The fearless moral inventory

Step Four “We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” JFT 12/12/2020 Fear of Change "By working the steps, we come to accept a Higher Power's will.... We lose our fear of the unknown. We are set free." -Basic Text, p16 BASIC TEXT "When we realize how little we have to lose, and how much we have to gain, we begin this step." -Basic Text, p30 IT WORKS HOW AND WHY Step Four "By working the first three steps, we have formed a solid foundation for our recovery. Our active addiction cannot remain arrested, however, unless we build upon this foundation. As we worked the Third Step, many of us were puzzled: How can we make sure we are really turning our will and lives over to the care of God? The answer is simple: We work the remainder of the steps, starting with Step Four." - p 26 "Honesty is an essential part of this step. Our years of living a lie must end. If we sit down and become very quiet with ourselves, we will find it easier to get in touch with the truth. What we currently know to be true, we put on paper, holding nothing back. Telling the truth is a brave act, but with our faith and trust in the God of our understanding, we find the courage we need to be searching and fearless. With our courage, we are able to put on paper those things we thought we’d never tell. What is meant by a “searching and fearless moral inventory?” We take stock of our assets and liabilities. We try to get at the bottom of who we are, to expose the lies we have told ourselves about ourselves. For years, we became whoever we needed to be to survive our addiction. After living a lifetime of lies, we began to believe those lies. Although we did discover some valuable truths in the First Step, the Fourth Step further separates fantasy from reality. We can begin to stop being the person we have invented and find the freedom to be who we are. If the word “moral” bothers us, we have found that talking with our sponsor about our reservations can ease our discomfort. A moral inventory doesn’t mean that we will condemn ourselves. In reality, the inventory process is one of the most loving things we can do for ourselves. We simply look at our instincts, our desires, our motives, our tendencies, and the compulsive routines that kept us trapped in our addiction. No matter how many days or how many years we have been clean, we are still human and subject to defects and failings. An inventory allows us to look at our basic nature with its flaws and its strengths. We look not only at our imperfections, but also at our hopes, our dreams, our aspirations, and where they may have gone astray. Step Four is a big step forward on the path of recovery."