Member: Adam H.
Location: Nagano, JAPAN
Date: 2/4/01
Time: 11:25:24 PM
Adam, alcoholic.
Yeah, I'm another one of those people who first looked at this step and said, "Okay....but what are you supposed to DO?" Well, I think what you DO is try to live in the opposite of your character defects.
The 12&12 says that if we ask God will certainly forgive us, but in no case does he render us white as snow and keep us that way without our cooperation. That's probably my favorite line in the 12&12 because it reminds me that this is a program of action, and that action counts here too. I know for me, it was not until I began to see that there could be virtue in living in the opposite of my character defects that I became willing to have any of them removed. Rage, for example, was one of my worst character defects. I liked rage a lot...it made someone as scared oflife as I was feel more powerful and in control, yet it simultaneously destroyed my relationships with my family and friends. It wasn't until I learned about the virtue of restraint of pen and tongue that I began to see that I became willing to let go of rage. Dishonesty...another good example. If there was one thing I learned from my fifth step, it was that the one honorable thing about human beings is the ability to tell the truth and there is no substitute. When I starting telling the truth and standing by that truth in my fifth step, I began to see that I was actually robbed of nothing. Instead I was becoming an honest man, and that was a good thing. It would help me stay sober and feel like a human being among human beings. So when I began to see that I could live sober and peacefully in the opposite of my charecter defects a day at a time, I became willing to cooperate in my HIGHER POWER'S JOB of removing them.
Grateful to be sober today.
Member: SaraS
Location:
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 7:10:18 AM
Good point on this, Adam. Your thoughts on living the opposite of your defects reminded me of an achievement seminar I just attended. The advice was to "act as if" you were what you wanted to be. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Eventually, you believe it is true and you then become it. Very powerful.
By the way, Iâm new. Thank you all, in advance, for your support.
Member: DonnaV
Location: Western NC
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 8:20:06 AM
Hi--Donna-alcoholic-- Thanks for sharing the insight Adam. I am coming back after not really giving AA a chance the first couple of times....Yes, I am ready to take the sixth step and your insight has helped me see just what it is all about. Thank You.
Member: Honey B
Location:
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 9:21:55 AM
Hi, I am Honey, I am an alcoholic. Step 6 uses the phrasing: we are ENTIRELY READY to have God remove all these defects of character. The key word there for me is "entirely". How many times have I been "ready" without being "entirely ready"? (How many times have I wanted to quit drinking and was not "entirely ready"?)
Like SaraS, I am new to AA. I am fresh out of recovery and still working on a lot of issues. I am so sick of "being me" that YES, I AM entirely ready to have God remove all of these defects of character. If I think about it too hard, and over analyze myself, I then realize that so many of my defects and faults are defense mechanisms that I have been building for decades. The thought of throwing down my weapons and standing defenseless automatically triggers my defects back into action. Getting rid of my defects of character means being vulnerable for attack. This is where faith and trust must enter into the picture. Do I really trust GOD? Will HE protect me and care for me? The answer is YES, God is faithful. HE will not only watch over me, He will protect me, and nuture me. God is VERY powerful. (He is God!)
I suppose that is why most of us have to "hit bottom" before we will go for help. We are so blind to our own defects of character, we have mastered the art of lying to ourselves. Getting honest is hard work! But such rich rewards await us!
I like what Adam said: Instead I was becoming an honest man, and that was a good thing. It would help me stay sober and feel like a human being among human beings.
I don't think any human being can feel good, knowing that they are dishonest. Self esteem and trust in ones self suffer for this. Anyone who doesn't trust themself has trouble trusting anybody else. Without trust, ALL relationships suffer.
When I got to the point where I pretty much didn't care if I lived or died, and was drinking myself to death, I realize, what have I got to lose? I am talking now about my defects of character. I have only to gain a better life by gettin rid of my old defects. What an exhilerating idea! God will replace my old, bad defects with new, good qualities of character. What a great deal!
