But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of
12:7
more value than many sparrows.
How does this passage relate to step 4? The Pharisees in Jesus' day were very hypocritical. The
parallel is that because of our addictive behaviors, we probably also have been very hypocritical.
We would tell others one thing, but act differently ourselves. Most of us were good at putting on
a false face in order to hide the shame within us. In this way, Jesus' advice to the Pharisees is
good advice for us. We are told that although we may have covered up things and lived our
deeds in darkness, they will be uncovered and put in the light. They are already known by God.
And they are probably already known by the perceptive people around us as well on some level.
If they are not known now, then they will be known sometime in the future, at the very least on
the day of judgement. Step 4 is about making these things known to us in light of the moral
standards that God has set. We bring them to light in our our mind and consciousness so that
when they are brought to light in the future then we will be prepared and not susceptible to
overwhelming guilt. God does not want us to live in guilt but in freedom. This passage also talks
about fear. Fear has probably been a motivation for our addiction and our hypocrisy. We did our
cover-ups out of fear that someone else would find out. We are warned here to have a fear
concerning eternal matters most of all. When this fear trumps our fear of men or of worldly
consequences, then we begin to have the right kind of fear. This is for the reason that we see in
verses 6 and 7, that God loves us and knows us far better than we can ever know. In step 4, we
uncover our past actions in a moral light. We might determine that some of our actions were
born out of a guilt and a shame that were not ours, that others imposed upon us through neglect
or abuse. We will also find those actions that we must take responsibility for, that we did
because of our addiction. This is an important step towards accountability and the healing that
we can find in the steps of recovery.
2 Corinthians 10:12-13
For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some
10:12 that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and
comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure
10:13
of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.
Here the apostle Paul tells the Corinthian church that to compare themselves using the measure
of themselves is not wise. It is wiser rather to measure themselves by God's standards and
measures. This may have been one of our problems that encouraged our addictive behaviors. We
14
may have measured ourselves according to the standards of those around us, which is a natural
and easy thing to do. And if we were around other people with low moral standards, either
through necessity or from our own choice, then our behavior might have seemed pretty good
compared to theirs. However, when we come to the point where we realized that God has
another standard for us, a moral standard that is far above the standard that we had accepted for
ourselves, then we are ready to look at our life as God sees our life. In the fourth step we do a
MORAL inventory based on how our God looks at the past of our life, using God's moral
measure rather than our previous measures based on our own biased opinions and of those in our
addictive circles.
Galatians 6:3-8
6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself
6:4
alone, and not in another.
6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good
6:6
things.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
6:7
reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to
6:8
the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
The Spirit of God writing through the apostle Paul exhorts us here to be honest and objective
with ourselves. Especially when we have become used to being seduced by the lies of our
addiction, we then find it more difficult to separate truth from fiction. One of the easiest ways to
deceive ourselves is to have a false sense of ourselves and how we relate to others and especially
to God. For many of us, it is easy to get in the habit of thinking more of ourselves in order to
give us permission to indulge in our addictive behaviors and think that it is OK. We may think
that we are special or have special privileges because of reason 'XYZ', and 'XYZ' might be
different for each one of us. But the common thread to this excuse is that whatever we may use
to justify our being special, it can lead us to pride and an unwarranted sense of privilege. We
may have this attitude also to temporarily keep us from facing the shame and guilt of our
addictive activities.
But instead of a false sense of ourself, we are admonished to 'prove' our own work. The NKJV
translates this word as 'examine' rather than 'prove'. This is the value of the 4th step. We can
prove or examine our own work by looking back on our life and try to get an objective picture of
what was wrong in our past (and that may still linger in the present), as well as what was and is
right in our life. We try to look at our life from God's perspective, knowing that Christ died for
millions of other people throughout the world and throughout history. It is to His credit that He
can be so intimate and loving with us and also be intimate and loving with millions of other
people. In this we are special - in our relationship with God. But we are no more special than the
15
millions of other people whom God loves and cares for, and our being in this special
relationship does not put us above the laws that He has given us. In looking at our life from
God's perspective (a "moral" perspective, as the 4th step is worded), we get a more objective
and truthful sense of who we have really been. We examine with our own conscience before
God what has been good and what has been evil in our life.
In this passage, we are further warned that God is not mocked. Looking back on our life as we
do our inventory, we can see how God has been faithful and just. He has chastened and
disciplined us when we have gone against His ways, especially when we have done this
willfully. Even when we thought we might have been getting away with something, we actually
were not. We may have survived, but we missed the larger picture of how God wanted to bless
us in extraordinary ways. We also now have a choice by His grace to sow to the Spirit instead,
and reap the reward of life everlasting. Part of this process of growing in God's ways is by
taking our inventory - proving our own work. Then we can go forward with a realistic picture of
our own lives from a God's moral perspective and find the peace and mercy of God (as pointed
out later in verse 16).
Revelation 2:4-5
2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works;
2:5 or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place,
except thou repent.
These verses will apply to the 4th step in greatest measure if we were Christians or had an
affection for Christ before we started down the path of our addiction. In these verses, Christ is
admonishing the Church at Ephesus to return to their first love and remember from where they
were fallen. Perhaps in remembering where they had fallen from, they would again be able to
rekindle the devotion to Christ that they had once known. In the 4th step, we work on
remembering all of our life and later laying it before the eyes of God, ourselves and at least one
other person. If this remembering of our life brings us memories of a broken relationship with
God, then it becomes bittersweet. There is the bitterness of knowing that we have turned away
from the ways of God's truth. Yet there is also a sweetness of remembering how sweet it was to
trust in Jesus and how full of grace and love He is. The remembering and the healing of those
memories is an important part of our recovery process.
Step 5 Scriptures
Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our
wrongs
16
Psalm 32:3-7
32:3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by
32:4
the heat of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess
32:5
my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be
32:6
found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
Psa 32:7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you
32:7
surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
This is a powerful passage that speaks about the cleansing power of confession to God. David
writes in the Psalms that when he kept silence his bones grew old, but when he confessed his
sins the Lord forgave his iniquity. David then calls the Lord his hiding place. This is the truth
we often find in our confession. When we try to hide our addictive behaviors then it happens so
often that our sins become known to others and we find shame and disgrace. But when we
confess our sins to God, then in His grace we find a place of hiding, a place of safety from our
shame and guilt. We can begin to sing songs of deliverance.
Proverbs 28:13 (NKJV)

