Taking Inventory
Friday January 25, 2019
At various times in our recovery journey we are asked to take personal inventory. Why is it important to make a frank and honest assessment of ourselves?
For numerous reasons we have participated in actions that were destructive and addictive. We feared pain, craved pleasure, desired power, and wanted to do life our way. We tried to find satisfaction in addictive behaviour and/or substances. To satisfy our self-centered desires, we mercilessly manipulated those as broken as ourselves or others who tried to help us. Now we have come to realize we need a new way and must take the time to identify what needs to change.
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. (Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT)
God tells us that knowing the truth is a building block to freedom. The Bible tells us that we are unable to be honest with ourselves – all of us have hearts that don't know how to face the truth. We find ways to justify and minimize what's wrong and too readily find excuses to avoid some issues altogether.
As we inventory our past behaviour, our relationships, and our character defects or strengths, it’s important that we invite God's Holy Spirit to reveal those things in us that need forgiving and healing and made right.
Taking personal inventory is a positive step because it asks us to identify those things that are obstacles to living the fulfilling way of life that God is offering us. God’s principles are provided for us in the Bible. We need to trust and obey them.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I need You to look at my heart and my life and identify those things that block me from having a loving relationship with You and with others. Please give me the desire and the power to make the changes You reveal to me. Amen
©2018 Partners in Hope
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