As I stated earlier, I can over analyze all this and go on and on. The other way of looking at this is with my HEART instead of my mind. This is more my style anyway. After all, it is my heart, (and soul) that have suffered the most with this disease, much more than my brain. What does my heart "say"? My heart cries out to God to remove these defects. My heart longs to be whole, and happy. My heart looks for hope and peace. It is my heart that really wants all of these things. It is my heart that has endured all these years of pain and agony. And for me, to look at step 6, it is my heart that is ready for change. My heart tells my brain, shut up and let's just do this! Quit thinking so hard! My heart says, I am ready, entirely ready, to have God remove all these defects of character. My heart knows that if I keep all these defects, I will remain the same, sick, drinking person I have been for so long. My heart knows I deserve better than that. My heart is ready to give all my defects to God. (shut up, brain!)
It is in my heart that I can see and feel the glimmering hope of a new and better day. My heart is the dwelling place for my faith. It is my heart that trusts God.
I am entirely ready.
Thanks for letting me share.
Member: Gail D.
Location:
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 10:55:48 AM
I like this step and the comments have been really great. I was reminded of two things - one thing my sponsor told me about step six - I had to be willing to do things differently and to recognize that other people (like her) might know more about how to do something than I did (like stay sober, for instance). I had to be willing to listen to good advice.
The other thing I thought of was something excellent I heard on an AA tape - "self esteem comes from doing esteemable acts." It's pretty simple when it's laid out that way. So, being willing to act differently was key for me. I heard you can't think your way into right action but you can act your way into right thinking. I like to think I've been able to do that in the program.
Thanks everyone for your sharing here. It is very difficult for me to get to meetings right now due to geography and it really helps to be able to log on to the steps!
Gail
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 11:28:06 AM
ready in hp time not mine,process not perfection
Member: AnilG
Location: Mt Vernon,Ilinois
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 12:15:44 PM
I am an alcoholic this step6 were entirely ready to have god remove these chracter defects is an important one our insanity that lead to us becoming an alcoholic and all those things of immoral chracter/nature that we did only the HP can help us and specially me understand and remove them and keep me sober and sane.
Member: Melissa B.
Location: Canada
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 12:45:32 PM
Hi, I'm Melissa, I'm an alcoholic and I don't think I'm entirely ready...I'm nineteen months sober and I did my four and five in October. I'm on step six and all I know is what I already said...I'm not entirely ready. My recovery has been slow and that's just the way it is. I'm just getting to recognize my character defects - they are in my face all the time and some of them are well-disguised. What Honey said clicked for me - about character defects being defense mechanisms that have been in place for decades. My heart said 'ah ha' so thank you for that, Honey. I feel like I can't be ready to change what I can't completely see and I'm just SEEING myself for the first time. I haven't finished 'seeing' myself. But I am behaving differently. Mostly in small things, sometimes in bigger things. So I have a heck of a lot of hope, even though I know I'm not entirely ready...yet.
Thank you for your post, too, Adam. My sponsor said something to the effect of 'do the opposite' to me, and I was so clobbered by living in my addiction that I was willing to listen, and do what she suggested. I guess it should have been humbling to be told that my thoughts and my actions were 'wrong' and I should think and do the exact opposite of my natural inclinations, but it didn't feel humbling to me. It felt like the answer that I'd always been looking for. Living in the 'opposite' works for me, whenever I can muster to courage to do it.
Reading and being able to share here this morning has helped a lot, and I'm so grateful for everything that was written here.
Member: Von
Location: Ohio
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 1:02:56 PM
For me, step 6 came after step 5. It was a natural progression of the suggested program of recovery. After my 5th, I went by myself and did 6 then 7. I could see from my 5th step that there were a lot of character defects, and I was ready to have God remove them. Here's the catch: there's power in awareness. Once I became aware of and could admit to my defects of character, then the solution presented itself.
I think we must practice caution. Expectations can get us in trouble. It's easy for me to assume that I can dictate to God what defects He can remove and when. All this step asks is that I be ready.
I must be "entirely ready" at all times, but it doesn't mean that those defects will be removed and I will never have defects of character. Some disappeared once I could trust the truth of myself. Others were instincts misused and willpower abused. When I run the show, those things can become defects, but are not necessarily defects in and of themselves. They become defects when I misuse them.
