Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24)
Let us test and examine our ways.
Let us turn back to the Lord. (Lamentations 3:40)
You should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. (1 Corinthians 11:28)
Seeing the scriptures printed above, is there any question as to whether this moral inventory step is something that is important to God? Self-examination is mentioned at least by David and Jeremiah in the Old Testament, and Paul in the New. And it is important to include a warning here. To quote Jens Christy, Recovery Pastor at Capo Beach Church, “We probably know less about ourselves than anybody.” Why is that? Because we have a tendency to bury our sins, addictions and poor choices deep underneath shovels full of denial, blame, rationalizations and justifications. We see other’s sins before we see our own. That’s why Jesus told us not to judge, because we will most likely be judging what we are guilty of. We see in someone else who we are refusing to see in ourselves.
John Fischer The Catch 