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and
28:13
forsakes them will obtain mercy.
A very simple and straightforward proverb that shows the value of bringing our sins out into the
open. It is through confession and forsaking our sins that we find mercy and grace in the eyes of
God and other men and women. To continue covering them only creates deceit in our souls and
in our relationship with others, including God.
Matthew 3:5-6
Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to
3:5
him,
3:6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Here we see the response to the preaching of John the Baptist and his calls for repentance. This
was before Jesus had been introduced as the Messiah, the Chosen One. Nevertheless, we still
find that people instinctively confessed their sins as they went through the process of baptism,
repentance and cleansing. The truth circulated in 12 step circles that "we are as sick as our
secrets" must have been written on the human heart for a long, long time. For here,
17
approximately 2000 years ago, when people sought wholeness and healing, then confession was
a part of that process.
Acts 19:18-20
Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their
19:18
practices.
And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together
19:19 and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found
it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
19:20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
This passage comes from the time when the apostle Paul was in Ephesus. After many
demonstartions of the power of the Gospel, many began to believe in the Lord and confessed
their deeds. Confession again seems to be part of the act of true repentance. Reflective of that
time and place, there was also apparently quite a bit of magic being practiced, which often goes
along with idolatry. Part of their repentance in this case was to burn the books that they had used
for magic. In a parallel for our lives, we need to get rid of our sources of temptation as far as is
possible (given the constraints of our living a godly life) so that they will no longer be a source
of idolatry for us. In this way, the word of God can also prevail in our lives and give us the true
freedom that is found in Christ.
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may
5:16
be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
James tells us that we should confess our faults to each other, and in so doing we may find
healing. This is a powerful means that God has given us to find healing through an honest,
trusting fellowship with each other, and finding healing through confession.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
1:9
from all unrighteousness.
Here we have the principle of confession put in a very clear and straightforward way. We are to
confess our sins, and God will be faithful to forgive our sins. To whom do we confess our sins?
This verse does not say explicitly, but we can surmise that it is at least to the Lord, since He is
the one doing the cleansing because of this. This does not preclude confession to others, either.
18
As we see from the passage in James 5:16, confession is also pleasing when we confess to one
another.
Step 6 Scriptures
Step 6: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
Matthew 3:1-3
3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of
3:3
one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"
When John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus, he told the people to repent or "make a
180" as we would say in today's vernacular. They were to turn away from their sins in order to
be prepared for the Messiah. This we must do also in order to live daily with the Messiah who
came, Jesus the Lord. In step 6, we repent of our sins - all of our known sins and not just our
addictive behaviors - that we have uncovered in step 4 and confessed in step 5. In this way we
can be prepared to also live faithfully with the Messiah on a day-to-day basis.
Romans 6:8-14
6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no
6:9
longer has dominion over him.
6:10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present
6:13 yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your
members to God as instruments for righteousness.
6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
The entire chapter of Romans 6 talks of our new life in Christ following a baptism into the
likeness of His death. Christ died and then rose again and death has no more dominion over
Him. In the same way, as Christians we are to die to sin so that it will not have dominion over
us. As addicts, this means that we are to die to those things that once enticed and seduced us.
Through the previous steps we should have discovered what this dying means exactly for us in
our personal life. We now yield our body to righteousness instead of to the sin of our addictive
19
behaviors. This chapter of Romans makes clear and we also know from experience that this
dying to sin is a continual process - "a day at a time", as the 12 step saying goes. We become
servants of doing what is right and good and in that we find the freedom that we could never
have had in our addictive behaviors.
Galatians 5:1
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to
5:1
a yoke of slavery.
In this passage, Paul is talking about whether believers should be circumcised or not, putting
themselves under the bondage of the law. Paul points out that they were freed from that law, so
be sure not to go back to it. In the context of our addiction. we can say that since we have been
freed from our addictive behaviors through the grace of Christ Jesus, then we are not to be
entangled again with the yoke of the bondage of our addiction. We are to stand fast, to abide in
and remain in the liberty which Christ has given us and set us free. God leaves this choice up to
us. We should always remember that the true choice then is not between the "comfort" of our
addiction or not, but between liberty and bondage. By now we should be wise enough to choose
liberty. That is what the sixth and seventh steps are all about - to make this choice of liberty for
our lives and not be entangled again with bondage.
Ephesians 4:17-24
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles
4:17
do, in the futility of their minds.
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of
4:18
the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to
4:19
practice every kind of impurity.
4:20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!--
assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in
4:21
Jesus,
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt
4:22
through deceitful desires,
4:23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness
4:24
and holiness.
The apostle Paul is telling us as Christians as he did to the Ephesians to make our walk with
Christ consistent. We are to discard the defects of character that alienate us from God, for it was
not through these defects that we learned Christ. Having completed the 4th and 5th steps, we
20
know that the life of the old man was indeed corrupt through deceitful lusts. We are admonished
to put these old things away and to put on the new man and be renewed in our mind instead.
That is why God originally created us as He did - to live in righteousness and true holiness.
Colossians 3:5-13
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion,
3:5
evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
3:6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
3:7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene
3:8
talk from your mouth.
3:9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image
3:10
of its creator.
Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,
3:11
Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts,
3:12
kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each
3:13
other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
One of the difficult things about getting rid of our addictive behaviors is that they are often
wrapped up in so many other parts of our character and habits. In our lives we have learned to
accept many character defects in conjunction with our addictive behaviors. Although lying or
stealing may not have been our primary addiction, we may have learned to lie or steal or any of
a host of other character defects in order to conceal the tracks of our addictive behaviors. By
step 6 we have made an inventory and "come clean" with ourselves, our God and someone else
about all of these incidents in our lives. Step 6 is about our willingness to not only give up our
addictive behaviors, but also all of the character defects that surround them. Of course, this does
not make it a "done deal". We will always need to be vigilant against our defects of character.
But as Christians, we are called to continually give them up, as outlined in this passage. In that
way we will not only be free of our character defects but it will guard against our falling back
into our addictive behaviors.
1 Thessalonians 1:6-10
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much
1:6
affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
1:7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
1:8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and
Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say
21
anything.
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you,
1:9
and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who
1:10
delivers us from the wrath to come.
In this passage, we see how the Thessalonians willingly turned from their idols to actively serve
the true God through Christ Jesus, even to the point of having "much affliction". Yet at the same
time, there was "joy of the Holy Spirit". In our addictive behaviors, we also were serving idols,
and in the sixth step we make a decision that we want to give up all of the things that led to that
idolatry, to have God remove these defects of our character. The Thessalonians give us an
example of doing this willingly and afterward being an example to many others of what it meant
to live faithfully with God.
Revelation 16:8-11
The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch
16:8
people with fire.
They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had
16:9
power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was
16:10
plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish
and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their
16:11
deeds.
This passage from Revelation is revealing in that it shows how stubbornly people can hold on to
their idols. The judgment of God is coming upon people here for their wicked deeds. But the
judgment of God in this case does not lead to repentance. It leads only to more wickedness in
blasphemy and cursing of God. The lesson for us as addicts is to not be like this. We have lived
in wicked deeds before God. We have made something into an idol that was never meant to
have that much power in our lives, whether it was alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography, food,
money, status, a certain appearance, unhealthy relationships or any of a host of other traps in our
world. By the sixth step we should be fairly aware of how these things have harmed us and
brought the judgment of God upon our lives. Instead of being like those who perished in
judgment in this passage, we can learn from our mistakes, repent of our deeds and of our
thinking of the past and find protection and peace in the love and mercy of God through Christ
Jesus.
Step 7 Scriptures
22
Step 7: Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
Matthew 18:4
18:4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Here Jesus tells us that we are to seek humility, and gives us the example of how little children
can be so humble and trusting and how we are to emulate that. Childhood is a time of special
innocence. Children respond to their world with delightful honesty and spontaneity. This
innocence can also leave them vulnerable to abuse, and it could be that such abuse was the root
of some of our addictive behavior. But in God through Christ we have found a loving Father
whom we can trust fully with our life, our being. So we can re-gain the humility and trust that
we have lost somewhere along the way in our addiction. We can humble ourselves knowing that
God will treat this humility in a kind and accepting manner and help us find the healing and
strength that we desire and that God desires for us.
Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were
18:9
righteous, and treated others with contempt:
"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax
18:10
collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not
18:11
like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
18:12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but
18:13
beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For
18:14 everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will
be exalted."
As a Christian in recovery, we live by the grace and mercy of God. Realizing this, we live in
humility before God, for it is through Him that we have our victories, our peace and our joy. In
this parable, we should be able to well identify with the tax collector, or publican as he is called.
After having gone through step 4 we should realize how many times and in how many ways we
have gone against God's love and will for our life. Being aware of this long list of sins from our
past, we can only cast down our eyes, beat our breasts and ask for God's mercy in our lives. We
can do this because we have a God of mercy and grace, one who hears our pleas and yearnings
and finally gives us justification in our humility before Him.
1 Peter 5:6-10
23
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper
5:6
time he may exalt you,
5:7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a
5:8
roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being
5:9
experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to
5:10 his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish
you.
The apostle Peter reminds us here to humble ourselves before God. And this comes with a
reminder that we can do this in total trust because God cares for us. Humility before God is so
important in this 7th step of asking God to remove our shortcomings. It should stem from a
realization that we need God in our lives to help us to overcome, that we cannot do it on our
own. Furthermore, it is in humility because it has been a choice of God to extend grace to us. It
is a gift and not something that we have earned. For that we need to maintain a humble and
grateful attitude. There is also a warning here about the evil one trying to devour us. In the case
of addictions, this devouring usually comes in the form of our addictive behaviors. But we are
promised if we resist there temptations by God's power and the power that He gives us through
fellowship, prayer and all of the other disciplines that we have learned while abiding in Him and
working our program, that God will then will restore us, establish us, strengthen and settle us.
1 John 5:14-15
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything
5:14
according to his will he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the