My experience has shown me that God removes defects by my being willing to allow Him to guide my life. As I ventured out more, worked the program, stayed in the fellowship, started sponsoring, driving people around, working to pay bills, and interacted with my family and friends, life's experiences showed me "fresh" defects that I wasn't even aware of. For example, when I was in pain, I isolated or lashed out. When I was afraid, I tried to take over and run the show so I wouldn't be hurt. It has been these experiences, in everyday living, that have helped me recognize defects and become, once again, entirely ready to have God remove them. It's called practicing the principles of the steps.
This program saved my life despite myself. Everyday, I am ready for God to remove my defects however and whenever He sees fit. Let me not forget who I am, and whose I am.
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 1:25:16 PM
melissa.b thanx for the insight, i can identify
Member: Corinne B.
Location: Camino, CA
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 3:04:56 PM
My very first time working the steps, that sponsor had me use The Little Red Book, along with the 12&12, and the Big Book to help me read up all I could about these concepts that were so foreign to me. But when it came down to the actual working and doing of each step, we followed the Big Book very closely.
The preparation for Steps 6 & 7 are clearly spelled out in the last paragraph on Page 75, and first paragraph on Page 76, in the Big Book. The 2nd paragraph on Page 76 has the prayer we say. There is some key verbiage in that prayer: "I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character WHICH STANDS IN THE WAY of my usefulness to you and my fellows." Some of my defects of character may not stand in the way of being useful to God or my fellow human beings. In fact, some of my defects of character will probably not be removed, at least not immediately, so that they can be seen by others as an example of how not to behave, or so that I can continue to learn more about them in order to gain a full knowledge of my condition. This helped me to realize that I simply needed to get on with the step, or stay stuck inside self. As Joe & Charlie so aptly point out in their BB Seminars: "Self cannot overcome self, it must be overcome by prayer to a Higher Power." That made a whole lot of sense to me, because I knew that all my wishing that I could be a different person wasn't gonna make it so.
I was spurred on to doing this step so that I could continue with the Amends steps, in order that I would not drink again, and in hopes that the promises would start coming true in my life. The chapter is entitled "Into Action" for a very good reason. Sitting around mulling it over for a long time won't help me to learn much. I've got to go after the prize by taking the steps, not thinking about them.
Member: Lyn H.
Location: Bangor,Pa.
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 8:41:55 PM
Lyn H.,alcholic I'm a newcomer (4months) and I'm just beginning to realize some of my defects one day at a time. This program I my HP help me to realize my defects and begin working on them correct them. Ihave a long way to go but I am entirely ready! Thanks for letting me share.
Member: Lyn H.
Location: Bangor,Pa.
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 8:42:15 PM
Lyn H.,alcholic I'm a newcomer (4months) and I'm just beginning to realize some of my defects one day at a time. This program I my HP help me to realize my defects and begin working on them correct them. Ihave a long way to go but I am entirely ready! Thanks for letting me share.
Member: B.M.D.
Location: CANADA
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 10:22:19 PM
Hi,I'am Blair and I'am an alcoholic. WOW!!! What I have read here tonight is just fantastic and I have learned so much from what Adam H.,Corinne B., Honey B.and Von. You people have explaned it so simple and with so much feelings it just blew me away.In all the years that I have in this program I have not heard it put the way you people have put.I thank you from the bottom of my heart.Keep up the good work because you just don't know when you are going to reach someone.TAKE CARE
Member: Mark C.
