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[00:00:00.760 – 00:00:05.340] Step six, we have emphasized willingness as being indispensable. [00:00:05.340 – 00:00:11.500] Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we've com- admitted are objectionable? [00:00:11.500 – 00:00:14.260] Can He now take them all, every one? [00:00:14.260 – 00:00:21.420] If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing, and that's all of step six. [00:00:21.420 – 00:00:25.880] And if you'll notice, he didn't say a thing about defects of character, did he? [00:00:25.880 – 00:00:31.440] He did say those things that we have admitted are objectionable. [00:00:31.440 – 00:00:41.740] Now, surely, surely, in step four and five, when we looked out into that fifth column and we saw that old selfish, dishonest, self-seeking, frightened, inconsiderate

[00:00:41.740 – 00:00:51.740] character that we have become, when we saw that those are what cause us to do the things that hurt people, they in turn retaliate, we in turn resent, [00:00:51.740 – 00:01:01.660] we're afraid, we're filled with guilt and remorse, causes us to drink, then surely those things in the fifth column have now become objectionable to us. [00:01:01.660 – 00:01:04.560] Are we ready to turn them loose? [00:01:04.560 – 00:01:07.840] If we are, we're through with step six. [00:01:07.840 – 00:01:17.880] The book recognizes, though, that self cannot always overcome self, because it says if we're not ready, we ask God to help us be willing [00:01:17.880 – 00:01:19.180] to turn these things loose. [00:01:19.180 – 00:01:27.020] Now, you would think when we see what they do to us, we'd be more than willing, but sometimes we're not.

[00:01:27.020 – 00:01:30.320] You know, we human beings are funny people. [00:01:30.320 – 00:01:38.800] Uh, uh, so- sometimes we would rather sit in today's pain and suffering because we've kind of learned how to take care of that. [00:01:38.800 – 00:01:47.120] Sometimes we would rather sit in today's pain and suffering than take a chance on changing in the future because we don't know what change will bring. [00:01:47.120 – 00:01:56.100] You see, if I have to get rid of my selfishness and become unselfish, then how am I going to get what I want in the future? [00:01:56.100 – 00:02:03.180] If I'm going to have to get rid of my dishonesty and start operating honestly, how in the hell am I going to make a living? [00:02:03.180 – 00:02:06.280] I don't know nothing about honesty when I get here. [00:02:06.280 – 00:02:14.260] If I'm going to have to start getting rid of my self-seeking, frightened character and, and start operating on courage, that scares the hell out of me.

[00:02:14.260 – 00:02:16.380] I don't know nothing about that. [00:02:16.380 – 00:02:22.680] If I'm going to have to start considering other people and their needs and their wants, then, then who's going to take care of me? [00:02:22.680 – 00:02:29.260] Sometimes we would rather sit in today's pain than take a chance on changing in the future. [00:02:29.260 – 00:02:36.380] And the book recognized that and said, "If you're not willing, you ask God to help you be willing." And with God's help, we become willing. [00:02:36.380 – 00:02:37.300] We're through with six. [00:02:37.300 – 00:02:43.880] When ready, we say something like this: "My Creator, I'm now willing You should have all of me, good and bad. [00:02:43.880 – 00:02:49.940] I pray that You now remove from me every single defect of character." Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop.

[00:02:49.940 – 00:02:51.140] We're in step seven now. [00:02:51.140 – 00:02:53.520] And it said shortcomings, but here he calls… [00:02:53.520 – 00:02:54.600] See what he's done to us? [00:02:54.600 – 00:02:57.600] He confused the hell out of us, didn't he? [00:02:57.600 – 00:02:58.380] You betcha. [00:02:58.380 – 00:03:04.730] "I pray You now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to You and my fellows. [00:03:04.730 – 00:03:07.540] Grant me strength as I go out from here to do Your bidding.

[00:03:07.540 – 00:03:09.480] Amen." We've then completed step seven. [00:03:09.480 – 00:03:13.780] Are you ready to have God remove them? [00:03:13.780 – 00:03:17.340] If you are, you're through with six. [00:03:17.340 – 00:03:20.740] Have you humbly asked Him to take them away? [00:03:20.740 – 00:03:23.800] If you have, you've done step seven. [00:03:23.800 – 00:03:27.160] But I hope you don't make the mistake I did. [00:03:27.160 – 00:03:37.400] I assumed that now that I'm ready, and God being all-powerful, all I've got to do is turn to God and say, "Okay, God, here I am,

[00:03:37.400 – 00:03:38.440] warts and all. [00:03:38.440 – 00:03:43.990] Zap me and give me the $29.95 special- "… [00:03:43.990 – 00:03:47.690] and I'll never have to worry about this stuff again." Oh. [00:03:47.690 – 00:03:49.220] I found out it won't work that way. [00:03:49.220 – 00:03:53.360] God will do for me what I can't do for myself. [00:03:53.360 – 00:03:58.220] I simply do not have the power to remove a character defect. [00:03:58.220 – 00:04:00.340] Only God has that power.

