R2R Step 4
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Introduction
Introduction
Recap of three Steps
We addmited that we were powerless over our problems - That our lives had become unmanageble (We looked at the example of Paul)
We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. (God is working in us)
We made a decision to turn our wills and lives over to the Care of God. (Giving up Control)
STEP 4 -
STEP 4 -
We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ouselves. (Facing up) (Taking Responsibilty).
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Mat 7:
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
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Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds. For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever. Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Most of us falter at the prospect of making an honest personal inventory.
Discussion
Why is step 4 so Hard?
Rationalizations and excuses for avoiding this step abound. The bottom line is that we know there is an enormous amount of sadness awaiting us, and we fear the pain that facing the sadness will bring. The Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem after captivity in Babylon had lost touch with God. During the Exile, they hadn’t been taught his laws, so naturally, they hadn’t practiced them either. After rebuilding the city wall and the Temple, the priests gathered the people together to read the Book of the Law. The people were overwhelmed with grief and began weeping, because their lives in no way measured up. The priests said to the people, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the LORD your God. . . . Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. . . . Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” (). The next day marked the beginning of the Festival of Shelters, a required Jewish feast celebrating the Israelites’ escape from bondage in Egypt and God’s care for them while they wandered in the wilderness. When we set out to face the pain and sadness of making a moral inventory, we will need the “joy of the LORD” to give us strength. This joy comes from recognizing, even celebrating, God’s ability to bring us out of bondage and care for us as we pass through the sadness toward a new way of life.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.
As we make our moral inventory, we will probably find ourselves listing our destructive habits, our defects of character, the wrongs we have done, the consequences of wrong choices that we now live with, and the hurts we have caused others. It’s like sifting through all the garbage in our past. This is painful, but it is a necessary part of throwing away those rotten habits and behaviors that, if not dealt with, will almost certainly spoil the rest of our life. The returned Jewish exiles “confessed their own sins.” This phrase speaks volumes. The idea of confession involves not only owning up to one’s sins but being truly sorry for them as well. Sins are offenses against God, including any transgressions against his will. The natural follow-up to true confession, after owning up to our sins and bemoaning them before God, is to turn from them. The Israelites’ confession can serve as a model for us to follow as we take our moral inventory. We can list the occasions of our offenses, our destructive habits, and the consequences we have brought into our life and the lives of others. Then, after accounting for all the garbage, we can “take out the trash.” In their confession, the Israelites owned, bemoaned, and then discarded their sins. After this they were better able to make a new start. We can “own” the garbage in our own life by taking personal responsibility for our choices and actions.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
A Choice
We can “bemoan” it by allowing ourselves to grieve. We can “discard” it by leaving it behind and turning toward the future. Turn to the next devotional, on .
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Discussion
Will God be angry with us when we confess our sins?
Taking Personal Responsibilty,
Huting people hurt people.
We are not just victims we are perpetrstors,
We have not just been sinned against we have also sinned ourselves.
Blaming Others
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Our family of origin has had an influence on who we are today. Some of us want to pretend that our family was, or is, nearly perfect. Others of us may tend to avoid responsibility for our actions by blaming our family. Whatever the case, when we think about our own life, we also need to deal with our family and the effects its members have had on who we are today. We are told that the returned Jewish exiles “confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors” (). They blamed their ancestors for their captivity and the difficult situation they were facing. They said, “[Our ancestors] refused to turn from their wickedness. So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! . . . We serve [conquering kings] at their pleasure, and we are in great misery” (). It’s all right to admit the truth about what brought us into bondage. This might very well involve the wrongs committed by our parents and other family members. It’s perfectly all right to express our anger and regret over what has been done to us. We have a right to hold others accountable and grieve over the negative effects their actions have had on our lives. That is all part of the real picture. It’s not all right, however, to use this as an excuse for our wrong choices or for staying in bondage. Our relatives may be partly responsible for bringing us to this point, but we are responsible for moving on to a better place for ourselves and our family. Turn to the next devotional, on .
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Finger Pointing BIBLE READING: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. There have probably been times when we have ignored our own sins and problems and pointed a finger at someone else. We may be out of touch with our internal affairs because we are still blaming others for our moral choices. Or perhaps we avoid self-examination by making moral inventories of the people around us. When God asked Adam and Eve about their sin, they each pointed a finger at someone else. “‘Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the LORD God asked the woman, ‘What have you done?’ ‘The serpent deceived me,’ she replied” (). It seems to be human nature to blame others as our first line of defense. We also may avoid our own problems by evaluating and criticizing others. Jesus tells us, “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? . . . Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (, ). While doing this step, we must constantly remember that this is a season of self-examination. We must guard against blaming and examining the lives of others. There will be time in the future for helping others after we have taken responsibility for our own lives. Turn to the next devotional, on .
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
We all have to deal with sorrow. We may try to stuff our sorrow down and ignore it. We may try to drown it by giving in to our addictions or avoid feeling it by intellectualizing. But sorrow doesn’t go away. We need to accept the sorrow that will be a part of the inventory process. Not all sorrow is bad for us. The apostle Paul had written a letter to the church in Corinth that made them very sad because Paul confronted them about something they were doing wrong. At first he was sorry that he had hurt them, but later he said, “Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have. . . . For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. . . . Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! . . . You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right” (). Jeremiah said, “Though [God] brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow” (). The Corinthians’ grief was good, it came from honest self-evaluation, not morbid self-condemnation. We can learn to accept our sorrow as a positive part of recovery, not as punishment. Turn to the next devotional, on .
God’s Mercy BIBLE READING: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. We may wish we could avoid taking moral inventory; it’s normal to want to hide from personal examination. But in our hearts we probably sense that a day will come when we will have to face the truth about ourselves and our lives. The Bible tells us there is a day coming when an inventory will be made of every life. No one will be able to hide. In John’s vision he saw “a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. . . . And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire” (, ). It is best to do our own earthly moral inventory now so we can be ready for the one to come. Anyone whose name is in the Book of Life will be saved, including all whose sins have been atoned for by the death of Jesus. Those who refuse God’s offer of mercy are left to be judged on the basis of their own deeds recorded in “the books.” No one will pass that test! Perhaps now is a good time to make sure that our name is in the right book. Knowing that our sins are covered with God’s forgiveness can help us examine our lives fearlessly and honestly.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Close with Prayer.
Close with Prayer.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Arterburn, Stephen. The Life Recovery Bible NLT . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.