LIFE FIX 7 – STEP 5 – ADMIT THE WRONGS, 8-3-25, Lead Pastor - Jeff Aenk, New Hope Christian Church
Key Verse – John 14:6 - Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me.
Step 5 – We admitted to god, to ourselves, & to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
*As long as we keep Secrets & suppress Info, we’re basically at War with Ourselves. If we wanna be Free from our Past, we have to Tell Someone.
Matthew 5:23-24 - 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
*Step 5 is like Spiritual Dialysis – it will Flush the Guilt, Shame, & Loneliness Out of our System!
*What is “The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs?” - Examining our Hidden Motives, Mistaken Beliefs, & What Caused us to Commit Specific Wrongs.
*Read & Share What you Wrote in your Step 4 Moral Inventories: 1. Resentments, 2. Fears, 3. Sexual Conduct, 4. Harms Done, & 5. Skeletons Closet
1. Admitted to God – You could put 2 Chairs, in a Quiet Place Alone, & Talk to Him, like He’s sitting in the Chair, & tell him Everything.
Job 34:21 - “His (God’s) eyes are on the ways of mortals; he sees their every step.
1 John 1:9 – 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 139:23-24 - 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
*Like the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, God will RUN to you, Throw His Arms AROUND You, & Pour Out His Love, Mercy, & Grace Upon You!
2. Admitted to Ourselves – You could Look in a Mirror, & Speak the whole thing to Yourself – the Exact Nature of our Wrongs.
Romans 12:3 - For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
James 1:21-25 - 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law (God’s Word – the Bible) that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
*If we wanna be Free, we have to Lovingly Confront Our Shadow/Darkness/ Inner Monster, & then the Shame they carry for us will Shrink & Disappear.
3. Admitted to Another Human Being – Set Appointment in a Quiet Place, Where you will Not be Interrupted, in One or More Sessions if Needed
James 5:15-17 - 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
*We’re only as Sick as our Secrets. *Not Everybody Needs to Know Everything about you, but Somebody Does! It’s Freeing when they don’t Run Away!
*You Must Choose the Right Person to Hear Your 5th Step: (Detailed Instructions for the Hearer are in The Fix Black Workbook – Pg. 130-131)
1. They must be 100% Trustworthy.
2. They must Understand their Sacred Duty to take your 5th Step to their Graves, without Ever Breaching your Confidentiality.
3. They must be Willing to give you Honest Feedback, Point Out Blind Spots, & Call You Out, when Ducking Out on something that Needs Naming.
*Broken People – Christians with History - that have known you a long time, make the Best Hearers, & won’t be as Shocked, & will be more Loving & Open.
*The Opposite of Addiction is NOT Sobriety, it is Healthy Connection with Jesus & our Brothers & Sisters In Christ!!!
*Don’t put off the 5th Step with Excuses like, “My Inventory isn’t Perfect.” Better to do a mediocre 5th Step 1st Time around, than Not to do one at all.
*Schedule one or more sessions now, as needed. *Share the Scariest things 1st. *Start Reading the 4 Columns on your Resentment List & then Other 4 Lists.
*Once Released from the Burdens of your Secrets, Shame, & Guilt, & Living in Freedom after, you’ll think, Why didn’t I do that way Earlier in my Life?
If You Feel Unforgivable, Remember Paul. The Greatest of Sinners Receives such Overwhelming Forgiveness & Grace, they become the Greatest Jesus Workers!
Romans 7:24-8:2 - 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Luke 7:39 & 44-47 – 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”………… 44 Then he (Jesus) turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Here’s What I Want us To Do This Week
*admit to god, to ourselves, & to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
*Read Chapter 5 – Step 5: Admit The Wrongs - Pages 43-52 in Black “The Fix Workbook” below to Left, & Answer the Questions in it in Writing. *Also, Attend your “Life Fix” Group this week. If you’re Not in one, Get the following Workbook, & Book or AudioBook, & go through them Yourself.
Step 5 – We admitted to god, to ourselves, & to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
*As long as we keep Secrets & suppress Info, we’re basically at War with Ourselves. If we wanna be Free from our Past, we have to Tell Someone.
Matthew 5:23-24 - 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
*Step 5 is like Spiritual Dialysis – it will Flush the Guilt, Shame, & Loneliness Out of our System!
*What is “The Exact Nature of Our Wrongs?” - Examining our Hidden Motives, Mistaken Beliefs, & What Caused us to Commit Specific Wrongs.
*Read & Share What you Wrote in your Step 4 Moral Inventories: 1. Resentments, 2. Fears, 3. Sexual Conduct, 4. Harms Done, & 5. Skeletons Closet
1. Admitted to God – You could put 2 Chairs, in a Quiet Place Alone, & Talk to Him, like He’s sitting in the Chair, & tell him Everything.
Job 34:21 - “His (God’s) eyes are on the ways of mortals; he sees their every step.
1 John 1:9 – 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 139:23-24 - 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
*Like the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, God will RUN to you, Throw His Arms AROUND You, & Pour Out His Love, Mercy, & Grace Upon You!
2. Admitted to Ourselves – You could Look in a Mirror, & Speak the whole thing to Yourself – the Exact Nature of our Wrongs.
Romans 12:3 - For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
James 1:21-25 - 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law (God’s Word – the Bible) that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
*If we wanna be Free, we have to Lovingly Confront Our Shadow/Darkness/ Inner Monster, & then the Shame they carry for us will Shrink & Disappear.
3. Admitted to Another Human Being – Set Appointment in a Quiet Place, Where you will Not be Interrupted, in One or More Sessions if Needed
James 5:15-17 - 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
*We’re only as Sick as our Secrets. *Not Everybody Needs to Know Everything about you, but Somebody Does! It’s Freeing when they don’t Run Away!
*You Must Choose the Right Person to Hear Your 5th Step: (Detailed Instructions for the Hearer are in The Fix Black Workbook – Pg. 130-131)
1. They must be 100% Trustworthy.
2. They must Understand their Sacred Duty to take your 5th Step to their Graves, without Ever Breaching your Confidentiality.
3. They must be Willing to give you Honest Feedback, Point Out Blind Spots, & Call You Out, when Ducking Out on something that Needs Naming.
*Broken People – Christians with History - that have known you a long time, make the Best Hearers, & won’t be as Shocked, & will be more Loving & Open.
*The Opposite of Addiction is NOT Sobriety, it is Healthy Connection with Jesus & our Brothers & Sisters In Christ!!!
*Don’t put off the 5th Step with Excuses like, “My Inventory isn’t Perfect.” Better to do a mediocre 5th Step 1st Time around, than Not to do one at all.
*Schedule one or more sessions now, as needed. *Share the Scariest things 1st. *Start Reading the 4 Columns on your Resentment List & then Other 4 Lists.
*Once Released from the Burdens of your Secrets, Shame, & Guilt, & Living in Freedom after, you’ll think, Why didn’t I do that way Earlier in my Life?
If You Feel Unforgivable, Remember Paul. The Greatest of Sinners Receives such Overwhelming Forgiveness & Grace, they become the Greatest Jesus Workers!
Romans 7:24-8:2 - 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Luke 7:39 & 44-47 – 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”………… 44 Then he (Jesus) turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Here’s What I Want us To Do This Week
*admit to god, to ourselves, & to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
*Read Chapter 5 – Step 5: Admit The Wrongs - Pages 43-52 in Black “The Fix Workbook” below to Left, & Answer the Questions in it in Writing. *Also, Attend your “Life Fix” Group this week. If you’re Not in one, Get the following Workbook, & Book or AudioBook, & go through them Yourself.