[00:04:00.340 – 00:04:09.540] God will not do for me what I can do for myself, and what I can do for myself is find out the opposite of that character defect. [00:04:09.540 – 00:04:19.579] And then with God's help and all the willpower I can muster, in every situation that comes up, try to [00:04:19.579 – 00:04:21.120] practice the opposite. [00:04:21.120 – 00:04:26.900] Because you see, God can't take away my selfishness and leave another hole in my head. [00:04:26.900 – 00:04:31.700] It's going to have to be replaced with the opposite, which is unselfishness. [00:04:31.700 – 00:04:41.540] And when I first got here, my mind was a set of mental habits ingrained in thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty years of living. [00:04:41.540 – 00:04:49.720] The habitual thing for me was to react selfishly, and the only way you break a habit is to work against yourself.

[00:04:49.720 – 00:05:00.260] And if I ask God to take away selfishness and I start trying to practice unselfishness, slowly the old habit dies [00:05:00.260 – 00:05:01.920] and a new habit takes its place. [00:05:01.920 – 00:05:08.240] And over a period of years, I have become an unselfish human being. [00:05:08.240 – 00:05:12.000] I am not what I was when I first got here. [00:05:12.000 – 00:05:22.380] If I want God to take away dishonesty, then I must do my part, which is to practice honesty in every situation that comes up, [00:05:22.380 – 00:05:24.560] and God, that's hard for me to do. [00:05:24.560 – 00:05:26.420] That is so alien to my nature.

[00:05:26.420 – 00:05:36.760] And I can't practice honesty without God's help, but with God's power, all the willpower I can muster, I can force myself to be honest, and slowly [00:05:36.760 – 00:05:39.600] the old idea dies and a new one takes its place. [00:05:39.600 – 00:05:46.580] The habitual thing for me today is to react to any situation with honesty. [00:05:46.580 – 00:05:51.640] If I want God to take away fear, then I've got to kick myself in the butt and practice courage. [00:05:51.640 – 00:06:01.820] If I want Him to take away inconsideration, then I must start considering other people and their needs and their wants, and slowly the old idea [00:06:01.820 – 00:06:04.560] dies and a new idea takes its place. [00:06:04.560 – 00:06:09.524] The book says we were reborn.

[00:06:09.524 – 00:06:12.784] I am not what I used to be. [00:06:12.784 – 00:06:16.463] Now, I'm not completely unselfish, never will be. [00:06:16.463 – 00:06:19.684] I'm not always completely honest. [00:06:19.684 – 00:06:30.504] Sometimes I'm afraid, and at other times I'm inconsiderate, but the majority of the time, I'm an unselfish, honest human [00:06:30.504 – 00:06:33.984] being with courage, considering other people first. [00:06:33.984 – 00:06:37.304] You know, I think you and I are the luckiest people in the world. [00:06:37.304 – 00:06:46.844] We have the opportunity through these two little steps right here to live two lifetimes in one lifetime.

[00:06:46.844 – 00:06:49.504] Most people out there are sick. [00:06:49.504 – 00:06:53.304] Most of them are going to the grave sick, not even knowing they're sick. [00:06:53.304 – 00:06:56.604] We not only know we're sick, we know what's wrong with us. [00:06:56.604 – 00:07:05.644] We found it in steps four and five, and in six and seven, we can do something about it, and we can change it, and we become entirely different human beings. [00:07:05.644 – 00:07:09.403] Most people don't get that opportunity. [00:07:09.403 – 00:07:11.564] Now, be careful. [00:07:11.564 – 00:07:21.564] For God's sake, be careful, 'cause if you really accept this as the correct thing and the right thing, then that means from this

[00:07:21.564 – 00:07:25.204] day on, you are responsible for what you are. [00:07:25.204 – 00:07:28.244] I can't blame it on Barbara any longer. [00:07:28.244 – 00:07:30.804] Can't blame it on Mother and Dad. [00:07:30.804 – 00:07:33.544] I can't blame it on God, and I can't blame it on society. [00:07:33.544 – 00:07:40.144] If I stay selfish, dishonest, self-seeking, frightened, and inconsiderate, it's gotta be because that's the way I want to be. [00:07:40.144 – 00:07:45.284] I no longer have the luxury of blaming it on others 'cause I don't have to be that way. [00:07:45.284 – 00:07:46.564] And you know what I found out?