5:15
requests that we have asked of him.
Here we have a promise that if we ask in accordance with the will of God, then God hears our
requests and that we have the requests that we desire. Sometimes we may not know what the
will of God is for sure, and only through the answers to prayer do we actually know whether or
not something was God's will. In some things, however, we can be very confident of God's will
and when we ask for those things we can be confident of an answer to prayer. One thing that we
know is God's will for our life is to live a life pleasing to God, full of the fruit of the Spirit, full
of the life that the Lord has given us, free from the works of the flesh which we have let into our
lives with our addictive behaviors. So in the seventh step, asking God to remove these defects of
character is definitely a prayer that the Lord will honor. We can be very confident of this as long
as we do our part in our recovery.
24
Step 8 Scriptures
Step 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to
them all
Leviticus 6:1-7
6:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
"If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the LORD by deceiving his
6:2 neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed
his neighbor
or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely--in any of all the things
6:3
that people do and sin thereby--
if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or
6:4 what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing
that he found
or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a
6:5
fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.
And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the LORD a ram without
6:6
blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering.
And the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be
6:7
forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty."
The principle of making amends goes back a long way in the scriptures. This passage is from the
book of Leviticus, one of the books of the law written by Moses, and is one of numerous
passages from that book that tell of the requirements of the law of Moses for making amends. In
this case, it is for the sin of stealing, cheating or making a gain from threats or lies. The
command is to make amends by returning the amount to the person and then also pay an
additional 20% of the value of the item. In addition, it is necessary to bring an offering to the
priest for this sin, a trespass offering. If we are a believer in Christ, then first of all we might
give praise to God that Jesus has made this sacrifice on our behalf. We should realize that this
grace for us cost a tremendous price for Christ and we should not take that lightly. If we are a
Christian, then we believe that there has been a new dispensation, a new covenant between God
and His people as given in the New Testament. However, the character of God remains the same
in the New Testament and the Old Testament. It is the same God who is revealing Himself in
both places. Nothing in the New Testament has over-ridden this principle, and in fact we are
told in the New Testament that our righteousness should "exceed that of the scribes and
Pharisees" (Matthew 5:20). It would seem entirely appropriate, then, and, in the opinion of this
commentator, would be pleasing to God if we took this principle of making amends from the
book of Leviticus and applied it in our life. In verse 6:7, we are told that after this making of
amends in our life that there would be forgiveness. We should not be surprised, then, that in the
process of making amends we too find a peace and forgiveness that we had never known before.
25
2 Samuel 12:1-14
And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, "There were
12:1
two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.
12:2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds,
but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he
12:3 brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his
morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.
Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his
12:4 own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the
poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him."
Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan,
12:5
"As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die,
and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had
12:6
no pity."
Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I
12:7
anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and
12:8 gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to
you as much more.
Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You
12:9 have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be
your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have
12:10
despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'
Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.
12:11 And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he
shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
12:12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.'"
David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to
12:13
David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child
12:14
who is born to you shall die."
In this passage we have an instance of what might be called "forced amends", if you will, based
upon the judgment of God more than a willing heart. David has committed adultery with
Bathsheba and has had Bathsheba's husband (Uriah) killed in battle in order to cover up David's
sin. When Nathan the prophet makes a parable for what David has done, then David becomes
infuriated and sees the great injustice of it all and says that the amends should be fourfold. Then
Nathan utters those lines that have been used in many literary works since "Thou art the man".
Indeed, our sin may or may not be the same as David's, but as an addict we can surely find
instances where someone can point to us and say "Thou art the man" (or woman). We are guilty
26
of taking the goodness and grace of God and of others and abusing it, ignoring it, or
manipulating it into something selfish, arrogant, ugly and evil. We are the man. In this case,
David had to pay fourfold for his sin, just as he himself had proclaimed in his judgment. In
David's case, the judgment involved violence not departing from his own house and sexual
immorality being rampant in his own family and David's shame made public to Israel. In this we
see that God is a God of justice in spite of what relationship we may or may not have had with
God before. If we are believers in Christ, then we can legitimately hope for mercy through the
blood of Christ. At the same time, the same God is the God of the Old Testament and the God of
the New Testament so we can legitimately expect judgment mixed with this mercy as well. In
reading through the events that followed in David's life, it might be surmised that had David
been more diligent in rooting out sin and become more aware of the sin in his life and those
around him (for becoming aware of sin in our own lives and the lives of others can often go
hand in hand), then we can imagine that some of the devastation might have been avoided later
in his life. That is what we might hope for in Christ - that by His grace we can be more diligent
and careful and effective in rooting out sin in our lives and to see it more accurately in the world
around us. We have this added grace through Christ. But amends still need to be made,
consequences still need to be endured as we remain faithful to Christ. God will still need to
prune us to bear fruit for Him. If we willingly embrace the notion of making amends and
consciously make that effort, then that can open up a window for God's mercy and grace to flow
in our lives and even possibly allow us to avoid some judgment from the Lord. At the very least,
we can grow in Christ and our knowledge of Him as we endure whatever sufferings may come
in our life.
Proverbs 16:6-7
By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the
16:6
LORD one turns away from evil.
When a man's ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace
16:7
with him.
When we are making amends, we are "purging iniquity". The NKJV translates this verse "In
mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity...". In other words, when we live in mercy
and truth we are making atonement, we are purging the iniquity from our lives and from the
lives of others. This is what making amends is all about - about purging iniquity, purging the
poison that came from our addictive behaviors in our own lives, the lives of others and in our
relationships. In 16:7 we see a possible consequence from this purging the iniquity and that is
that those who were once our enemies can become those who are at peace with us. Our
relationships can be restored to those of peace, harmony and trust where there once was strife
and suspicion.
Ezekiel 33:14-16
Again, though I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' yet if he turns from his sin
33:14
and does what is just and right,
27
if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and
33:15
walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has
16:7
done what is just and right; he shall surely live.
In Ezekiel 33, the Lord tells of His standards for forgiveness and righteousness and repentance.
Several times in this chapter we are told that we cannot rest in our righteous deeds and expect
that we are immune to judgment if we fall into sin. Neither is it hopeless if we fall into sin, as
there is a path through repentance where we can turn back to righteousness. In these verses it is
also pointed out that repentance can involve making amends - "restore the pledge, give again
that he had robbed" (33:15).
Luke 19:8-10
And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I
19:8
give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold."
And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a
19:9
son of Abraham.
19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
Zacchaeus was the "chief among the tax collectors, and he was rich" (Luke 19:2). In those days
it was common for tax collectors to take some extra tax for themselves to line their own pockets.
We do not know if or how often Zacchaeus himself may have done this, and perhaps he had not
even kept track. But when Jesus came to his house, Zacchaeus became a changed man. He
wanted to set everything right, and part of setting everything right was to pay back anything that
he had gotten unjustly - and not only to pay it back but to pay it back FOURFOLD. This is an
example of spontaneously wanting to make amends. And note the response of Christ to this
announcement. Christ blesses him. It is often easy once we have our addictive behavior behind
us to look only forward and forget about people we may have hurt in the past. But here we see
how blessed it can be to go further and to take the step of making amends to those we have
wronged. In Zacchaeus' case, it brought the Lord to proclaim "This day is salvation come to this
house...".
Romans 12:18
12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
In Step 8 we begin the process of trying to make peace with those around us who we may have
hurt. We are admonished here by the apostle Paul to "live peaceably with all". By making
amends we do our part in helping to create peace where there might be resentment, hurt and
28
destruction in the wake of our addictive behaviors. The additional wisdom of this verse also
gives this qualification - "as much as lies in you". We may do our best to make amends and
these amends may not be accepted by others. It is the right of others to decide whether they want
to forgive us or not. What we have control over is in making the proper amends. How other
people respond to our amends is up to them.
Step 9 Scriptures
Step 9: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would
injure them or others
Proverbs 14:9
5:9 Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance. (ESV)
Sometimes people question whether it is important to make amends or not. This proverb,
however, tells us that it is a fool who would mock making an offer for guilt. In the context of the
Proverbs of the Old Testament, perhaps the writer is thinking about the guilt offerings that were
ordained in the book of Leviticus. In the context of the New Testament, the underlying truth still
remains that offerings (or amends) for the guilt of the past can be appropriate. It is the fool who
would say otherwise. The latter half of the verse also reflects the experience of many who work
a 12 step program in that after making amends they often find an acceptance from others and
themselves that brings joy to their lives.
Matthew 5:9
5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Jesus is telling us that when we are makers of peace, that we become truly children of God.The
eighth and ninth steps are about making peace with those whom we have wronged, as much as is
within us to do. The usual practice is to sweep wrongs of the past under the rug and try to forget
about them. But by making appropriate amends, we are able to go the second mile and
oftentimes bring peace and goodness where there might have been lingering doubts or mistrust
or confusion before. We can become peacemakers who are blessed as children of God.
Matthew 5:23-24
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother
5:23
has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother,
5:24
and then come and offer your gift.
29
We are told in clear terms here that we are to be reconciled with our brother if they have things
against us. This means not only are we to be diligent in trying to make things right when there is
resentment against us, but it also implies that we should be sensitive to the thoughts and feelings
of others so that we can know if there is any lingering resentment or anger toward us. There
could also be an implication that since they are a brother or sister in the Lord, then they will be
reasonable and sensitive to God's leading so that when we sincerely try to be reconciled, that
there will be true reconciliation.
Matthew 5:25-26
Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest
5:25 your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put
in prison.
5:26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
This may be the corollary of the previous two verses for how to deal with the resentment of
others, but this time they are for our adversaries, those who are truly set against us and may not
be in the family of God. Here we are to be very careful to not offend if possible, knowing that
the consequences could be severe. And by agreeing that we have done wrong, that we were
remiss or negligent in our dealings with them, can often be all that it takes to make their anger
and resentment subside to something that is manageable.
Acts 9:10-31
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a
9:10
vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."
And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house
9:11
of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,
and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him
9:12
so that he might regain his sight."
