Step 4 - We Made a Searching & Fearless Moral Inventory

Not sure about the rest of you, but the idea of making a searching and fearless written moral inventory of myself seemed like a daunting task. Even though in Step 3, I decided to trust the Lord, and also committed to turning my will and my life over to His care. I was baffled, troubled, and fearful.

Doing a fearless and thorough inventory is one of the most difficult things I’ve done in this lifetime. When they say fearless, that doesn’t mean you will have no feelings of fear. You will probably experience many emotions as you survey your life, including embarrassment or shame or fear. 

Fearless means you will not let your fears stop you from being thorough in the inventory process. When doing Step 4, exhibiting fearlessness means you commit to rigorous honesty as you focus on events in your life, including your own weaknesses, and not on anyone else’s weaknesses.

The principle of Step 4 is beneficial to everyone - not only those in recovery - because it’s when we realize there are areas of our lives that need attention, and it’s impossible to see all of them. Denial is part of many lives, it’s a defense mechanism that is used as a survival skill or a tool you may have learned in early childhood for self-preservation.

But today is the day, release the pain that you’ve felt and repressed, bring your life under the searchlight of God’s Word and see yourself as He sees you! Be Fearless!!!