Step 6 of 12 · 6 min
Step 6 — Ready to Have God Remove Defects of Character
We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. The step about the habits you secretly still like.
Read it, or let someone read it to you — whichever kind of day it is.
Step Six: "We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character." This step is short and quiet and it takes longer than the loud ones, because now you know your list — and you like some of it. Anger gets people to back off. Sarcasm keeps people at a distance where they cannot hurt you. Lust gets you a hit of comfort without the cost of intimacy. Control keeps chaos away. Every defect on your list is a bad tool that once did a real job.
Willingness means you stop defending the tool. Not that you never want it. That you stop building a case for why you need it. Most men cannot say "take it away" honestly yet. Fine — say the honest version: I am willing to be made willing. That is a real prayer and it has moved a lot of men.
The practical test is what you do with the payoff. Pick one defect and ask, what does this get me? Then ask, what would I have to face if I gave it up? Usually the answer is fear, loneliness, or a memory. That answer is what your next conversation with your sponsor or counselor should be about. You cannot be entirely ready to lose a coping tool until you know what it is covering.
Then: one week, one defect. Every time it shows up, name it out loud — even just "that is the control again" — and do nothing else. Awareness first, removal after.
Tonight: write down the three defects you would honestly like to keep and why. Bring that page to your mentor. That page is Step Six.
Next · Step 7
Step 7 — Humbly Ask Him to Remove Shortcomings