But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much
9:13
evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.
9:14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name."
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my
9:15
name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said,
9:17 "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came
has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight.
9:18
Then he rose and was baptized;
30
and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at
9:19
Damascus.
And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of
9:20
God."
And all who heard him were amazed and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc
9:21 in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this
purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?"
But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in
9:22
Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
9:23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him,
but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in
9:24
order to kill him,
but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,
9:25
lowering him in a basket.
And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they
9:26
were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.
But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on
9:27 the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had
preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the
9:28
Lord.
9:29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him.
And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent
9:30
him off to Tarsus.
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was
9:31 being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy
Spirit, it multiplied.
In these verses we see part of a story of repentance and making amends. The story actually
begins in the Acts 7 and 8. Saul is there shown to be consenting to the death of the first Christian
martyr Stephen, and he then begins taking believers in Christ and putting them in prison. Then
the Lord appears to Saul on the road to Damascus and Saul becomes a convert to Christ. In this
passage in Acts 9, we see that some time after this conversion, Saul returns to Jerusalem and
begins to preach the good news of Christ, endangering his own life that he might share the news
of Christ's salvation with others. In today's language, we might call Saul a "religious addict". He
was so enamored of his religion and the power that it gave him that he abused people with it.
This may or may not have been our addiction. In this case it took a miraculous vision by God's
grace to bring Saul to the truth. If we have come to Christ, then we also have experienced in
some way the grace of God. In Saul's case, he went back and told others basically how wrong he
had been and how right the followers of Christ had been. In one sense, these amends went on
throughout the rest of his life so that in the letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul (as Saul was then
named) wrote about how God had been merciful to him because he had been a blasphemer and
31
persecutor in ignorance and unbelief (1 Tim. 1:13). So also we have probably done many things
in ignorance and unbelief. But now as a believer in Christ, we can live in truth and
righteousness, making right any wrongs we have done and telling others of the truth that we
know.
Step 10 Scriptures
Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it
Romans 12:2-3
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
12:2 that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable
and perfect.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself
12:3 more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each
according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
One thing that is so easy to have happen at any stage of the recovery process is to become
arrogant, to think more of ourselves than we should. Sometimes this arrogance can come
because our life seems to be going well. By the 10th step we may feel that we are "on our way".
If our life has become easier, we may tend to forget the difficulties that recovery sometimes
requires. These verses remind us to continue in humility, to think soberly about our capabilities
and our life before God, to not over-reach beyond the gifts that God has given us. Only the
Savior can save the world - not us - and we are called only to do the part that we have been
given in God's plan - no more and no less. By continuing to take personal inventory, we can stay
real about our strengths and weaknesses, depending upon God for our strength and remaining
confident, humble and real with God and others.
Philipians 2:12-13
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my
2:12 presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling,
2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Here in the book of Philipians, the apostle Paul is exhorting his fellow Christians to keep
working out "your own salvation with fear and trembling". The work of sanctification in Christ
is a continual one, and we should be diligent to continue taking personal inventory, reflecting on
our walk with Christ, and when we find that we have done something wrong that we quickly
32
take action to admit it and, if appropriate, make amends for it. This keeps us not only from
falling back into old ways of addiction, but also builds up our faith and witness in a stronger and
stronger way. Then we can begin to fulfill the tasks of helping others that God longs for us to be
able to do.
2 John 1:8
Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a
1:8
full reward.
Recovery is hard work. We not only have to strive to live a normal life with all of its normal
responsibilities, but we also have to continue to work the steps and be constantly vigilant against
the possibility of our addictive behaviors returning to us. Here the apostle John is admonishing
Christians to not lose what they have worked for. In terms of recovery, this means for us to not
slip back into old addictive behaviors. It means to not lose our freedom, which we have worked
so hard and diligently to gain and maintain. In order to do this, it is imperative that we continue
to take personal inventory as we go through life. In this way, we can maintain the hope that we
will receive a full reward in the Lord.
Step 11 Scriptures
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
Matthew 4:1-11
4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
4:2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these
4:3
stones to become loaves of bread."
But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
4:4
word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
4:6 "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear
you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the
4:7
test.'"
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms
4:8
of the world and their glory.
33
4:9 And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the
4:10
Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
4:11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
In this portion of scripture, we read about how Jesus used fasting to grow in His consecration to
the will of God. This passage also shows how oftentimes when we grow in our consecration,
then there is an opposition from the evil one and a time of temptation.
John 15:4-11
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides
15:4
in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is
15:5
that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and
15:6
the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
15:7
be done for you.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my
15:8
disciples.
15:9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my
15:10
Father's commandments and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that
15:11
your joy may be full.
This passage in the gospel of John is so rich for the believer in Christ. It tells us plainly that we
have our power, our peace and our joy from abiding in Christ. In our recovery process, this is a
key concept. If we are working a 12 step program as a Christian, by the 11th step we should be
consistent in our walk with God. In order to maintain this consistency we need to continue to
abide in Christ, keeping His commandments, abiding in His love and His joy, having His words
abide in us. There is a warning here also that those who do not abide in Christ will be cast out. If
we have gone through the recovery process to the 11th step, we should know that going
backwards is not an option, that it is only filled with pain, misery and spiritual death. So we
continue to grow in God's ways and abide in Christ and find the peace and joy that is in Christ
and a full recovery from our addiction.
Philipians 4:5-9
34
4:5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
4:6
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and
4:7
your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever
4:8 is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things,
4:9
and the God of peace will be with you.
We are encouraged here to rest in and be content in the ways of God. The apostle Paul points
out that we do this through a life of moderation, prayer, thinking about the good things of God
and living out the things that we have learned from the scriptures and good examples. This is
what is talked about in step 11, to continue to grow in our walk with God. In doing so, we can
grow in that great reward of the peace of God which passes all understanding. If we were to try
to live this life when we were just getting out of our addiction, then we might find it boring or
difficult or unrewarding. But by going through the previous steps, we learn how valuable these
things are in our life - more valuable than any of the false and shallow "rewards" that we got
from our addictive behavior. We realize by now how God has worked so beautifully in our lives
and we want to live more of that.
1 Peter 4:1-8
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of
4:1
thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for
4:2
the will of God.
For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in
4:3
sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of
4:4
debauchery, and they malign you;
4:5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though
4:6
judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the
4:7
sake of your prayers.
4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
Here the apostle Peter reminds us of our past life, when we walked in licentiousness, lust, excess
35
of wine, reveling, carousing and abominable idolatries, and the fact that many still walk in these
ways and think it strange when we do not. But just as for us, there was a time of judgment, a
time of hitting bottom so that we might know that it was the grace of God that could pull us out,
there also will be a time of judgment for others who walk in these ways. God is just. And the
response in our lives should be to do the will of God. It is to be sober minded, spending time in
prayer and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ fervently. In this way we can avoid the
roaring lion that would seek to devour even more of our lives and the good fruit of the Spirit that
God wants to bear in us.
Step 12 Scriptures
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
Matthew 3:1-3
3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of
3:3
one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"
John the Baptist was preaching and telling others according to what the Lord had revealed to
him. He did not yet know the full extent of the gospel. He had not yet seen Jesus as the Messiah.
Yet he was obedient in proclaiming what the Lord had revealed to him so far. This is a pattern
for us, to carry the message that we have known from God to others, to the extent that we have
known and experienced it to be from God.
Galatians 6:1-2
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should
6:1
restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Having gone through the 12 steps ourselves, we should have gained some measure of
spirituality. We should be able to identify to some extent with those who the apostle Paul here is
addressing as "you who are spiritual", especially as we compare ourselves to those who are still
caught up in their addictive behaviors. As such, we are admonished to "restore such a one in the
spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted." One of the beauties of the 12
step program is that we have been given a structured set of steps through which we can help to
restore "such a one" who has fallen into a fault, into destructive and addictive behaviors.
Through working through the steps ourselves, we have insights and wisdom that we can share
36
with others as they try to find freedom, healing and recovery. The attitude here is important,
though, as we are to do it in a "spirit of meekness". With such an attitude on our part, then our
offer to help is usually much more welcome to those in need than would be an attitude of
arrogance or self-righteousness. Also, an attitude of meekness reminds us again of our own need
for God in our life and will help us to not fall back into our own addictive behaviors and thought
patterns. This is vital so that while we are helping others we will also be doing self-reflection on
how God and the program have worked in our lives - considering ourselves - so that we will not
be tempted by the addiction that has held such power in our lives and still might to a large
extent. We are told in verse 6:2 that in helping to carry these burdens of others we are fulfilling
the law of Christ, emulating to some extent the One who came to help carry our burdens and to
sacrifice His body on the cross that we could find freedom from sin.
1 Timothy 1:12-16
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged
1:12
me faithful, appointing me to his service,
though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I
1:13
received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in
1:14
Christ Jesus.
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came
1:15
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might
1:16 display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for
eternal life.
In this letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul admits to being a blasphemer and persecutor of the
church, and that he had done that in ignorance and unbelief. By the time we get to the twelfth
step in our program, we also should be able to be very honest and straightforward concerning
our faults of the past. Having gained wisdom through working the earlier steps, we will know
how to present ourselves in a light of honesty and humility that can stand as an example of the
mercy and grace of God. In working with others who are in the midst of or just coming out of
their addictive behaviors, this honesty about ourselves can bring hope to them for their own
recovery and can keep us honest and humble and on track with our own programs. We can
continue in the pattern of Paul, who is an example for those who have come after him in finding
a saving belief in Christ Jesus that leads to life everlasting.
James 5:19 - James 5:20

