The Big Book of AA describes the significance of our problem with self-centeredness in this way: "There often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His [God's] aid. Many of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but we could not live up to them even though we would have liked to. Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power. We had to have God's help." (Big Book pages 62-63)
This confirms what the Bible says about needing God to help us deal with self-centeredness and other shortcomings.
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life … because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT)
The authors of the Big Book mirror this important truth for us as follows: "This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn't work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal; we are His agents. He is the Father, and we are His children. Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well. Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life. (Big Book pages 62-63)
So you should try very hard to add goodness to your faith. To goodness, add knowledge. To knowledge, add the ability to control yourselves. To the ability to control yourselves, add the strength to keep going. To the strength to keep going, add godliness. To godliness, add kindness for one another and to kindness for one another, add love. (2 Peter 1:5-7 NLT)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank you for your help in dealing with my self-centeredness. I surrender all that I am to You. Be the director of my life. Work Your will in me and through me so that I might share in Your divine nature and have sincere affection for everyone I meet. Amen
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