Location: Michigan
Date: 2/5/01
Time: 10:41:06 PM
Mark C.- recovering Alcoholic, Right On Adam! After step 3 all the the steps have both Prayer and Action... as critical parts to each and every one of them. So I've been taught and have come to experience myself...steps 4 thru 9 are the "life changing" steps. Step 6 is a so called small step, but a very important one. Step six feels like 3 in a way,in that we have to cultivate our new nature...the "Willingness" within ourself to do what ever it take to become "entirely ready". That is to practice the opposite of our first impulse, our first nature. God will do for us-what we can not do, but God expects us to do what we can, for ourselves too. Practicing the opposite "felt" very uncomfortable and unfamiliar at first, because I lived so many years practicing & thinking with my character defects running the show. Practice and more practice, fear-> practice courage, selfishnes->practice selflessness, etc. It's not easy, it takes time, and it feels unfamiliar and foreign. Patience with yourself (not my first impulse), and help from a sponsor and a home group really helped me work with step six. We are not saints, but are learning to practice spiritual principles, working toward... not compromising principals...I'm certainly not a saint. But it is better today, than the life I lived before AA. A quote from the past which helped me see this: WE ARE...what we repeatedly do... Excellence, therefore, is not a mere act, but rather A HABIT! -Aristotle- Today I believe: That what I really have is a daily reprieve (from my alcoholism), contingent upon my spiritual condition... One Day at a time! May God bless all who seek
Member: JR2806
Location: Michigan
Date: 2/6/01
Time: 12:06:01 AM
My name is JR and i am a alcholic,Step 6 have read some very good and helpfull things here tonight.Guessing the truth for me is that right after completing my 5th srep i was very much ready to have them removed however i was not always entirely to willing to cooperate with the process this is a ongoing battle with me.I suppose as with most things in my life i tend to ingore things until they cause great pain in my life then i find the willingness like right now to make the changes needed to ease the pain.Anyone else ever do this or think like that ?? well seeing as this is my first time here i will keep this short thank you
Member: Jana V
Location:
Date: 2/6/01
Time: 2:16:21 AM
Hi, my name is Jana and I'm an alcoholic. The character defect I'm having the hardest time with is fear. To me, it seems so completely different from the other defects. I don't have any clue what it means to be ready to let it go although I really want to be freed of it. I like the idea of being willing to do things differently. That makes sense with regard to honesty, anger, etc. I just can't quite get a handle on what this means with regards to fear. I know I'm missing something. Often times, I find that the thing I was missing was obvious and right in front of me, so hoping that's the case and I'll get some insight, soon.
Member: Pam B
Location: Daytona Beach, FL
Date: 2/6/01
Time: 2:36:03 AM
When I first came into the Program, I "had no defects" . . .my sponsor worked 1,2 & 3 with me over & over before she'd allow me to do my first Step 4. That pretty big chunk of truth about myself was devestating for me to start seeing all the defects. It was hard enough seeing this truth about myself, never mind having to tell another person so I wouldn't drink again! LOL! But, somehow I made it through Step 5 with my sponsor. And I was more than willing and entirely ready to have God remove all my defects of character so I would never have to go through a Step 5 ever again! Little did I know back then, my aim was to be Perfect. It was quite depressing a short time after completing all 12 steps, when I realized I was identifying at Discussion Topic meetings on defects . . . I still had same ones, acting them out in a different way so I wouldn't know it! It was also quite depressing when my sponsor had shown me in Step 10 that we do another Step 4 each 6 months to once a year, which means Steps 5 onward follow each time! But thank God - my sponsor worked with me at learning to have Acceptance of myself as I realistically am . . .a human being . . .not something perfected as 'super-human' God removed my shortcomings, and has given me self-awareness to watch my behaviors and actions and treatment of others One Day At A Time, but in all the years of growing in this program, I still have those same defects I had when I first came into the program . . and continue growing in overcoming their "blind control" of me like peeling the layers of the onion, while also growing in having the opposites that I'd never had at all prior to coming to this program. Its progress, but we do not "get perfected" - not for as long as we're still human on this planet. So there's no need of fearing we "lose" anything . . .we do not become the hole in the donut if we do step 6. Each thing I have given over to God and made the conscious effort to refrain from doing again - God has replaced with something so much better that it is always totally amazing. I am still always so amazed. Growing One Day At A Time living these 12 Steps is an Adventure . . .just step out there in faith and let yourself find out what a Natural High it is. Nothing compares. And if for any reason we prefer to go back to being as we used to be like - the old misery is there for us anytime we want it. There is nothing we ever lose . . .only the Life we gain. Thanks for letting me share.
Member: Jeff
Location: Northern CA
Date: 2/6/01
Time: 9:57:21 AM
Hi, My name is Jeff and I am an alcoholic. I have been reading the comments on step 6 and I am very glad this site is here this morning. For me becoming entirely ready for God to remove all these defects of character is a reminder that I don't have to do it alone.
When I was drinking I knew there a better way to live. For some reason one day I was given the gift to see that I was alcoholic and the gift was coupled with the thought of the action to call AA. Step 6 allows me to let God do His work, and when I take the actions to let Him let me see what I am followed by an attempt at doing and being what what he wants instead of what I want I am beoming ready.