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him
5:19
back,
let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his
5:20
soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
37
All of us are subject to erring from the truth. This is especially so for those who have been
caught up in the lies of an addiction. As someone who has been seduced by those same or
similar lies in our own addictive behavior, we can have an understanding of what another person
might be going through. It is our duty and our joy to do what we can to help others see the error
of their ways and share with them the hope that there is a way out, through the grace and mercy
of God.
38
Christianity and the 12 Steps

Christ is the Engish translation of the Greek word Kristos which was translated from the Hebrew
word mashiah or messiah. Christianity was formed when a fringe sect of Jewish messiah-ists
(Christians) claimed Jesus as the long awaited messiah from the Jewish tradition. Within 300
years Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.
Christians claim the New Testament as "the greatest story ever told" and it has become their
source of revelation and inspiration. It tells the life story of Jesus of Nazareth and his ministry:
his deeds, parables and teachings.
The Eight Beatitudes which are also known as the Sermon on the Mount are one of the best-
known prose poems in the bible. They serve as a practical summary of the entire Christian
theology. They encompass the basic teachings of Christianity and provide a path or guide for
living much like the 12 Steps of A.A. Lke the 12 Steps, these statements of truth refer to general
principles which are achieved through mental states and action steps.
The Beatitudes
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain:

and when he was set, his disciples me unto him:
And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the
prophets which were before you.
Matthew 5:3-12
39
Step 1: We admitted we are powerless to live

