Step Ten - Taking An Honest Look

We know that to be physically well we have to eat well, drink water, exercise, get proper rest, and practice good hygiene every day. What we put into practice last week or last year won’t be enough to keep us strong and safe today. 

Same principle is true for our spiritual growth.  God wants us to be those who grow every day.  Once again the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous were very wise when they included this principle as one of the “Maintenance Steps” in the Twelve Step program. 

Step Ten:  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 

From the Bible we learn:  Trust in the Lord and do good; live in the land and be safe. Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire. Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you. Psalm 37:3-5a

God invites us each day to recognize our ongoing inclination to what is a “softer, easier way of life.” We live in a world that says, “If it feels good do it.”  For many of us, we have involved ourselves in lots of different things in order to try to feel good.  Some have been helpful and some have only added to our troubles.  We’ve struggled to do what is right and, unfortunately, often ended up doing what was convenient instead. 

Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.  2 John 8

Today God invites you and I to measure our quality of life based on principles that He knows give true meaning and satisfaction to our daily living.  We are invited to bring our lives to the mirror of God’s Word every day in order to assess how we are practicing His principles in all our ways. 

Loving God, we bring ourselves and our life today before You. We want our life with You to be one of continual learning and growing. 

Holy Spirit look into our lives and show us our hearts, our motives, our thoughts and words as well as our actions and reactions.  Help us to understand where we acted in keeping with the values and the wisdom You have given us in Your Word or where we’ve gone against that guidance. 

When our actions or attitudes conflict with Your principles, help us be willing to quickly acknowledge that and give us grace and strength to make any necessary adjustments and amends.  Amen

So, have we, are we, taking personal inventory?  If we’re not even looking at our lives then it’s hard to make changes, isn’t it?  But when we do, let’s be prompt about admitting where change is needed and let God work that out in us.