Meditations on "Inventory"

When we come to Step 4 in the 12-Step program we are asked to focus on ourselves and make a searching and fearless moral inventory.

The following words were written by King David after he had allowed his lust for a woman to lead him down the path of sexual immorality and murder.

The longer we grow in sobriety the more we recognize that we have lots to learn.

Does it really pay to do what’s right? Up to now our practice has been to do whatever worked in the moment to get what we wanted.

Whether or not we say words with our mouths or use our fingers on social media, we seem to be people of many words.

Making decisions and taking responsibility for our choices requires courage.

To examine ourselves is to do just that – examine ourselves.

Step 10 encourages us to continue to take personal inventory and when we are wrong to promptly admit it.

We all know that our thoughts and emotions significantly impact our health.

In Step-6 we say we are entirely ready to have God remove all the character defects we have listed in our fearless moral inventory.

Step 5 is often a tough step to complete. With great apprehension we have made a fearless moral inventory of ourselves and now we must admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Depending on the situation we sometimes find ourselves caught up in the tension between our desire for justice or mercy.