Steps 6 and 7 at a Men's OA Tool Time Retreat in Oceanside, CA

So now as you know, step 6 and step seven are just one paragraph each in the big book. So I'll read step 6 paragraph.

Step 6 says that we were were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. So then we look at we, Then we look at step six. We have emphasized willingness as being indispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? Can He now take them all? Everyone, if we cling to something we will not let go.

We ask God to help us be willing so

we that that's the 6th step prayer, by the way. So if you're looking at your character defects there all the character defects listed in your four step. If there's some of the that you're not willing to let go of,

you say that prayer, you say, God help me be willing. That's the 6th step prayer. So I'm as powerless over my character defects as I am over alcohol. I can't fix alcohol. I can't fix my selfish and self centeredness. I can't fix my character defects. And being willing means I have to ask God to make me willing. Because I left my own, my own prospects, I'll be selfish and self-centered and hold on to all of them. Because the self, the selfish and self-centered part of me thinks that those character defects protect me.

They make me safer and we have to have God's help to be willing to let go of them.

So we're as powerless over our character defects or even being willing to remove our character defects.

So we have to ask for God's help

and the willingness that's required is the willingness, the willingness to follow the clear cut directions that are in this book. This book has the directions for how to be willing and you got to follow those directions as they say. And then step 7 is humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.

One ready we say something like this. And then it's the 7th step prayer. That is the entire 7th step. One thing that was pointed out to me is that if you look at the third step prayer, it doesn't end with the word Amen. Almost all the prayers the, the, all the, you know, significant prayers of several sentences end with the word Amen in the big book. And they pointed out that if you take the third step prayer and put it at the beginning of the 7th step prayer, that actually makes one complete prayer with an Amen at the end. So I'm going to read it like that for you and you'll you'll know when I say my Creator, that's beginning the

part of it. So I'm going to read the third step prayer and then the 7th step prayer.

God Ioffer myself to Thee to build with me, and to do with me as thou wilt. Relieve me from the <profanity>bondage</profanity> of self, that I may better do Thy will take away my difficulties, that victor victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy love, and they Thy way of life may I do. Thy will always my Creator. I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad.

I pray that you now remove from me every single defective character

which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and to my fellows.

Grant me strength as I go out from here to do your bidding. Amen. And we have then completed step 7.

So step 6 and step 7 is basically asking God to remove our key defects of character because we're as powerless over them as everything else. And we just have to do step 6 and then do step seven and then trust that we that God will remove them or he won't. Someone reminded me that when when Doctor Bob was going to go to the to the convention in Atlanta, his wife was worried that he might drink when he went there.

And Bob reminded her that he either God has removed his his character defective drinking or he hasn't. Either God is going to make him sober or he's not. And it's not up to us to try to control Bob and make sure that he doesn't doesn't get a get drunk at at Atlanta.

So it's the same thing with all of our character defect. God is either going to remove it or we're going to hold on to it and not let him. And when we finally let go, then God will take it away. So that's all I have on step 6 and step 7. So we got plenty of time for sharing.

Well, there was one of the note I wrote in here. I looked up the definition of humility. Humility is a modest or low view of ones importance. In other words, humbleness. And again, you know, that's exactly the opposite of selfish and self centeredness. I have an exalted view of my importance and and and you know, everybody should agree with me. But this is taking a modest or low view of my importance, trying not to emphasize myself any more than I have to. And humility is not the same as humiliation

when someone else is humiliating us and usually in front of other people.

But humility isn't as a positive thing that's coming from inside. And it's again, you know, it's part of the self and self centeredness, turning it over to the higher power, to the higher self, to God, so that that's where the the humbleness comes from.