Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest. (AA, pg 58)
From the outset, men and women who struggle with alcohol are defined as people who struggle with mental and emotional problems.
The program then leads new members to look at their feelings, their thoughts, and their reactions:
This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code. (AA, pg 84)
"Continue" is used four times in this passage. The work of looking at our thoughts and feelings is a never-ending process. A life of soul-searching and emotional self-reflection is bound to make us more depressed and fearful. For peace and joy, we should not be looking at ourselves, where we find nothing but imperfections and failures.
Such introspection makes us carnally-minded:
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8: 6)
We can never find peace in looking at ourselves.
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Romans 7: 18)
We can look out for selfishness and fear all we want, and we will find nothing but struggle and pain:
"21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7: 21-24)
The struggle of every human being, and especially for the believer, begins and ends with the sin in our flesh, which we cannot remove. The more that we look out for selfishness, fear, resentment, and even dishonesty, we will find ourselves more carnally minded than ever.
The solution lies not in looking at ourselves, but looking to Christ and Him alone:
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3: 18)
Instead of looking at ourselves, that is our flesh, we need to realize that in Christ we are dead to sin:
"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 11)
When Jesus died on the Cross, He did not just die for all our sins (Colossians 2: 13), but through His death we died to ourselves, that is our flesh:
"4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7: 4)
Paul wrote to the legalist Galatians:
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2: 20)
To the Colossians, Paul then writes:
"1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4)
Instead of looking at ourselves, we need to look at Christ, for we are now in Christ, and through Him we receive more than a new set of rules or guidelines, but life and that more abundantly (John 10: 10)
Through the gift of righteous, we receive an abundance of grace, and the grace of God teaches us to be godly, holy, and good in our actions (Titus 2: 11-12)
AA is a terrible cult which brings people into bondage, for there is no worse bondage than trying to fix yourself, when man in his fallen state is so totally corrupted, there is nothing he can do in himself He needs a new life, he needs to be born again, and through the Holy Spirit, every man receives Christ, and Christ Jesus then brings us to sit with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2: 4-8)
For life and peace, and in order to get rid of the works of the flesh in our lives, let us receive the gift of Christ and Him Crucified, through which we receive the gift of righteousness and abundance of grace (Romans 5: 17).
When you know who you are in Christ, you reign in life over sin, every bad habit, every addiction and perversion. Be Christ-minded, bringing every thought into captivity to all that He has done for us (2 Corinthians 10: 5), and see that you are more than a conqueror in Him who love you and gave His life for you!
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