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12 Steps and their Biblical
Comparisons |
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Step
1: We admitted we were
powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives
had become unmanageable.
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Romans 7:18
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. |
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Step
2: We came to believe that
a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. |
Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His
good purpose.
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Step
3: We made a decision to
turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God.
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Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your
bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your
spiritual act of worship |
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Step
4: We made a searching and
fearless moral inventory of ourselves. |
Lamentations 3:40
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
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Step
5: We admitted to God, to
ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
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James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for each other
that you may be healed. |
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Step
6: We were entirely ready
to have God remove all these defects of character.
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James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up. |
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Step
7: We humbly asked Him to remove
all our shortcomings. |
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
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Step
8: We made a list of all persons
we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
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Luke 6:31
Do to others as you would have them do to you. |
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Step
9:
We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to
do so would injure them or others. |
Matthew 5:23-24
Therefore,
if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that
your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front
of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come
and offer your gift.
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Step
10: We continued to take personal
inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
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1 Corinthians 10:12
So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall. |
Step
11: We sought through prayer and
meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for
knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.
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Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. |
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Step
12: Having had a spiritual
experience as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message
to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs. |
Galatians 6:1
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should
restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. |