Step 6

“Were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character.”

 When we truly look at our own negative attitudes and beliefs we become more aware of their essential lack of love and lack of honoring love in their execution. The result of this is inescapable suffering, for ourselves and for others. And even though we were quite fond of some of our defects of character whether it be grandiosity, arrogance, judgmental-ism, we see in examining the ultimate effect of these as doing harm to ourselves and to others. The twelve-step program of recovery asked only that we be willing to remove or let go of things that we truly do not need. The important thing about that is that we become fully able to see that that is true. There is not one defect of character that will answer the aching need of our heart and soul for true love and acceptance. There is not one cherished self-defeating attitude or behavior that will meet any of our true or deed needs. And as we look over our using histories and lives we see again and again, dishonesty, manipulation, conceit, passivity, perpetuate both our inner sorrow and our substance use. The greatest gift of recovery is discovering true love within oneself and for others. We cannot realize this gift as long as we hang on to any attitude or behavior that stands in direct opposition to true love. We must truly see what our bargain is in the question of letting go of defects of character versus cultivating and living a life based on true love and acceptance. True love does have some conditions. It cannot exist where negativity is held and perpetuated. Or at least, it cannot be seen or experienced when illusions are held before it. When we realize the true price that we pay for hanging on to our defects of character and at the same time realize the true beauty and wonder that we deny ourselves for hanging onto these things, then we will be entirely ready to have all of these removed. It is God, in the end, that removes these defects from us. For it is by choosing love , seeking the guidance of love, following the way of love, that our illusions and our negative thoughts and beliefs are dissolved and replaced by the love that gains greater life within us.