Step Seven - Handing Things Over

Coming to the place where we are ready to humble ourselves before God and hand over our defects of character to Him, giving Him control over the way and the timing of their removal isn’t easy. 

Step Seven of the AA program spells this out like this:  We humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings. 

Having the courage to welcome this kind of change does not mean that we will never experience some fear. Courage means that we take advantage of the little strength we find within ourselves, that we find some ways to encourage ourselves, and that we stubbornly stick to God’s program for us. It means finding enough strength to take the next step and do the next right thing, trusting that God is working it all together for good in His plan for our lives.

We have a great model prayer in the Bible to help us humbly ask God to remove all our defects of character. 

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.  Psalm 51:1-4

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Psalm 51:7-10

How’s that for acknowledging that we can’t fix our own lives and need God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

To humbly ask God to remove our shortcomings is, to tell God, in whatever words are personal for each of us that we acknowledge that we’ve fallen short and harmed ourselves, God, and others.  No effort of ours alone will fix those character defects.

Then we affirm that God, through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, paid the price for our sins and so is now able to do what we can’t do for ourselves. God forgives sin, removes shame, and gives us grace to behave in a new way.  Our sinful brokenness, our character defects get traded in for the purity and the new way of life Jesus offers. 

So, let’s have a look at that model prayer, find our own words and offer them from our heart to God, the only one who can do a proper job of removing our character defects.