October 4, 2024
Thistles, overgrown brush, and dead plants—this is what happens when a garden does not get weeded.
Like a garden that hasn’t been weeded, if we don’t continue to take a personal inventory, all the growth in recovery that we’ve experienced up until this point will shrink, and we may find ourselves turning to addiction.
Therefore, Step 10 of Life Recovery is necessary to keep the weeds out. Step 10 of Life Recovery says, “We continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.”
Weeds will always crop up, threatening to choke out all the good. We may find ourselves cynical and mistrusting; we become so self-centered that our relationships with others suffer. We may learn to take care of our own needs, which is healthy, but we may go beyond that to where we become greedy and demanding. We may be caught up with various worries and fears or lapse into bouts of self-pity. These types of weeds can choke out the good that is growing out of our recovery.
Jesus described this in the Parable of the Soils. He said, “Other seeds fell among the thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants” (Matthew 13:7, New Living Translation). Then He explained, “The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced” (Matthew 13:22).
As we continue to take personal inventory, we must watch out for the weeds in our lives. We may have had the chance to taste a better way of life. But once the crisis of confronting our addiction is past, new types of distractions can choke out our spiritual growth.
We need to take a few moments each day to weed out:
- Greed
- Worry
- Fear
- Selfishness
- Cynicism
- Self-pity
Attending a Life Recovery Group can help you remove these and other harmful things from your life that threaten to hurt your growth. To find a Life Recovery Group, click here.
Never forget that continuing your personal inventory is like weeding a garden: you are getting rid of the bad and allowing the good to grow.
Adapted from The Life Recovery Devotional by Steve Arterburn and Dr. Dave Stoop
Afraid of Making Amends?
