Sunday, April 23, 2023
Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
— Step Four of Alcoholics Anonymous
The moral inventory called for in the Fourth Step is more like a practical accounting than it is a listing of criminal accusations. The point of taking the Fourth Step is to assess the facts about ourselves and how we have lived our lives. It is to pin down the truth about who we are so we can make better judgments about who we might become.
When we take the Fourth Step, we are looking for recurring patterns of thought and behavior. In searching for the story behind our story, we try to uncover the sources of chronic trouble within ourselves. Many times, these attitudes and actions are well concealed under layers of rationalization and denial. It isn’t easy to root them out and lay them on the table. It isn’t easy to be fearless. But it’s worth it.
The Fourth Step shines the light of truth through the clouds of inappropriate guilt and undeserved shame. Our willingness to face the negative also reveals our true merits, essential goodness, and numerous options – perhaps for the first time.
I now have enough self-worth to admit my character flaws.
Hazelden Foundation
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