The Twelve Steps

Scripture for the Twelve Steps

Step One

We admitted we were powerless over the effects of our separation from God – that our lives had become unmanageable.

I know that nothing good live in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Romans 7:19)

Step Two

Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)

Step Three

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)

Step Four
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 Five
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:16a)

Step Six

We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:10)

Step Seven

Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Step Eight

Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)

Step Nine
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)

Step Ten

Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong,
promptly admitted to it.

So, if you think that you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.
(1 Corinthians 10:12)

Step Eleven

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Let the work of Christ dwell in you richly. (Colossians 3:16a)

Step Twelve

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)