Step # 5 -- We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step Verse: Galatians 6:7-10 -- Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person Plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others---ignoring God! Harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show fro his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
When we try and bury all our wrongs....
All our sins....
All our mistakes....without ever having to admit them.....
We will discover that those deeds and behaviors we buried actually turned into seeds.
Seeds that eventually grow and bear fruit.
Our refusal to confess and rid ourselves of them, gives them power to affect our lives until we do work a Step # 5.
We will learn the hard way that self-deception doesn't work in our favor and, in fact, brings more harm and destruction into our life.
If I continue in my old lifestyle of addiction, I will learn the hard way that the desire to satisfy my own sinful wants will bring about a harvest of destruction, pain and misery. Keep it up and eventually our bumper crop will include decay and death. That is why the Twelve Steps are a means of liberation and freedom as we allow God to work in us.
Step # 5 is a point where we can separate ourselves from this self-deception we have lived in for so long. We, in turn, can give a great big ol' HOWDY to forgiveness and freedom. Why not consider the life that we will move into as we work the steps.
Lamentations 3:40 - Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn again in repentance to the Lord.
Step Five is where we come out of the shadows of our old life into a life of openness and freedom.
Imagine a house that has been shut up for years. There is dust over everything and cob webs in every corner. Imagine the room being filled with Oder's of mildew and mold...that musty smell that comes from being closed for so long. Pictures and ornaments on the mantle are covered in dust. The pictures hanging on the wall are so dusty that you can hardly make out what they are. Think about all the errie feelings that come from being in that house. Everything in you says to run away. But then the thought comes to you to open the doors and pull back the drapes. To let fresh air into the room. Well, our lives are like that old house that has been shut up for years.
All our secrets that have brought us shame are hidden from every one.
All the embarrassing behaviors we have exhibited over the years is locked away where no one can get to them.
The very air of our lives has become stale and musty because we have been afraid to open the doors and windows to anyone else. To do so would mean that we were uncovered and could be rejected and shamed.
Step # 5 is the step of emergence. It is our opening of the door to our past and a letting in of the light of today. Step # 5 is a pathway out of isolation and loneliness toward wholeness, happiness and a sense of peace.
God on you.....
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