Admitting Everything Does Not Admit Peace

This is perhaps difficult - especially discussing our defects with another person. We think we have done well enough in admitting these things to ourselves. There is doubt about that. In actual practice, we usually find a solitary self-appraisal insufficient. Many of us thought it necessary to go much further. We will be more reconciled to discussing ourselves with another person when we see good reasons why we should do so. The best reason first: If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking. Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives. Trying to avoid this humbling experience, they have turned to easier methods. (AA, pg 72)

I cannot recall how many times that I took my inventory, yet my life never seemed to get any better.

I remember that I would admit how afraid or angry that I was about certain people or situations, and my fear and anger never went away.

The idea that individuals must confess certain sins or they will not stop drinking is just not true.

I have met many people who confessed everything that they have ever done. They go over all the shameful things from their past over and over, yet for me the feelings would never subside. The program simply does not work!

The real problem for individuals is not the sin, not what they did, but the sense of guilt which never goes away. People keep on confessing all the bad things that they have done, and they do not feel any better.

I used to get certain things off my chest, but then I found that I was still struggling with certain issues in my life. The pain, the shame, the regret would not go away. Sharing our worst shames and hurts and sins does not break us free from the guilt. In our flesh, there will always be this awful sense of judgment in our lives -- "Someone has to pay for what I have done. Someone has to pay!"

To walk the earth with the empty sense that everything will just work out is not good enough. The uncertainty of a life in which we are always wondering if we are going to get slammed or hammered for something that we have done -- this is a burden which no one can overcome or ignore on one's own.

But that God for the Cross of Jesus Christ, in whom every sin was punished, every consequences was meted out, in whom every one of our sins is sent away, and we need never fear that we will get eaten up or beaten down for what we have done or will have to bear the burden for what was done to us!

To admit to one's crimes is just not enough. To keeping going over one's sins is a sham and a shame., The Finished Work of Jesus Christ has taken care or our sins once and for all. We have to know that the Sacrifice at the Cross has purged us from a conscience of dead works, as well.