Fearless Moral Inventory
After you have admitted you need help and God is here and God can help you, now you need to take a fearless moral inventory.
Season 5, Episode 51 · Fearless Moral Inventory
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The story behind the idea
I'm not just talking about what you've gotten used to telling people or how you've grown accustomed answering questions people ask about how you're doing. Those aren't necessarily lies or deception, but everybody puts on their coat of makeup before they walk out of the house.
What stands out
If you're wondering why there's such a disconnect between those two things, then may I reintroduce to you step four. After you have admitted you need help and God is here and God can help you, now you need to take a fearless moral inventory. You need to get very real with yourself about what is real to you and who you are and why you're here and what you want to do and why you carry some of the feelings that you do with respect to those things or even others.
Why it matters
Self-awareness is someone sees you as a servant of the king, and that's sort of how you see yourself, at least how you're trying to be. On the converse side, someone sees you at home as very selfish and self-absorbed, and you can at least say, you know what, that's precisely what I'm going for. Or you wouldn't say that, but you would say that is kind of how I'm being.
A faithful way forward
The opposite of self-awareness is self-deception, and that's about the worst deception that there is. Because when I am self-deceived, I'm the one blocking myself from fitting into God's story and becoming that true and brightest light that Jesus gave his life for me to be. Let me read to you from this article by Molly LaRoche, titled very simply The Fourth Step, Your Fearless Moral Inventory.
Put it into practice
This, so far as I understand it, is exactly what's going on with me. She says some people take days, weeks, or months to do this, and I think that's kind of the journey I'm going to be on. She says, look, there's no reward for speeding through this given the fact that this work can be emotionally draining and bring up painful memories and even trigger problems with anxiety or depression or even post-traumatic stress disorder. It's critical that you take the time to work at your own pace.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What idea from this study most needs my attention right now?
- 02Where does this challenge the way I am currently thinking or living?
- 03What is one faithful step I can take this week?
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