the Christian life.
Principle: Honesty
Step One is the admission that we are dependent on God's will. It requires that we unequivocally
place our faith in Him. When we are are misguided or self-absorbed we discover we have placed
our faith in other people, money, status, power or notoriety. This step is a recognition that this
misplaced faith has not worked, and in fact, has caused our lives to become unmanageable.
Text or Verse
Apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5
Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek,
offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him
either.
Luke 6:28-29
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will
be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil
men. Be merciful, just as your Father was merciful.
Luke 6:35-36
Practice
1. Use the New Testament scriptures as a reference to identify the attitudes and behaviors which
describe the Christian way of life and make a list.
2. Read the list daily.
3. Pick out one attitude or behavior at the beginning of each week to work on as part of an on-
going change process to better align yourself with the Christian way of life.
4. Share your goals, obstacles and successes with a mentor, sponsor or prayer partner.
Resources
Rohr, Richard OFM. How Do We Breathe Underwater? The Gospel and 12-Step Spirituality.
Center for Action and Contemplation. (go to the Links menu to connect to the web-site)
Dick B. The Good Book and the Big Book. A.A.'s Roots in the Bible. Kihei, HI: Paradise
Research Publications, Inc., 1997
40
Selby, Saul. Twelve Step Christianity. Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2000
Step 2: Came to experience Jesus Christ as

personal and available.
Principle: Hope
Step two is focused on developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a relationship
which transcends rational understanding and belief. It is an experiential realization that Christ
cares for and about us and is ready and available at any time to be in relationship with us. This
relationship encompasses love, forgiveness, comfort, guidance and direction.
Step Two in AA is based on coming to understand that sobriety is dependent on one's ability to
trust and rely on a Power greater than oneself. Many people in the throes and desperation of their
addiction/alcoholism cry out to God for help as a last resort - and discover that their prayer was
answered.
Text or Verse
Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing;
God never changes;
Patient endurance
Obtains all things;
Who God possess
In nothing is wanting;
God alone suffices.
Teresa of Avila (Lines written in her breviary)
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
Practice
Spend some time reviewing your life's experiences. Can you identify any times when you have
been unexpectedly loved without reciprocation, been forgiven without solicitation, been
comforted without seeking solace, and been guided by an inner direction to be your highest and
best Self with amazing outcomes?
Allow these experiences to begin to inform the substance and quality of your relationship with
Jesus Christ.
41
Resources
Step 3: We made a decision to completely

surrender our lives over to Jesus Christ.