I forget the good things that AA has to teach me often and that is why I need to be here (and keep coming back). Thank you all for being here.
Member: donna
Location:
Date: 2/6/01
Time: 12:39:58 PM
a man in chicago went crazy and shot everyone at work.do you think he was mad at himself?or could it be,he wasnt working the steps?
Member: oggie doggie
Location:
Date: 2/6/01
Time: 8:17:02 PM
i dont know
Member: Jack B.
Location: Palo Alto, Pa
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 2:25:19 AM
Hi, I am Jack a real alcoholic.For me step six and step seven are the meat and potatoes of this program.As it says in our basic text, these steps separate the men from the boys.I have a hard time sharing on step six, with briefly discussing steps 3,4,&5.In step three, I made a commitment to God and the twelve step program of AA.In step four I learn about myself, and in step five I allow someone else to know about me. When I get to step six, its like okay Jack, what are you going to do about it?Step six for me requires me to answer some simple questions.Am I ready to change, am I ready to take a stand, am I ready to have some values, and am I ready and willing to say no, when saying yes would be so much easier?If I cannot answer yes to these simple questions, then I am not ready for step six or step seven. Its thru the Grace of God that I am the person I am today.I have myself to compare to, and something magical has happened to this alcoholic.Thru this twelve step program, you wonderful people in this fellowship and the amazing Grace of God, I have found a wonderful, wonderful way of life.For the most part, I can say I approve of the way I live today, I am comfortable in my own skin. Thanks for allowing me to share and God Bless all on our journey in recovery.
Member: ChuckM
Location: Alberta
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 3:12:28 AM
I'm Chuck, an alcoholic
In step 4 I learned what the symptons of my insanity were; selfishness, dishonesty, self-seeking and fear. I came to see that these defects were what ruled and ruined my life. Yes, I wanted to be rid of them I was willing.
Later when I studied the program in the Big Book I found there was a part I had missed. It tells me to review the first five steps and if I agree then I am ready to continue.
The only action required in this step is to pray for the willingness to let God remove my defects of character. Since self can't cure self it makes sense to ask God to do the job.
Peace and Serenity
Member: rita n
Location: kentucky
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 7:04:35 AM
hi im rita alcholic.ive been sober a year and just recently got a computer god is good ,i love to be able to relate to people like me i feel like i am in a meeting and you people are really right here and listening to me thats a little off the topic of step 6 but i really appreciate you listening.thanks and god bless
Member: (((?)))
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 2:09:32 PM
the guy in chicago; was he mafioso or a postal worker
Member: **********(()))***************
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 2:31:22 PM
neither,....just postal and pissed cause he got caught ripping them off......
tee-he-he
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 4:09:26 PM
rita.n we tend to go off are purpose here,congratualations on 1yr,i am also new to compt. world,,a few 24 hrs , nice to here you please ,,keep coming to site. me to new on site ..have a good day to all;;;;;;;;'''''/
Member: popeye
Location: the sailorman
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 5:08:31 PM
captain kangaroo
mr greenjeans
Member: THINK!
Location: Wherever you will!!
