https://12stepnationalmeetings.com/media/Step-4-Alcoholics-Anonymous.mp4
Hello, and the world are you here? We come and find ourselves at step number four made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Step number four seems to be the boogeyman. You know for many people for others is Step number five, but some people became come really afraid to deal with step number four made of fit searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. What are we talking about here?
Okay, first of all, we’re talking about an inventory and as it says in the big book any business that does not take a regular inventory is bound to fail and go bankrupt. And so we are as addicts have not really looked at ourselves in a long time. As a matter of fact, we kind of been isolating ourselves and and isolating ourselves from other people isolating ourselves from real thoughts and reality and just living in our own cocoon in our own world. Well, this is a
And we want to reconnect with God reconnect with ourselves reconnect with the human race. So we make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves with bothers. Some people is the fact that we say it is a moral inventory. Now when we talk about mobile, I mean you could look it up in the dictionary. There are many meanings but one of the things when we’re talking about when we say morals we’re talking about right and wrong and then we kind of get into the do you believe in
Absolute, so do you believe in relativism and it’s your right my Wrong Am I Wrong you’re right and you’re off the dock see my head of old oxy and all that kind of stuff. But what I’m talking to you about is what do you think was right and wrong in your life?
What are some things that you’ve done against your very own morals? What are some things that you’ve done that you said you would never do what are some things that you’ve said that you said? You would never say we’re not talking about my morals. We’re talking about your moles. Now. We do have some almost Universal morals the big book suggest that you could use the seven deadly sins almost everybody believes adultery is wrong murder is wrong.
Jealousy might not be too great. It causes us home to be so angry gluttony is not a good thing. Those are some things you could use when you do your moral inventory fear seems to be detrimental to many people. So if you want to do a moral inventory, you can deal with those types of things the seven deadly sins others, of course may want to take the 10 commandments if they want to but you could stay away from religion if you want and just deal with what have you done again?
Your own molds your own self. Where did you fall short yourself? We want to take a searching and fearless moral inventory. What was right about it? What was wrong about it. Now, one of the things I will hasten to say is that when we do our inventory, we’re not just looking for all bad things. There are some good things about you and me even in the midst of our diction. There was some good things about us. One of the good things is we’re human being
all human beings have some good things in them I was told when I came in one time they said you’re not a bad person trying to get good you’re sick person trying to get well and I understood that inside of me there was the yin and the Yang there was some good there was some bad but I was not all bad and I was not all good so when you do an inventory look at the good and look at the bad what many people have a tendency to do is to fall in one or two traps some people
I want to take an inventory because it overwhelms them with shame they have a tendency towards saying Terry Bradshaw said one time how did he explain it he said shame is different than guilt if you do something wrong and you feel guilty that may be proper yeah you guilty you did it you murdered somebody you’re guilty you feel guilty about it that maybe that’s proper but shame is not feeling guilty about something you’ve done
Saying is feeling guilty and and just shameful about who you are. It’s not about what you’ve done. It’s not the fact that I I stole something is not the fact that I told allies the fact that I am a liar. I am a thief I am no good same overwhelms us with a sense of the fact that everything about us is rotten to the core that we are no good. And so some people can’t really go into a moral inventory because they are overwhelmed by
ah shame and that’s a shame that that really made. I mean, it’s just it’s it’s not proper. It’s not proper. I was told one time that I had a disease and it was called terminal uniqueness. That’s what do you mean I said to the fellow terminal uniqueness. He said you’re gonna die of a disease terminal unique this you think you’re so unique you feel so much shame as though you’re the worst person that ever
Assisted he said man. That’s a lot of Pride now. I never thought about feeling down as Pride. I thought Pride always puff you up, but he said no you got the kind of Pride that says that you’re so bad the grace of God can’t reach you. I’m such a worm that the grace of God came to it takes a lot of Pride to think you’re the worst person in the world. It takes a lot of Pride to think that you’ve done something under the sun that nobody else has done since Adam. Whoa, I’m in I’m I’m really unique and I’m
gonna die of terminal uniqueness. That’s a that that really hit me that it was Pride that made me think that I was so terrible that even the grace of God couldn’t touch me. That’s the kind of Shame. I’m talking about that. You need to throw away as you do your moral inventory. That shame is it that’s a clinical fact. Something’s wrong there. You you are not the worst person that ever existed and believe me. You have not done anything that at least one of a person has done. You’re not that unique.
You don’t need to dive that terminal uniqueness take a moral inventory. Don’t let shame overwhelm you but then you have on the other side those people that have false Pride. I don’t I can’t personally get to it. But some people have fall spot and they think they’re the king of the mountain and they think that their stuff in the sense don’t stink and they think that that they’re just good at what they do is right and they’re okay and they’re the top of the mountain they speak the best. They left the best they walk the best they talk the best they do their job the best movie take it in.
Suntory for what? I’m perfect. That’s a false Pride that won’t allow them to see their real self. You see the take a moral inventory you have to have humility and humility has been defined as seeing things as they really are not gravel groveling in the dirt not becoming a doormat that’s humiliation. That’s not humility. But humility is taking the correct view of yourself and seeing things as they really are and the truth of the matter is you’re not all that and a bag of chips.
It’s that’s false Pride false Pride makes you think that you’re everything and that’s a person really that has a lot of fear and is afraid to look at what’s really real. So as you take your moral inventory, I want to caution you not to allow shame to overwhelm you so that you’re just bogged down in writing writing writing and you can’t do it or tried. This is that you haven’t done anything wrong false Pride when
we take a moral inventory. It’s suggested that we actually pick up pen and pencil and write it down make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves actually write down what you have done a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. And what do they mean by searching? Take your time? Take your time as you write. It don’t be rushed. Take your time. Maybe you need to take just 15 minutes a day. Maybe take a half hour day, whatever you have to do.
But just take your time and write out that more that inventory for yourself. They have guides that you can use you can go to the big book and look it up how they did it. But you need to take a moral inventory of yourself in order for the business of your life to go on. Now. The reason we can be Fearless is because of the third step a lot of people are afraid to take an inventory because they haven’t successfully taken the third step they made a decision, but they haven’t put that decision into
Ian, they haven’t done the third step prayer you can look in the big book. It talks about a third step prayer when you actually pray to your higher power and turn your will in your life over to that higher power and they give us suggested prayer. You don’t have to use their prayers to suggested prayer that you can use and if you have really truly turned your yesterday your today and your tomorrow over to a higher power, then you ought not be afraid to do a moral inventory you hop out Loves You Remember
So you can be gentle with yourself. You can join the human race. You can recognize that you’re not a bad person trying to get good just a sick person who’s going to be well because you’re taking this inventory you’re going to get a reality check of how things are don’t dwell on all of the bad don’t dwell on all of the good just take a thorough more inventory. Now, one of the things I want to note about the fourth step is that it’s a moral inventory of who
Oops, it’s a moral inventory of ourselves. Not the other people is not a moral inventory of my wife or my boss or or anybody else that maybe in my life. It’s a moral inventory of myself. And when I came they told me that I’m not all wrong and I’m not all right, but I need to take a moral inventory of the pot. I did wrong now maybe somebody else was 90% wrong and I was 10 percent wrong. Well, I need to take a moral inventory of Might.
And percent look at my ten percent a hundred percent of the way. Okay, look at what I’ve done because it’s a more inventory of myself and other words. I must clean up my side of the street.