Step Four

Step Four:  "We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves".

"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord" (Lamentations 3:40).

Step Four is perhaps the hardest of the steps to accomplish.  It involves taking an honest and sober look at everyone and everything that has happened in one's life--the good and the bad.  For me, it is a detailed record of my sins, my relationships, my failures, and my successes.  It is to answer the question, "Who am I?"  What have I done?  What has been done to me?  Don Williams writes, "Jesus comes to free us from the past.  This includes our bondage to Satan, this fallen world system, sin, the law, and the flesh.  As we make our 'searching and fearless moral inventory,' much of this will be specifically exposed.  It will include the hurts that we've inflicted on others as well as the hurts that have been inflicted upon us".  The fourth step takes time, it takes courage, it takes honesty, and it takes the searchlight of the Holy Spirit shining into the dark places of our heart that we would rather avoid.  It's also a step not to take alone.  It's advisable to have a counselor, mentor, or accountability partner that you can share your stuff with.  A moral inventory can be extremely painful at times.

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