KEY PRINCIPLE: Continue to take personal inventory, and when you are wrong promptly admit it.
WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS, WORDS, AND DEEDS
“If ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not” (Mosiah 4:30).
- It could be dangerous or deadly if you didn’t pay attention to what you were doing while driving a car. How does step 10 help you to stay awake and alert to where you are going in life?
- Write about being self-observant. How does self-appraisal help you avoid lapsing again into your addictions (and perishing)?
HUMILITY AND SELF-CONTROL
“Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble” (Alma 32:16).
- Being willing to eliminate negative thoughts before they erupt into hurtful behavior is a way of humbling yourself without being compelled. Write about your willingness to humble yourself. Experiment for a day with eliminating negative thoughts. What blessings come to you?
“The more enlightened a person is, the more he seeks the gift of repentance, and the harder he strives to free himself from sin as often as he falls short of the divine will. . . . It follows that the sins of the god-fearing and the righteous are continually remitted because they repent and seek the Lord anew every day and every hour” (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1966–73], 3:342–43).
- One of the most beneficial effects—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—of living the principles described in these steps is that you learn to live in the present. How does step 10 help you to deal with life one hour at a time when necessary?
- How does it help you to know that you only have to live these principles one day at a time?
CONTINUING REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS
“As oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven” (Moroni 6:8).
- Knowing that the Lord is willing to forgive you as often as you repent with real intent can give you courage to try again each time you fall short. Write what you think it means to repent and seek forgiveness with real intent.
CONTINUING IN YOUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
“I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things” (Alma 7:23).
- Whoever coined the old saying “Practice makes perfect” didn’t mention how much patience it takes to keep practicing. How does self-appraisal and making amends on a daily basis ensure you will continue in your humility and your spiritual development?
“Behold, in the last days, . . . both those who shall come upon this land and those who shall be upon other lands, yea, even upon all the lands of the earth, behold, they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations. . . .
“. . . Behold, all ye that doeth iniquity, stay yourselves and wonder, for ye shall cry out, and cry; yea, ye shall be drunken but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink” (2 Nephi 27:1, 4).
“When the night came they were drunken with anger, even as a man who is drunken with wine; and they slept again upon their swords” (Ether 15:22).
- In these verses, people are described as drunken but not with wine. Recovering addicts often refer to this kind of situation as being on a “dry drunk” or “an emotional bender.” Write about any tendency you might have to hold on to anger or other hurtful emotions.
- How does taking an inventory at the end of each day help you overcome this tendency?
“I still feel to urge upon the Latter-day Saints the necessity of a close application of the principles of the Gospel in our lives, conduct and words and all that we do; and it requires the whole man, the whole life to be devoted to improvement in order to come to knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 11).
- Taking these steps could definitely be described as a “close application” of gospel principles. How does being willing to evaluate yourself daily at every level—actions, words, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs—help you devote yourself to lifelong improvement?