Principle: Faith
Step Three is an action step. Many analogies used to explain the 12 Steps describe Step One as
the diagnosis, Step Two as the prescription, and Step Three as following the various steps
prescribed by the physician in order to heal. This step requires a submission of one's will to
follow directions and guidance from a source outside oneself. When we apply this analogy to our
larger life, it means we surrender our need to control every last detail and allow ourselves to be
guided by Divine will. In Christianity, this surrender is often called repentance. Repentance
comes from the Latin word penser or ponder, meaning "to rethink." It requires us to rethink who
is actually in charge of our lives, our destiny, our eternity.
Text or Verse
Ah, what is man that you should spare a thought for him,
the son of man, that you should care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than a god,
you have crowned him with glory and splendor,
made him lord over the works of your hands,
set all things under his feet?
Psalm 8
But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him
with all your heart and all your soul.
Deuteronomy 4:29
42
Practice
1. List those things which you have empowered to control your life. Consider your relationship
with money, possessions, relationships, sex, work, status, drugs/alcohol, and pleasure.
2. Ask yourself how easy or difficult it would be to end this relationship. What would you need to
give up or sacrifice? What would prevent you from doing so?
3. How willing are you to take the first steps toward creating a healthier relationship with any one
of these things?
4. If you decide you are ready, share your goals, progress and obstacles with a mentor, sponsor, or
prayer partner.
Resources
Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral

inventory of ourselves.
Principle: Courage
It takes courage to look at the truth about ourselves - our character defects and our strengths. The
process of sanctification (being healed or becoming holy) requires a willingness to know the
truth about ourselves. It requires a fearless and thorough self-examination. We need to face the
hard questions: where do we fall short, what is it we are to become, how must we change? What
are the attitudes and behaviors which need to be changed? Our ability to rationalize our behavior
creates a veil of self-deception. This step pierces this veil which is often painful but necessary.
This step is the fulfillment of the adage, 'the truth will set you free.'
Text or Verse
Examine me, O Lord, and try me; test my mind and my heart.
Psalms 26:2
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there
be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Psalms 139:3-24
43
For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one
examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and
not in regard to another. For each one shall bear his own load.
Galatians 6:3-5
Practice
Self-examination exercise of Christ-like traits.
1. Take 7 sheets of paper and make two columns on each sheet.

2. Label the left column "Examples of Christ-likeness in my life"
3. Label the right column "Examples of un-Christ-likeness in my life"
4. For each of the following 7 Christ-like traits write out examples in both columns 1 sheet per
trait: compassion, kindness, humility, patience, self-control, forgiveness, and faith. The opposite
of these traits is: self-centeredness, mean spiritedness, arrogance, anger, impulsiveness,
resentfulness, and worry.
Resources
Step 5: Confessed our sins to God and one

other person.
Principle: Integrity
Confession is a critical step in our healing process. It represents the releasing or turning over of
that which we no longer want to be; or to carry in our hearts and souls. It is the open, verbal
expression of the insights gained from our self-examination to the God of our understanding and
one other person. The most difficult aspect of this step is the requirement to share with another
human being. Our pride often tells us this is unnecessary, but in fact it is critical. It humbles us
and from this experience we grow stronger in our own integrity. Once we have released our
fears, harms and resentments we experience a sense of lightness and acceptance. The forgiveness
we experience is the gift of grace.
44
Text or Verse
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
James 5:16
Practice
Preparing for Confession:
1. Identify the right listener: sponsor, prayer partner, minister, spiritual director.
2. Be prepared to either read your inventory or to identify the insights you have learned from
scrutinizing the history of your behaviors.
3. Plan at least 3 hours plus some alone time afterwards to experience the release and ensuing
sense of grace.
4. Pray before you begin for the courage to be honest, humble and forthright.
5. And if you forget anything, know that you can revisit this step any time when needed.
Resources
Step 6: Became determined to resist

temptation.
Principle: Willingness
This step reminds us that we always have a choice - we were given free will. We can take the
softer, easier way and do what we have always done with the same results, or we can make the
hard decision to do what is right. This is the human struggle. This step requires us to live and
grow in the integrity and values of our faith. It requires conviction. The previous steps have,
however, prepared us through the practices of repentance, self-examination and confession. We
have also come to believe that we are not powerless, knowing that God is an indwelling presence
which provides us with a well of strength and hope.
45
Text or Verse
No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God.
1 John 3:9
Anyone who forsakes family and possessions,

and willingly takes up his cross and follows Me,
will receive everything I have promised.
And I will reveal to him the hidden mysteries.
Untitled Apocalypse and The Gospels of Thomas
Matthew and Luke
Practice
Resistance Exercise
If you find yourself still resistant to changing or giving up a sinful behavior, write down all the
ways this behavior is serving you and all the reasons you are not yet ready to change it. Share
your responses with your sponsor, mentor, prayer partner, minister or spiritual director.
Resources
Step 7: Humbly asked God to remove our

propensity to sin.
Principle: Humility
At first, change is difficult; this is true for everyone. The first step in the change process is
willingness to change. This step is based on humility, because at the core of this practice, is the
realization that we can't do it alone. We need the support of others who understand, we need a
path of practices like the 12 Steps, and we need to know that the strength we require comes from
the indwelling Presence of God. Our personal transformation will only happen if we learn to ask
for help: from others, and from God through the words and intentions of our prayers. Through
46
prayer we ask for our needs, for the Highest and best good for all concerned, and we express
gratitude for these and all the gifts we have received from His bounty and grace.
Text or Verse
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for
you.
John 15:7
And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If
you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
John 14:13-14
Practice
Create a Personal prayer:
1. Select one of the un-Christlike behaviors you have committed to change.