[00:07:46.564 – 00:07:56.064] I found out that when you become unselfish, people start kind of liking you a little better, better than they did before. [00:07:56.064 – 00:08:02.444] I found out when you start becoming honest, well, hell, you feel better about yourself. [00:08:02.444 – 00:08:06.624] That's the way you build self-esteem is to do the right thing for a change. [00:08:06.624 – 00:08:16.734] I found out when I practice with courage and, and I, and I, and operate on courage instead of fear, I do things that makes me feel better, and [00:08:16.734 – 00:08:19.224] I quit doing things that used to make me feel so bad. [00:08:19.224 – 00:08:28.924] Oh, I found out that there's real pleasure in considering other people first and giving to others before you take for yourself. [00:08:28.924 – 00:08:30.243] I didn't know that.

[00:08:30.243 – 00:08:32.084] How in the hell could I know that? [00:08:32.084 – 00:08:33.604] I'd never been that way before. [00:08:33.604 – 00:08:42.824] This thing absolutely amazes me in, in what happens to us and the simplicity of this thing if we'll just do what the book says. [00:08:42.824 – 00:08:43.064] Joe? [00:08:43.064 – 00:08:44.933] You know, there's always a paradox in AA. [00:08:44.933 – 00:08:51.684] To give you an idea of what a paradox is, how many of you have ever, ever called your sponsor so you could listen? [00:08:51.684 – 00:08:56.824] We always call them so we can talk, right?

[00:08:56.824 – 00:08:58.804] That's the paradox. [00:08:58.804 – 00:09:08.824] And the paradox here in, in this, in these two steps is that they use a doctor's opinion in the first four chapters to do step one and two, three and a half pages for [00:09:08.824 – 00:09:14.164] step three, eight pages for step four, four pages for step five, and a whole chapter devoted to working with others. [00:09:14.164 – 00:09:24.264] The, the paradox is that two of the biggest steps in all of Alcoholics Anonymous is on two little paragraphs, six and seven, and these are the tools of change. [00:09:24.264 – 00:09:26.644] These are the tools of acceptance. [00:09:26.644 – 00:09:30.064] A lot of people t- talk about just running around accepting things. [00:09:30.064 – 00:09:30.744] "I accept this.

[00:09:30.744 – 00:09:32.684] I accept that." Well, I can't do that. [00:09:32.684 – 00:09:35.784] Acceptance comes after some actions. [00:09:35.784 – 00:09:41.684] Six and seven, the acceptance comes after the actions of six and seven. [00:09:41.684 – 00:09:45.904] You know, there's a, a story in the other book about this guy named Judas. [00:09:45.904 – 00:09:49.284] Judas could not accept what he had done. [00:09:49.284 – 00:09:50.464] And what'd he do? [00:09:50.464 – 00:09:52.084] Killed himself.

[00:09:52.084 – 00:10:00.924] That's the, that's the importance of acceptance, and you can't accept anything unless you take some actions, and he didn't do steps six and seven, didn't have them. [00:10:00.924 – 00:10:06.844] And, and the other story is that there's a story in this other book about this guy. [00:10:06.844 – 00:10:08.004] His name was Saul. [00:10:08.004 – 00:10:11.444] Saul was on, riding his ass on the way to Damascus. [00:10:11.444 – 00:10:15.974] Big bolt of lightning come down, knocked him off his ass, on his ass. [00:10:15.974 – 00:10:16.844] That's the way I read it. [00:10:16.844 – 00:10:24.633] He gets up, and he dusted himself off, and this big voice come out of the sky and said, "Saul, can we talk?" He, "Yeah.

