This Step is very much like the Third Step, but it is more specific. Now that a moral inventory has been completed, we see ourselves as we truly are both the good and the bad. The truth is many of our shortcomings are intertwined with our addictions. And, because we are powerless over the addiction, we are often just as powerless to overcome our shortcomings on our own. This is where the key concept of Step Seven of the 12 Steps of AA – humility – comes in. When we are humble, we admit when our way of doing things isn’t working and when we need help to overcome specific problems in our lives.

There are three reasons why humility is so important in this Step:

• It allows us to recognize the severity of our defects. Without that humility, it is possible that we will underestimate or minimize the impact of our actions.

• It allows us to recognize our own limits. We have to be humble enough to understand that alone, our intellect, our reasoning, and our willpower are not enough to overcome our addiction.

• It allows us to comprehend the enormity of our Higher Power’s ability to transform our lives. Humility allows us to come to the realization that there is something greater than both ourselves AND our addiction. And, because it IS greater, that Higher Power can restore us to sanity.

Asking Humbly To Have Our Shortcomings Removed

As individuals, we might pick a particular personal routine, ritual or any other way of praying as our way of asking our Higher Power to remove our shortcomings. “Prayer” is widely accepted as a description of the way we communicate with our Higher Power. The tone of asking is captured in the word "humbly." Coming from the place in ourselves that is most honest, the place that's closest to our spiritual center, we ask to have our shortcomings removed.

As with any other aspect of our program, we're not going to ask just once to have our shortcomings removed. We'll ask again and again throughout our lifetimes. The way we ask is certain to change as our understanding of God changes.

Getting Out Of The Way

We need to do something more than just pray for our shortcomings to be removed. We need to take some action that will invite the God of our understanding to work in our lives. We can't ask God to remove a shortcoming, then hang on to it with all our might. The more distance we keep between ourselves and our Higher Power, the less we will feel that Power's presence. We have to maintain the awareness of ourselves that we have already gained in the preceding steps, and add to it an awareness of God working in our lives.

For most alcoholics, anger/resentment is the number one reason we could drink again so I definitely recommend you ask God for the removal of this defect right away.

What worked for me was simply but sincerely “God, please remove my anger character defect.” When ready, we say something like this: “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 defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.’’

If anger is a problem, ask ‘God, please remove my anger character defect.”

If you think you’re better than others, ask “God, please remove my pride character defect.”

If sex is a problem, ask “God, please remove my lust character defect.”

If greed is a problem, ask “God, please remove my greed character defect.”

If over eating is a problem, ask “God, please remove my gluttony character defect.”

If you think you’d be happier if you had what others have, ask “God, please remove my envy character defect.”

If you think you are lazy, ask “God, please remove my sloth character defect.”

If being honest is a problem, ask ‘God, please remove my dishonesty character defect.’

If you seem to be always looking for ‘what you can get’ and seldom ‘for what you can give’ ask “God, please remove my selfish character defect.”

If you often have self – seeking motives underlying your actions (e.g. I’ll invite him to my party so I’ll get invited to his), ask “God, please remove my self-seeking motives character defect.”

If you think you are less than others, ask “God, please remove my low self-esteem character defect.”

If you tend to be inconsiderate to others, ask “God, please remove my inconsiderate character defect.”

If you find yourself upset or angered when someone shows affection or attention to a loved one (e.g., spouse, children), ask “God, please remove my jealousy character defect.”

If you have a tendency to point negative fingers at others behind their back, ask “God, please remove my bad gossip character defect.”

Judging others can be internal bad gossip, even if you don’t communicate it to others. If you have a tendency to find fault with other people, ask “God, please remove my judgment character defect.”

If you find some resentments continue such that you can’t forgive a person (perhaps yourself) or situation, ask “God, please remove my unforgiving character defect.”

If you feel compelled to try to control the lives of other people (e.g., parents who try and do this with their grown children), ask “God, Please remove my controlling other character defect.”

It is important, in my experience, to ask Him specifically on each relevant defect even though you may have little or no faith He can change you at these levels – I know He can because He has done it for me.

A personal word of caution concerning ‘sloth’. It seems to me that our Western culture has evolved to appoint where persons are addicted to action. Even vacations seems to be filled with chaotic days where many people need time off after a vacation to recover from the hectic vacation days. Therefore, in considering this particular defect, with prayer, determine if you need to be less active, rather than more active. In this regard, note that God has a much easier time of reaching a quiet mind.

Please note that, as a human being, I still have all of these defects but at a fraction of what they used to be. As indicated on page 65 of AA’s 12 and 12, the removal of character defects is a “lifetime job”. As I make “spiritual progress” in sobriety, these defects get reduced and I become more happy, joyous and free on an increasing basis. On page 62 of the Big Book, the relationship between God and all people is defined as: “He is the Father, and we are His children.” God is spirit and we were all created in His likeness – in truth therefore, we are all spirit. In human form, our spirits are contaminated at different levels with the character defects discussed in this chapter. However, this contamination (or sickness) will disappear when we get to the hereafter where only truth will exist. Understanding this allows me to define humility very simply – God created each and every one of us and is above all of us; in truth, or in spirit, we are all equal.

Once you have asked Higher Power to remove your shortcomings, and once they have been replaced with new, positive traits, it’s time to begin putting them into practice in your everyday life. This requires action and discipline. As with any new skill, these new ways of thinking and treating people become easier with practice. Practicing these new positive traits ion your daily life means that at first you will have make yourself do what you don’t want to do, and not do what you do want to do. This takes daily commitment and hard work. Slowly, the new positive traits will seem more natural.

As you practice the new positive traits, something amazing will start to happen. The old you will disappear and die, and a new personality will take its place. You will find this new personality that goes with it are far, far better than the life and personality you used to have.

As you move to the last five steps, you will see big changes in your life for the better. You will be on the broad Highway walking hand in hand with the spirit of the universe.

Spiritual Principles

Surrender

We take our surrender to a deeper level by looking onto a higher power to relieve us of our shortcomings too as we did in the first step as time goes by, we place more trust in the higher power and in the process of recovery.

Trust and Faith

We trust and have faith that our higher power is going to do something and we ask with steadfast faith that they will be removed with time.

Patience

Regardless of the length of time we persevere in, asking for the removal of our shortcomings we are called upon to be patient as impatience maybe one of our shortcoming.

Humility

As we maintain modesty which is foremost in this step, it becomes obvious that we are approaching this step with humility by accepting our sense of humanness.