Step 9. Are seeking through prayer and meditation to make a conscious effort to consider others better than ourselves.
Have you ever gone to a funeral and learned how fascinating an acquaintance actually was and been sad you hadn’t bothered to take the next step and make that person a friend? You might avoid that next time by looking out for number two.
Step 9. Are seeking through prayer and meditation to make a conscious effort to consider others better than ourselves.
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too” (Philippians 2:3-4).
Here’s something that could make your day different. Make a conscious effort to consider everyone you meet today as someone who is better than you. Not necessarily better at doing things, because there will always be some things you are better at than someone else. We’re talking importance, value and worth. Consider other people as more important than you. What they say is more important than what you say; what they think is more important that what you think; what they did this weekend is more important than what you did this weekend; their dreams and goals are more important than your dreams and goals. You’re not waiting for a chance to talk; you are waiting for a chance to listen. If listening is more important than talking, then you are probably on the right track.
8. Are looking closely at the lives of famous men and women of the Bible who turned out to be ordinary sinners like us.
Finding sinners among Old Testament Bible characters is a pretty easy thing to do. These people are revealed to us as fallible human beings. There’s no attempt to clean up their act for us. Indeed, the writers of these Old Testament stories don’t seem to care about how these people are represented. They just tell the stories, and some of them are pretty horrific.
Step 8: Are looking closely at the lives of famous men and women of the Bible who turned out to be ordinary sinners like us.
Elijah and Elisha
Elijah was, by many accounts, the greatest prophet the nation of Israel ever had. He represented the word of the Lord in a time of great apostasy. But he was also a lonely man, prone to great depression. At a time following his most astounding victory, when he defeated 450 prophets of the Canaanite god, Baal, he ran for his life when he heard that the wicked Queen Jezebel had put a price on his head. Even the success of his greatest achievement could not overcome his fear and depression, and in that desperate moment, while hiding in the mountains, he prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” (1 Kings 19:4) And the next verse says he lay down under a bush and slept. This was not the sleep of peace or of victory, it was the sleep of denial. Elijah was utterly defeated after his greatest victory.
Step 8: Are looking closely at the lives of famous men and women of the Bible who turned out to be ordinary sinners like us.
If you made a truly honest movie of the Bible, most of the Old Testament would have to be at least R-rated, and even that’s with certain scenes toned down. Behind the heroic stories of faith many of us grew up with in Sunday School are secondary stories of murder, adultery, incest, drunkenness, deceit, lust, jealousy, general mayhem and overall debauchery. And these are just the good guys we’re talking about — the heroes, so to speak. Wait until you hear about the other guys!
Step 7. Embrace the belief that we are, and will always be, experts at sinning.
Ever notice that when we talk about sin and sinners, we are usually referring to someone else’s and someone else? There is an underlying assumption that when we become Christians we stop sinning. Certainly we are not habitual sinners. Oh, we might slip into some old habit now and then but for the most part we are on the straight and narrow.
Step 7. Embrace the belief that we are, and will always be, experts at sinning.
This is the sure-fire cure — the closing argument that incarcerates the Pharisee in all of us. This is what steers us clear of pharisaical attitudes and brings us back to our senses when we relapse. The Pharisee who sees himself as an expert sinner is no longer being ruled by pharisaical attitudes. He is a recovering Pharisee.
Step 6. Are ready to have God remove all these defects of attitude and character.
If this doesn’t hurt, it’s probably not happening.
What does it take for God to remove these defects in attitude or character? It takes a lot, because we have undoubtedly gotten very comfortable with them. We’ve been self-medicating for years. These are the judgments, rationalizations, accusations, manipulations and put-downs we have relied on most of our lives. They are the equalizers by which we try to make up for our own deficiencies in character by putting others down. We are constantly evening the moral score with other people. As long as God grades on the curve we’ll probably be okay, because everyone else is so messed up (and aren’t we glad when we find that out!).
6. Are ready to have God remove all these defects of attitude and character.
The most important part of this step is that God gets involved. We cannot do this on our own. Just as a Pharisee can’t be righteous without God’s righteousness, so a Pharisee can’t stop being a Pharisee without God’s intervention. That’s the thing about any addiction: it takes God’s power to get over it. You don’t just stop doing what you were doing; you need help.
Step 5. Will cease all attempts to apply teaching and rebuke to anyone but ourselves.
Step 6. Are ready to have God remove all these defects of attitude and character.
We’re now halfway through this series. This is the turning point. Step 6 is the step that most closely resembles an original step in Alcoholics Anonymous. The first five steps have to do with admitting there is a problem — that things have gotten out of our control and we need help. The last seven steps have to do with what to do about that.
John Fischer The Catch 