[00:10:24.633 – 00:10:29.344] Yeah, we can talk." "What do you want to talk about?" Had to get his attention, didn't he? [00:10:29.344 – 00:10:30.114] Yeah. [00:10:30.114 – 00:10:31.924] Maybe alcoholism had to get our attention. [00:10:31.924 – 00:10:41.984] And he said, "Yeah, Saul, you've been a very selfish individual, and you've harmed a lot of people, and you're very resentful and angry, and you've harmed a lot of people by those attitudes." And he said, "I want [00:10:41.984 – 00:10:49.844] you to quit doing that." And he said, "Well, how do you quit doing that?" He said, "Well, do these things, and if you'll do that, then you'll make a change. [00:10:49.844 – 00:10:54.804] And when you change, then we'll call you Paul." Well, he did those things and became Paul. [00:10:54.804 – 00:10:58.504] Now, we know that Paul was one of the greatest writers the world's ever known.

[00:10:58.504 – 00:11:08.824] And in, uh, in the Corinthians, town of Corinthians, they asked Paul one day, said, "Paul," said, "what is the secret to living?" And he said, "The secret to living is daily dying." [00:11:08.824 – 00:11:12.984] The old Saul had to die so the new Paul came alive. [00:11:12.984 – 00:11:14.724] You see? [00:11:14.724 – 00:11:15.784] Six and seven. [00:11:15.784 – 00:11:25.424] And by the time I got to six and seven, I could see what I had become as a result of the previous steps, and I didn't like what I had become. [00:11:25.424 – 00:11:27.143] And a little doubt creeped in my mind. [00:11:27.143 – 00:11:31.924] Can God really change me from what I have become to what He intends for me to be?

[00:11:31.924 – 00:11:34.924] And then I had to reaffirm and rethink about this idea. [00:11:34.924 – 00:11:38.344] On page fifty-three, it said, "God either is or He isn't. [00:11:38.344 – 00:11:41.164] He either can or He can't," and what was my choice gonna be? [00:11:41.164 – 00:11:43.184] And I chose to believe that He could. [00:11:43.184 – 00:11:53.304] The tools of change to change from what I had become to that which God intended for me, six and seven, two of the biggest steps in all of Alcoholics Anonymous. [00:11:53.304 – 00:11:59.274] Now, just before the break, I want Joe to tell you one little story about buying some salad- Oh, gosh … [00:11:59.274 – 00:12:00.964] to show you practicing this thing.

[00:12:00.964 – 00:12:03.244] I was hoping he wouldn't do that to me this morning. [00:12:03.244 – 00:12:10.424] A few years ago, I went into the, into the grocery store to buy some salad and some stuff to fix for a salad. [00:12:10.424 – 00:12:19.754] That night we was having steak, and I went in there and bought this stuff and came back up to the register, and I g- s- was gonna pay up, and I gave this lady ten dollars. [00:12:19.754 – 00:12:23.944] And she took the ten dollars and stood right there and counted me out change for a twenty. [00:12:23.944 – 00:12:26.704] And I watched her do it. [00:12:26.704 – 00:12:33.024] And I picked up that money, and I put it in my pocket, and I got out of my car, and I sat there, and I said, "Well, you big dummy. [00:12:33.024 – 00:12:38.124] You sold out for ten bucks." I thought it was worth more than that, you know.

[00:12:38.124 – 00:12:40.204] I'm glad it wasn't less than that. [00:12:40.204 – 00:12:50.224] And I, so I took the money back in there, and I told the lady, I said, "You know, I'm a member of a fellowship that requires me to be honest, and you gave me too much money, and I want to give you this ten [00:12:50.224 – 00:13:00.404] dollars back." And she said, "You know, I never th- heard of a fellowship like that." I said, "Well, I hadn't either until a few years ago." "So here's your ten bucks back." [00:13:00.404 – 00:13:04.944] Well, the whole point of this story, when I walked out of that ten dollars, now believe me, I don't need ten dollars. [00:13:04.944 – 00:13:06.744] I mean, I do not need ten dollars. [00:13:06.744 – 00:13:11.504] And I'm walking out of that store, and I felt about that big sneaking out the door. [00:13:11.504 – 00:13:12.824] You see?

[00:13:12.824 – 00:13:16.884] Then I went back in there and gave her that ten bucks back, and I walked out, and I'm feeling good again. [00:13:16.884 – 00:13:18.224] I did the right thing. [00:13:18.224 – 00:13:26.424] And if you practice that enough times, the next time she gives change for a twenty, you do it right there. [00:13:26.424 – 00:13:27.944] You don't even go out the door with it. [00:13:27.944 – 00:13:32.344] That's what we're talking about when we change, and only we can do it. [00:13:32.344 – 00:13:38.644] Only we can slay ourselves with God's help and become different human beings. [00:13:38.644 – 00:13:45.724] So if you stay dishonest, self-seeking, frightened, and inconsiderate, must be because you want to.