Healing Addiction
Through God's Love

STEP 10 Perseverance “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.” It’s never easy to admit you’re wrong, but this step requires it. Clients must commit to monitoring themselves for behaviors that could harm themselves or someone else and to freely admit when they are wrong. The spiritual principle behind this step is perseverance. A SOZO Client’s Point of View:  “I never really knew the full meaning of the word perseverance. I just knew I wasn’t very good at it. The 10th step reads, “continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.” By using the words “continued to take”, I assumed that the people who first used the step meant “continue to take your inventory as you did in step 9 when you were making direct amends to people”.  I am very grateful that, at SOZO, we get exposed to "Step 10 – Perseverance – Principled Recovery Series"

STEP 9 Justice “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” At this stage, clients attempt to rectify their wrongdoings by confronting the people they harmed. The conversation may take place through a written letter or email or by sitting down face to face. The spiritual principle behind this step is justice. A SOZO Client’s Point of View:  “Step 9 is where we make direct amends to people, in person, wherever possible.  When we do this, we should resist the temptation to blame others, whether they “deserve” it or not. I was told that I needed to clean off my side of the street and keep my eyes off the other person’s side of the street—period. That helped because there were a few people in my life that I needed to make amends to that were actually wrong a lot "Step 9 – Justice – Principled Recovery Series"

STEP 8 Brotherly Love “Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.” During this step, clients make a list of all the people in their lives they have wronged as a result of their substance abuse. These wrongs could be small things, such as a white lie to hide intoxication, or big infringements, such as stealing money to buy alcohol or drugs. The spiritual principle behind this step is brotherly love. A SOZO Client’s Point of View:  I knew that step 8 was about making a list of people I had harmed and become willing to make amends to them all. Although I had read the “SOZO Brother’s Prayer” on the walls of SOZO and our classroom and was beginning to really like my fellow residents, I still did not understand “brotherly love”. My understanding was more like that of "Step 8 – Brotherly Love – Principled Recovery Series"

STEP 7 Humility “Humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings.” Recovering clients ask the higher power to eliminate character defects, which may include impulsivity, selfishness, impatience, or anger. In order to do this, clients must admit they are not strong enough to remove these character flaws on their own. The spiritual principle behind this step is humility. A SOZO Client’s Point of View:  “Because I was now familiar with the serenity prayer and the lord’s prayer, and found both of these prayers to be helpful, I decided to follow advice heard in A.A. meetings and use the seventh step prayer listed on page 76 of our big book, “alcoholics anonymous”, to formally ask God to remove my shortcomings. So, I got on my knees with my sponsor and said the seventh step prayer to God. “My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and "Step 7 – Humility – Principled Recovery Series"