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 5:11:55 PM
On this 6th step, I found that I really didnât know all the ãdefects of characterä I had. But now after having reached a substantial amount of years, ãOne Day at a Time,ä I see that the greater part of my defects were from false concepts of values I was taught from my youthful days on up. I was thoroughly schooled in all manner of values one is expected by their peers in society to live by, i.e., an overwhelming amount of a combination of both national and theological principles that I was to later find out were all formulated out of both lies and manipulations of historical fact. Just what are these so-called ãpillarsä of responsible living nurturing their ignorant masses in? Why it is the age old lie, ãye shall not surely die,ä that was proclaimed to Eve in the Garden of Eden! For the same disgusting lie is still taught some 6000 years later in just about all the organized religions of this world! They say you are born ãimmortalä (ãye shall not surely dieä), and that if you hearken to the Martin Luther King Jrâs., the Jesse Jacksonâs, the ãimmortalä popes, Billy Grahams, etc., etc., ad nauseum, you will spend that ãimmortalityä in heaven, and if you donât hearken to them, you will spend it in hell! Being excruciatingly tormented for all eternity. And how does this teaching affect the mental state of all the people who have been infected with it? Why society labels them as being neurotic psychopaths, who still ãshall not surely die.ä You hear about these disastrous calamities, such as the recent earthquake in India, and what are you supposed to think about that? That earthquake happened because of this original lie, ãye shall not surely die,ä and so it is the devil, Lucifer, and all his theological hypocrites who carry on that infamous lie to this day who are responsible for this earthquake in India, and every other woeful calamity that has taken place since that original lie was put forth in the Garden of Eden. And so these two-faced hypocrites in other nations who are not as unfortunate as those in India, rush off, with Bible in hand, bring smooth and flattering words of comfort to these people, even though they are just as guilty as the devil himself in still nurturing that lie that caused that calamity in the first place!! But the Indians must believe that lie too!! So you canât win for losing! Well anyway I sought to escape from all this hypocrisy by keeping myself benumbed to it all with toxic substances, and now I know why I did that, and I think it was good that I did, because it kept me out of the churches, the voting booths, and all the other things that make up what the scriptures refer to as ãthe beast.ä But this message did not start to get through to me until I wound up in AA, and started at last to grow!! And so there are some words on the 6th step for your evaluation! Not simple, but necessary!!
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 7:05:24 PM
think;;;; you think to much
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 7:05:27 PM
think;;;; you think to much
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 7:05:30 PM
think;;;; you think to much
Member: Thinking too!
Location: Here & There!
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 7:50:00 PM
roo: your mind isn't closed! It's just not there!!
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 10:22:00 PM
tkink.. must be rocket scientist how you and up in the program brain dead////
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 10:22:02 PM
tkink.. must be rocket scientist how you and up in the program brain dead////
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 10:22:04 PM
tkink.. must be rocket scientist how you and up in the program brain dead////
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 10:27:01 PM
sorry for that.. been there and did it ,took comment defencivly,,sorry think.....
Member: Angela
Location: Vancouver Island
Date: 2/7/01
Time: 10:43:23 PM
Sigh...."and tolerance for those with different struggles." Good luck, Think. I never post, but I wanted to tell you that I will be praying.
Member: Tanya
Location: Dallas, Tx
Date: 2/8/01
Time: 5:29:41 AM
I am also recovering from a God of someone else's understanding. What a revalation for me to find out about God's unfailing and unconditional love for us even me especially me an alcoholic/addict also with an eating disorder
Member: Honey B
Location:
Date: 2/8/01
Time: 11:06:17 AM
Dear Think, None of us really know how many defects of character we have, we just have to plunge into recovery and ask God to remove them. There is not one of us who is perfect, even after our defects are removed! It is an ongoing process.
When I was in recovery, my counselor asked me who I would most want to be like. That answer for me came easy: Jesus Christ. The group I was in was rather astounded, and I laughed and admitted to them, "I aim HIGH". Yes, I DO aim high! I believe each one of us should be striving to be more God-like.
I can't blame you for shying away from religion. There are a lot of messed up religions in the world...a lot of churches who are missing the whole point! But please don't confuse "religion" with "spirituality". One can have a very close relationship with God through Jesus Christ. "I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me". (John 14:6)
Don't throw away the baby with the bath water! God has made a way for us to enter in to the Kingdom of Heaven, simply by believing in his only begotton Son, Jesus Christ. It seems too easy to be true, too simple! A free gift of salvation, just for the asking! Wow!
In addition to eternal life, there are many other benefits! God begins to do a work in each heart. It is like having a best friend who gently and lovingly teaches us a better way, every day. He replaces old defects with good qualities! This is key! Whenever you ask God to remove an old defect, there will naturally be a void left. Ask Him also to replace that old defect with something good! Where there was dishonesty, there can be honesty. Where there was fear, there can be trust. Where there was hopelessness, there can be hope. Where there was hate, there can be Love. The two defects called "anger" and "guilt" are two of the biggies for us alcoholics. So many of the other defects stem from anger. So what is the opposite of anger? What is the opposite of guilt? I would appreciate some opinions on these questions.
