The Housecleaning Action Steps: Steps 4-6

The Housecleaning Action Steps: Steps 4-6
By Leslie Branscum
The next three steps call for immediate action upon the decision of letting God take the ruling seat of your life. Step four asks us to take a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. There is some controversy over how searching and fearless this inventory should be. I think if you want and are ready to go all the way deep, go all the way. However, for most newcomers and beginners, it’s better to begin by peeling away slowly at your emotional onion, otherwise it might leave you with too many tears to handle.
The sheets they offer in traditional meeting settings are advanced sheets and should be tackled after several years of sobriety. When first starting off, I recommend trying Doreen Virtues method of a “layman’s list”. Just grab a sheet of paper and list everyone and everything that bugs you. This list should be all inclusive. Then write what or why this person or thing bugs you. Leave room for a third column.
Step five asks us to admit to God, ourselves and another person the exact nature of our wrongs. This is where the third column comes is. Is there a chance you’re in the wrong for harboring this resentment? Talk it over with your sponsor or, “other human being” and decide if it is possible. (Trust me, it will be in some cases, not all.) Then, make a note of it in the third column. For example, I would write, daughter, in first column and, not picking up her toys, in the second column. In the third column, I would write: She is still learning and it is my responsibility to teach her how.
Step six affirms that we are entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character identified from our moral inventory. We must be willing to work with God to have Him remove from us everything that stands in our way from making steady progress. We must be willing to eliminate the negative and accentuate the positive through doing His good works and following His guidance. We must we willing to let go and let God.
We are “souls in transition” at this point. Steps 7-9, in the next article, will focus on the final steps in this stage where we come to make resolution with our past and find the hope and courage to move forward once again!