Step #7 – The Full Monty, or, “The Works” (part 1)

Steps to the Spirit

I would say that step number seven was yet another turning point in my 12-step program. As a reminder, step number seven, (from the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, and as slightly edited by me), is: “I humbly, on my knees, asked Him to remove my shortcomings, holding nothing back.”

In step number six I took a hard look at all of the shortcomings that I had, (and for some, still have). I became entirely ready, or, at least as ready as I could be at the time, to have the shortcomings removed by God. This did not mean that the Holy, Almighty, finger of God would somehow appear, touch me on my head, and I would become as pure as the driven snow. No, it meant that I was entirely ready to cooperate with God, and try to control my physical self to get in line and follow God’s directions.

It wasn’t too bad to say that I was entirely ready because, after all, I didn’t really have to stop, or lose, or give up anything at that point in my recovery. Now, and step number seven, I have to put my money where my mouth was. I had to actually ask God to remove all of those character defects, and I had to do it with this thing called humility! At that point in working the steps, I hardly knew what humility meant.! It turned out that what I needed to do was to get on my knees, and trust that God would steer me in the right direction to find that elusive thing called humility. Most of all, I had to try my best to remember that humility is the gift from God that is associated with step number seven. Of course, it didn’t just appear when I decided to do the seventh step. It is a gift we receive at our inception. We need only to get our humanity out of the way enough in order to avail ourselves of this beautiful gift from God.