Understanding the 12 Steps: Step 1 (Honesty)

Understanding the 12 Steps: Step 1 (Honesty)

by | Aug 6, 2024 | 12 Steps, Counselling, Finding Help, Therapeuo

“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Step 1, Alcoholics Anonymous

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus, Matthew 26:41

The first step to overcoming – the first step towards solving the problem of addiction or any other compulsive behaviour/impulse – is to admit that there is a problem.

We cannot fix what is not broken – and we are all broken in some way or the other – we just don’t care to admit it.

Jesus said to His disciples that they must watch and pray to ensure they do not enter into temptation. The flesh, inherently, is weak.

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous offers a set of simple spiritual principles that, if put into practice, will lead to freedom. This freedom is offered to Alcoholics and Addicts around the world but is not limited to the realm of drugs and drink. It can be applied to a myriad of problems. From compulsive shopping, pornography consumption, codependency, depression and anxiety, gambling and even love and sex.

The spiritual principle behind step 1 is HONESTY.

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says this: “Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves.” (Chapter 5, Alcoholics Anonymous)

Jesus famously said: THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE.

For us to overcome our spiritual malady and the weakness of the flesh we need to first of all be HONEST – admitting to OURSELVES that there is something that needs fixing – that our lives have become unmanageable and that we, in ourselves, are powerless.

We need to admit to ourselves that we cannot do this on our own.

Too often the shame of our secret has kept us sick – it is shame that keeps us from reaching out, it is foolish pride that keeps us from asking for help – and so we try to do it on our own.

But there is nothing to be ashamed about. Yes, we might have done things that we regret, we might’ve done things that we resent – and we might feel deeply ashamed about these things – but there is no shame in asking for help, and there is definitely no shame in expressing the desire to fix what is broken.

On the contrary, reaching out and owning our struggle is an admirable thing to do. It is a difficult task that shows much courage.

The First Step – this step of being honest with oneself – is probably the hardest step to take. Once we can make a decision to be honest about our weakness, our powerlessness, we can start taking steps towards our healing and restoration.

I came to the conclusion that something was wrong when I got arrested for drug possession. On that cold concrete floor I had nothing else to do but think about all the ways that my life was falling apart around me.

Is your addiction or behaviour causing chaos in your life? Is it leading to the loss of income? The loss of stability? The breakdown of family relationships? Is your addiction or behaviour affecting your health – physical or mental?

Are you tired and burdened? Heavy laden by guilt and shame? Do you feel powerless and unable to change?

From personal experience I can tell you that there is hope. You can overcome! But it starts with you being honest with yourself.

It starts by admitting that we are powerless over our situation or circumstance, addiction or behaviour – and this honesty then puts us in the position to seek the right kind of help.

Prayer: Lord, if there is anything in my life that needs changing, I pray that You will show me. I ask Lord that You will point out where I might’ve strayed from Your plan for my life and that You will help me get back on it. Give me wisdom, strength and the power to endure on the journey that lies ahead. In Jesus Name. Amen.

If you have come to the conclusion that there is something wrong, something in need of fixing – that your life has become unmanageable and chaotic – reach out: andre@adlabuschagne.co.za / 0653703806.

We will do our best to help you find the help you need.

The Twelve Steps: A Powerful Tool

The Twelve Steps: A Powerful Tool

by | Jun 10, 2024 | 12 Steps, Articles, Therapeuo, Treatment Modalities, Understanding Addiction

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous has been around for decades and has helped millions of people in their journey of recovery from addiction and compulsive behaviour towards some sort of stability and sometimes even complete remission. Studies have shown that the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is at the very least as effective as other forms of therapy (like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Enhancement Therapy), but for the most part seems to be more effective – leading to more alcoholics and addicts being abstinent for longer periods of time.

Widely misunderstood by the church, sometimes even completely dismissed, this program has a lot to offer as a therapeutic intervention but also as a support program for deliverance and pastoral ministries.

The program – all twelve steps – are built around a foundational belief that the only way you can kick your addiction is by submitting to a force greater than yourself.

When the program was started in the 1930’s there was no doubt that it was a Christian program. Although secularized in the name of inclusivity, the program remains true to concept and has a high success rate. Coupled with our hope in Christ, rather than an anonymous ‘higher power’, I have seen lives changed in ways I couldn’t even begin to explain.

It can be applied to any addiction – narcotics, alcohol, pornography, sex, gambling and shopping – or even compulsive behaviors and mental health issues.

It provides a simple set of guidelines that we can use as a road map on our healing journey from chaos back to order.

The Twelve Step Program is outlined in the book Alcoholics Anonymous (originally published in 1939). It is found at the beginning of the chapter “How It Works”.

The Twelve Steps are:

  1. 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 program has a strong emphasis on prayer and fellowship – and the groups are free, with the only cost being your willingness to participate. The meetings are easy to find and listed online according to country, city and even suburb.

A final question I would like to answer here is whether or not Christians should attend these meetings. I have referred many addicts to these meetings, and some have been put off by the phrase ‘Higher Power’ or ‘God of your own understanding’. I want to urge you to not let this stand in your way. God wants us to be free. 

Surely we don’t avoid taking crucial medication (like heart medication or insulin) because the prescribing doctor is a Muslim or a Jew? These meetings are a life-line for those struggling with addiction and I believe that the Divine Wisdom of God is there between the lines. For any Christian going through these kinds of issues I would suggest a two-pronged approach – throw yourself into fellowship at church, but also join one of these support groups. We need as much support as possible in this specific journey. If the secular side of these meetings really are an obstacle to you personally, please consider one of the Christian fellowships instead – but do not push it aside altogether.

As a Christian and a minister of the Gospel I believe that this is an invaluable tool for those suffering from addiction, but also for the families of those who are struggling with addiction to drugs or alcohol. 

The thing that has kept me clean for nearly a decade at time of writing is something someone said at one of the early meetings I attended. Just before praying together we stood in a circle holding hands, and a fellow addict said: “we stand this way to remind ourselves that we never need to stand alone again unless we choose to…”

You are not alone. You don’t have to go through it alone.

There are Christian alternatives to the traditional AA, CA and NA meetings (eg. Celebrate Recovery), and I would urge you to find a support group near you – it saved my life. It can do the same for you.

If you would like help in deciding where to go or how to get sober – I am always just an email away. Reach out by sending me a message to andre@adlabuschagne.co.za.

God bless you and keep you. May He shine His face upon you and grant you the peace that you need today!

IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE ARE STRUGGLING WITH ADDICTION PLEASE REACH OUT: 065 370 3806 / ANDRE@ADLABUSCHAGNE.CO.ZA. #YOUARENOTALONE