12 Step Growth and Change

What Does Self-Centeredness Do to Me?

I have a friend who sends a text message everyday a thought taken from one of the many publications provided by Alcoholics Anonymous.  The following is part of the message he sent today. 

Daily Reflection

"Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs. AA ANONYMOUS, p. 20

"Self-centeredness was my problem. All my life people had been doing things for me and I not only expected it, but I was ungrateful and resentful they didn't do more. Why should I help others, when they were supposed to help me? If others had troubles, didn't they deserve them? I was filled with self-pity, anger and resentment. Then I learned that by helping others, with no thought of return, I could overcome this obsession with selfishness, and if I understood humility, I would know peace and serenity. No longer do I need to drink."

See helping-others

Each day when my friend sends his text message, I am amazed how universally applicable these inspirational thoughts and the AA 12 Step program could be for every person.

To overcome a substance addiction requires a significant change of heart and focus.  

"The Greek word [from which repentance is translated] denotes a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined. Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul’s salvation, for all accountable persons are stained by sin and must be cleansed in order to enter the kingdom of heaven."

A mighty change of heart is not optional for happiness.

First Principles

First Principles

Faith in Jesus Christ, daily repentance, frequent death and resurrection (baptism and the sacrament), and living prepared for and under the direction of the Holy Ghost are the first principles and foundations of the work of Christ, and they are how we tether ourselves to him.

Covenant faith in Christ releases me from being a slave to my past mistakes and future expectations.  My past and future are no longer masters, but become servants to my daily living.  Being yoked with Christ provides true freedom over the choices I make today.  He provides the power.  I make the choice.

Faith in Jesus Christ means that I trust in His promises.  (Also see 25 Promises.) If I follow Him by obeying His commandments and learning to live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Christ will extend his grace unto eternal life for me.

(My thoughts inspired by the book An Early Resurrection: Life in Christ before You Die by Adam S. Miller)