2. Determine what new behavior you want to adopt in its place.
3. Write a prayer, in your own conversational language, stating the change you want to be.
4. Pray the prayer daily for 30 days, then evaluate your progress with your sponsor, mentor, prayer
partner, minister or spiritual director.
Resources
Steps 8 and 9: Made restitution for the harm

we have done to others.

Principle: Love
Making amends or making restitution is an action step. Many think an apology might suffice.
Amends, much like Step 5 (confession), is a humbling step through which we must own and be
accountable for the effects or consequences of our behaviors on others and make every effort to
47
right the wrong. If we have stolen monies or property, then we must replace what we have taken
plus add one-fifth to it (much like we pay interest on debt). The result of having performed this
step is freedom guilt and shame which would otherwise remain alive and buried in our emotional
psyche.
Text or Verse
When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord,
and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall
make restitution in full for his wrong, and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has
wronged.
Numbers 5:6-7
If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother
has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be
reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
Matthew 5:23-24
Practice
Making restitution:
1. Make a list of people whom you know you have harmed.

2. Be specific in describing the actual harm; what was the consequence to them?
3. How can you make restitution in such a way that you repay or heal the harm or restore the loss?
4. Contact the first person on your list and make arrangements to visit them in person to make
restitution.
Resources
48
Step 10: When we err, we immediately

confess it and make restitution to those we
have harmed.

Principle: Perseverance
Even though we strive to be Christlike, at times we fail. Our conversion is a lifelong process. We
are responsible for the maintenance of our spiritual state of being which requires daily
examination, repentance, confession, forgiveness and restitution. If we err, we need to address it
immediately (within 24 hours is a good rule of thumb). It is a simple, easy practice which allows
us to keep our side of the street clean in all relationships. This practice of righting our wrongs
daily, results in true and lasting change from who we were to who we want to become.
Text or Verse
Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart.
Psalms 26:2
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this
about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test.
2 Corinthians 13:5
Practice
Daily examination:
1. Create a list of positive, Christ-like character traits you want to demonstrate in your daily life.
2. Create a similar list of negative, un-Christlike character traits and behaviors which you area
trying to stop.
3. At the end of each day review both lists asking yourself honestly where you have succeeded and
where you have failed.
4. Review the consequences of your actions on others and determine if restitution is required to
restore the relationship.
5. Make restitution (within 24 hours if possible) if warranted.
49
Resources
Step 11: Seek Christ's will through prayer,

meditation, bible study and reflection.

Principle: Spirituality
For most Christians, our goal is to become more Christ-like. In order to do so, we require
wisdom and direction. We are encouraged to develop a personal relationship with Christ so we
are available to learn and be directed. This relationship grows and matures through our ability to
talk, to listen and to follow Divine guidance. It has often been said that prayer is our side of the
conversation, and meditation is the time to listen. Often the responses come through inspiration,
through spiritual messages in books and church services, through opportunities that present
themselves synchronistically. Part of our responsibility is to stay open, awake and aware.
Text or Verse
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine,
so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in
Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not
abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them
into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever
you wish, and it shall be done for you.
John 15:4-7
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For
every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8
And everything you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.

Matthew 21:22
50
Practice
Daily practice:
1. Begin by determining when and where. When is the best time for you to find 15-30 minutes
once or twice daily to have quiet time to pray, meditate, reflect and read spiritual material or
the bible?
2. Find a place that will ensure your having this quiet, alone time on a regular basis. If possible,
place some spiritual artifacts and your reading material where it will be readily available.
3. Create a plan for the allotted time - how much time do you have? in what order do you want to
implement the parts of your practice? View this time as if you are creating a ritual which you will
repeat daily (this helps ensure that it will become a disciplined practice).
4. Begin as soon as you have the plan in place.
Resources
Step 12: Having had a Christian conversion

experience, we now make ourselves available
to be instruments of His peace.
Principle: Service
Christ prepared the Way. He created the ideal blueprint of how to live a Christ-like life. He told
us that He and the Father are One and that we too can have this same relationship manifested in
our lives when we reach out and love our neighbors as ourselves. In fact, we are intended to
carry forth his ministry. He told us with great clarity, "You are the light of the world." When, we
live these 12 steps as they are laid out, our actions will speak louder than our words. They will
guide us in the demonstration of a Christ-like life. It is only when we are in service to others that
we are able to give to others the many gifts we have received.
Text or Verse
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and
put it under the peck-measure, but on the lamp stand; and it gives light to all who are in the
51
house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is offence, pardon,
Where there is discord, unity,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is error, truth,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is sadness, joy,
Where there is darkness, light,
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For:
It is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
St. Francis of Assisi
Practice
If you are not currently involved in any service work, now is the time to review your
weekly/monthly schedule and find a few hours in it where you can step into service at church, in
your community, in your children's school or any charitable or non-profit organization of your
choice. Listen to your inspiration and respond with your passion. We are called to duty because
we were all given gifts we can share with joy and compassion.
Resources

12 Step Bible: Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of A.A., P. 63

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

12 Step Bible: Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of A.A., P. 63

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

In the subsequent development of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson eventually distanced

Psalm 38:3-14 ESV

38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my

Proverbs 26:11-12 ESV

Mark 5:2-15 ESV

Romans 7:18-23 ESV

Psalm 18:2-6 ESV

Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

Matthew 12:18-21 ESV

Hebrews 2:14-18 ESV

Psalm 3:1-6 ESV

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

Psalm 142:1-7 ESV

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

Matthew 4:18-23 ESV

Matthew 6:24-34 ESV

grow: they neither toil nor spin,

Luke 9:59-62 ESV

John 1:12-13 ESV

that have no more that they can do.

Proverbs 28:13 (NKJV)

Step 7: Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings

4:5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

James 5:19 - James 5:20

Christianity and the 12 Steps

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain:

Step 1: We admitted we are powerless to live

Apart from Me you can do nothing.

Step 2: Came to experience Jesus Christ as

Let nothing disturb you,

Step 3: We made a decision to completely

Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral

Self-examination exercise of Christ-like traits.

1. Take 7 sheets of paper and make two columns on each sheet.

Step 5: Confessed our sins to God and one

Preparing for Confession:

Step 6: Became determined to resist

Anyone who forsakes family and possessions,

Step 7: Humbly asked God to remove our

Create a Personal prayer:

1. Select one of the un-Christlike behaviors you have committed to change.

Steps 8 and 9: Made restitution for the harm

1. Make a list of people whom you know you have harmed.

Step 10: When we err, we immediately

Step 11: Seek Christ's will through prayer,

And everything you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.

Step 12: Having had a Christian conversion

Lord make me an instrument of Thy peace.

You might also like