God doens't necessarily remove these defects with the snap of a finger. Give Him time to work on us humans! But know that what He has begun, He is faithful to finish. God created the heavens and the earth. He is all powerful, all knowing. We have no secrets from Him. God is surely able to remove our defects. Just don't doubt HIM, and quit standing in His way. Ask, and ye shall receive, seek, and ye shall find.
God is waiting to bless us all. The closer we follow Him, the more he is able to bless us. A Father does not reward a naughty child.
I challenge each one of you who have doubted that Jesus Christ is for real, to simply ask Him, challenge Him, to reveal himself to you. Take a simple step of faith, then open up your heart and just see what He does. Look and listen for answers. They will come a still small voice inside of you. Listen to that voice. HE is not going to give you big handwriting on the wall! What for clues, signs, and small wonders. Start listening the that voice. Thanks for listening, I hope you get something from this.
Member: jeremiah m
Location: ohio
Date: 2/8/01
Time: 11:48:57 AM
hello
step six...we were entirely ready to have god remove these defects of character. i dont think that ive exactly accomplished this step but god knows that i could use some character adjustment.
thank you
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/8/01
Time: 1:38:26 PM
honey b thamk you for insight i have been to almost every religion. there is born again church back in 1986, told me i was cured from alc, and drugs. so went back out for 3yrs almost died afew times.i believe it was the love and tolerance, of aa members,when i came through the doors of aa that god has his hand out to me 1989. believe in christ, also group of drunks .aa for me is much bigger then religion.open to all religion god is in all....i go to meetings ask for help got a spons, group ,on commitments. clean up .things i dont like but do ,keep me sober.... thanx all for listening newcombers please keep coming . new every its a 24hr thing...........
Member: roodoo
Location:
Date: 2/8/01
Time: 5:32:45 PM
my name is pontious pilot,funny name huh
Member: j.c
Location:
Date: 2/8/01
Time: 9:46:35 PM
to wander the earth till rev..
Member: cool dude
Location: rude city
Date: 2/9/01
Time: 7:11:07 PM
its cool,its cool,hip hop bee bop,flip flop,its cool.im hip bee bop,bop,bop,bop,im cool
Member: ERIC M
Location: WEST VIRGINIA
Date: 2/9/01
Time: 7:21:13 PM
I THINK THE LORD ALONG WITH THE DEVIL HELP TO CREATE GOOD AND BAD CHARISTICS AND I THINK WITH THE LORD BY YOUR SIDE THE BAD CHARACTERISTICS CAN BE OVERCOMED WITH GREAT INTENSITY
Member: HALALUJA
Location: PRAISE THE LORD
Date: 2/9/01
Time: 10:12:59 PM
AMEN I SAY
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/10/01
Time: 4:03:27 PM
i say god done for me and helped mold me using aa and its step program .. praise god now walk the talk. peace............
Member: roo
Location:
Date: 2/10/01
Time: 4:03:32 PM
i say god done for me and helped mold me using aa and its step program .. praise god now walk the talk. peace............
Member: Bill M.
Location: Southeast Georgia
Date: 2/10/01
Time: 5:27:57 PM
I'm Bill, alcoholic and after many years still have a problem with patience. I had always thought everyone could get sober, but for many reasons have come to believe that is not the case. Thank"ALL" of you for helping me know that like some of my firends, I have not achieved all that I often think I have. I still let rude, low life, major assholes, get on my nerves instead of saying a prayer for them. No growth there except I know what the character defect is and will try to work on it. I would like to say this was all I needed to work on but it's enough.
Member: father mckenzie
Location:
Date: 2/11/01
Time: 11:37:22 AM
bill m,
you have a very foul vocabulary,now eat a bar of soap
Member: John B
Location: Tx
Date: 2/11/01
Time: 1:56:28 PM
Kids these days,I`m John B and still sober and step six like all steps are to be worked and lived to make us better people.Without growth you stagnate and eventually just wither away.Defects are what caused be to drink.React instead of act.Once I learned the steps are not to be done perfectly once,but to be worked all the rest of my life it all got easier.Do what the big book tells you and you can`t go wrong.Read the big book,get a sponsor,work the steps,help other alcoholics achieve sobriety and keep coming back.Yes I have found a new place to share.Thanks for allowing it.