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The
12 Steps of Heart t' Heart
(Bold print are conservatively adapted
from the original Twelve
Steps of A.A. The italicized versions are interpreted to reflect LDS
beliefs as stated in the LDS scriptures).
1. We admitted we were powerless over
compulsive/addictive behaviors* -- that our lives had become
unmanageable. Admitted that we of ourselves are powerless, nothing
without God. (Mosiah 4:5; Alma 26:12)
2. Came to believe that a Power
greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Came to believe
that God has all power and all wisdom, and that in His strength we can
do all things. (Mosiah 4:9; Alma 26:12)
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of
God as we understood Him. Made the decision to reconcile ourselves
to the will of God, offer our whole souls as an offering unto Him, and
trust Him in all things forever. (2 Nephi 10:24; Omni 1:26; Mosiah 3:19,
2 Nephi 4:34)
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Made a searching and fearless written inventory of our past in order to
thoroughly examine ourselves as to our pride and other weaknesses, with
the intent of recognizing our own carnal state and our need for Christ's
Atonement. (Alma 15:17; Mosiah 4:2; Jacob 4:6-7; Ether 12:27)
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact
nature of our wrongs. Honestly shared this inventory with God and
with another person thus demonstrating the sincerity of our repentance,
and our willingness to give away all our sins that we might know Him. (Mosiah
26:29; Alma 22:18)
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
character. Became humble enough to yield our hearts and our lives to
Christ for His sanctification and purification, relying wholly upon His
merits, acknowledging even our own best efforts as unprofitable. (Helaman
3:35, 2 Nephi 31:19; Mosiah 2:20-21)
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. Humbly cried unto
the Lord Jesus Christ, in our hearts, for a remission of sins, that
through His mercy and His grace we might experience a mighty change of
heart, lose all disposition to do evil and thus be encircled about in
the arms of safety because of His great and last sacrifice. (Alma 36:18;
Alma 38:8; Moroni 10:32; Mosiah 5:2; Alma 34:15-16)
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to
make amends to them all. Made a list of all persons we had harmed
and became willing to make restitution to all of them (even those we had
harmed in what we might have considered righteous anger) desiring
instead to be peacemakers, and to do all that we could to come unto God
by being first reconciled to our brothers. (3 Nephi 12:9; 3 Nephi 12:24;
3 Nephi 12:44-45)
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when
to do so would injure them or others. Made restitution directly to
those we had harmed, confessing our own wrong doing in each instance,
except when to do so would further injure them or others. (Mosiah 27:35;
3 Nephi 12:25; Mosiah 26:30)
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong
promptly admitted it. Realizing that the weakness to be tempted and
to sin is a part of the mortal experience, we continued to take personal
inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it, being willing to
repent as often as needed. (2 Nephi 4:18; 2 Nephi 10:20; Mosiah 26:30)
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His
will for us and the power to carry that out. Sought through prayer
and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, seeking the
words of Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost, that they might
tell us all things that we should do, praying only for a knowledge of
His will for us and the power to carry that out. (2 Nephi 32:3; Alma
37:37; Helaman 10:4)
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we
tried to carry this message to others still suffering from the effects
of compulsive behaviors and to practice these principles in all our
affairs. Having experienced a mighty change and having awakened unto
God as a result of our sincere repentance demonstrated in taking these
steps, we were willing to become instruments in carrying this message to
others and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (Alma 5:7;
Mosiah 27:36-37; Moroni 7:3)
* Any problem may be inserted
here in place of "compulsive/addictive behaviors."
Permission to use the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous for
adaptation granted by
A. A. World Services, Inc. Use of the 12 Steps does
not imply affiliation with Alcoholics Anonymous.
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The 12 Steps
of
A
A1. We admitted
we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to
sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as
we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature
of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make
amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so
would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly
admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact
with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us
and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried
to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all
our affairs.
The Twelve Steps are reprinted with permission of Alcoholics
Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint the Twelve Steps does
not imply affiliation with this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from
alcoholism – use of the Twelve Steps in connection with activities which are
patterned after A.A., but which address other problems, does not imply
otherwise. |
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About The 12 Steps
In April 1939, a man by the name of Bill
W., in association with a number of other people, officially published
to the world, the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The fact that
these people were even alive, much less sober and able to publish a book
(Alcoholics Anonymous) was one of the greatest miracles of modern times.
The medical world was amazed, left without an explanation for their
unprecedented restoration to normal, sane living, totally relieved of
the need to drink. What had they done? What answer had they found? It
was simply this: They had found God.
Believing they could do the impossible
if it were God's will, they set about to form a fellowship based on
spiritual principles. Principles so universal and true that they could
be applied by anyone who had even the smallest amount of willingness to
believe in a benevolent God, leaving each free to define God as they
best understood Him.
It worked.
Little did anyone realize that in that
humble effort by a bunch of previously hopeless, derelict drunks was the
beginning of the single most powerful program for overcoming
self-destructive behaviors that has ever been introduced to the world.
No efforts by medical science or modern psychology has ever duplicated
their success.
Latter-day Saints should not be surprised at the success of these Twelve
Steps. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that with correct principles
people can learn to govern themselves. It should also be no surprise
that principles so profoundly effective as the Twelve Steps would be in
complete harmony with the scriptures and with the Gospel.
In the years since their introduction,
these principles applied in this order, have been found to overcome any
form of addiction, behavioral as well as chemical. It is in the
overcoming of behavioral addiction that Latter-day Saints are finding
Joseph's words fulfilled in these Steps.
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