Vines

TRUTH

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

James‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬-‭11

REFLECTION

I’m a professional minimizer.

Give me something wrong and I’ll find something worse to compare it with.

Point out the evils of the world and I’ll be quick to agree and add to the conversation. All the while, though, I can easily harbor the happier, more digestible sins that I still hold on to.

Character defects is the term we use often in recovery.

It’s the stuff that stands in the way of the freedom from the life we are fleeing.

It’s also semantics.

Sin feels like a dirty word because it is. And it’s invasive and personal and threatening because it points out the truth: I’m the problem.

It traces back to me. The failures I’ve had and the addiction I’ve lived through traces back to the choices I’ve made.

And you know what? There were a whole lot of crappy, sinful choices along the way.

The tendency is to look around and compare, though. I wasn’t that bad. I didn’t go that far down the line. I am better than that person.

The list goes on, doesn’t it? This is human nature to prop ourselves up, at least in our own minds, so we feel better than we ought to.

But what do we get out of these little bits of self-deceit?

Permission to continue. Permission to be complacent. Permission to not care about the things we ought to care about.

My sins are many. Sobriety hasn’t cured me of them, but it has given me the opportunity to tune myself to the truth.

The flavor of them doesn’t matter nearly as much as we want it to.

God, help me focus on growing toward you and away from me.

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NEXT

When you’re ready, here are some tools for you:

1. Book List (amazon link)
   Some of my favorite reads related to recovery and/or wrestling with faith.

2. 4th Step Guide (free download)
   A PDF with instructions and worksheets for a thorough 4th step. Straight from the Big Book. Fearlessness not included.

3. 12-Step Christianity (YouTube)
   My thoughts on the parallels between discipleship and sponsorship.

KEEP LEANING FORWARD

Cheers, Eamonn
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