Jesus Christ and the 12 Steps.
Fourth Step.
“We Made A searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves”
The Soul's Desires
When we were created, we were endowed with instincts. Without them, we would not be complete human beings. If men and women did not strive for personal security, if they did not take the trouble to harvest their food or build their homes, they could not survive. If they did not reproduce, the earth would not be populated. Therefore, these desires—for sexual relationships, for material and emotional security, and for companionship—are perfectly necessary and appropriate—and come from God.
However, these instincts often far exceed the limits of their proper function. Powerfully and blindly in a subtle way, they drive us, take hold of us, and insist on dominating our lives. Our desires for sex, for material and emotional security, and for an eminent position in society often control us. When they go awry in this way, natural desires become the source of problems. Almost every serious emotional problem is linked to a misguided instinct.
When this happens, what were once natural assets, instincts, have become physical and mental weaknesses. Step Four is our energetic and painstaking effort to uncover what these weaknesses have been. We want to know exactly how, when, and where our natural desires have twisted us so we can begin to correct them.
Before going into details, let's try to identify the two sides of these cravings.
1. When a person places sexual desire above all else, they destroy their ability to achieve material and emotional security and maintain their social status in society.
2. Our obsession with financial security compels us to accumulate money to the point of becoming miserable or even a loner who isolates ourselves from family and friends. But the search for security doesn't always come in terms of money. We often see fearful people who insist on relying completely on another stronger individual's guidance and protection. The weak, by refusing to fulfil life's obligations with their resources, never achieve maturity. Their destiny is always to feel disappointed and helpless.
The addict must realise that their escape instinct is the root of their destructive behavior. They have drunk to drown out fear, frustration, and depression. They have drunk to escape the guilt caused by their passions, and then they have drunk again to rekindle those passions. He has drunk pure vanity to satisfy his dreams of pomp and power better. It is not particularly pleasant to contemplate this vicious cycle of our mental illness.
My experience led me to find that the way out that Jesus Christ gives us from these longings is constructive. He presents himself as the solution and provision for these desires.
In the reading from chapter 30, Christ presents his names as the 7 I Am, in which these become the missing puzzle pieces of our desires:
1. I am the bread of life. Longing for preservation and survival. Placing our trust in God for provision. In this way, He meets the longing for preservation or survival: "Whoever eats this bread will never go hungry again, and I will raise him up at the last day."
2. I am the light of the world. Longing for expression. Light is a radiant energy meant to be expressed. By receiving Christ, the light of the world, He gives us the opportunity to express that light.
3. I am the door of the sheep. The longing for security is met behind the closed door. The closed door gives us security. The shepherd guards the door of the wicked, and on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ said to the devil, "You cannot enter."
4. I am the good shepherd... and I know my sheep. The longing for loyalty has been shown to us through His love; He also supplies our needs.
5. I am the resurrection and the life. Longing for power. Christ Jesus stood at Lazarus's tomb and spoke the rhema word, "Lazarus, come forth," and Lazarus was resurrected. However, before He spoke this word, the Lord cried out, "Father, I thank thee that thou hearest me always." Immediately, the Lord was given power and control over circumstances. Because of this, He commanded the stone to be rolled away (this shows His control over the world), and then cried, "Lazarus, come forth."
6. John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. Longing for knowledge. He is the only one capable of supplying our longing for knowledge. This knowledge comes in three different channels:
a. Knowledge through the five bodily senses: sight, hearing, touch, etc., also called the desire for adventure or experiential knowledge.
b. Rational knowledge or knowledge of reason. This knowledge is acquired through the soul's senses: emotions, will, memory, conscience, etc.
c. Revelation knowledge. This is knowledge from God revealed to our human spirit: love, faith, hope, God-consciousness, etc., and from there to the soul.
7. John 15:1. I am the true vine. Christ Jesus supplies the longing for attention and acceptance in the position of the true vine. The Lord has united us to Himself; We are His branches, and he accepts us because we are part of Him; in this position of branches, we are no longer treated as little servants.