1. We
admit we are powerless over the past and as a result our lives
have become unmanageable.
2. Believe
God can restore us to wholeness, and realize this power can
always be trusted to bring healing and wholeness in our lives.
3. Make
a decision to turn our will and our lives to the care of God,
realizing we have not always understood His unconditional love.
Choose to believe He does love us, is worthy of trust, and will
help us to understand Him as we seek His truth.
4. Make
a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, realizing
all wrongs can be forgiven. Renounce the lie that the abuse
was our fault.
5. Admit
to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature
of the wrongs In our lives. This will include those acts perpetrated
against me as well as those wrongs I perpetrated against others.
6. By
accepting God's cleansing, we can renounce our shame. Now we
are ready to have God remove all these character distortions
and defects.
7. Humbly
ask Him to remove our shortcomings, including our guilt. We
release our fear and submit to Him.
8. Make
a list of all persons who have harmed us and become willing
to seek God's help in forgiving our perpetrators, as well as
forgiving ourselves. Realize we've also harmed others and become
willing to make amends to them.
9. Extend
forgiveness to ourselves and to others who have perpetrated
against us, realizing this is an attitude of the heart, not
always confrontation. Make direct amends, asking forgiveness
from those people we have harmed, except when to do so would
injure them or others.
10. Continue
to take personal inventory as new memories and issues surface.
We continue to renounce our shame and guilt, but when we are
wrong promptly admit it.
11. Continue
to seek God through prayer and meditation to improve our understanding
of His character. Praying for knowledge of His truth in our
lives, His will for us, and for the power to carry that out.
12.
Having a spiritual awakening as we accept God's love and healing
through these steps, we try to carry His message of hope to
others. Practice these principles as new memories and issues
surface claiming God's promise of restoration and wholeness.
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