Let not any man publish his own righteousness . . . ; sooner let him confess his sins, and then he will be forgiven, and he will bring forth more fruit” (Joseph Smith, in History of the Church, 4:479).
One major obsession of those who struggle with addiction is a great desire to look good to others. How would this desire keep you from improving and bringing “forth more fruit” (or good works)?
As I have worked on my inventory, I’ve noticed this topic come up over and over again. Worrying about what other people think has been one of my core resentments. As I’ve worried about what people think, I choose to do my own will instead of submitting my will to God; basically I give in to the “natural man”.
Having the desire to look good to others is exactly what Satan wants. If I worry more about what people think than what God thinks, I lose focus on what’s most important and fall in to temptation. I’m grateful for Step 4 and how it’s helped me recognize more core issues which lead to acting on my addiction.
Here’s what I’m thankful for today:
- That I controlled my emotions at work and talked to my manager and product team with respect and calmness
- That Becky and I had a great talk last night about going to bed earlier
- That I went to bed earlier last night
- That Jason and I got to talk today
- That I remembered to pray while at Wal-Mart to keep my chin up
- That the Jazz are winning by 3 with 24 seconds left 🙂
- That Darren Williams hit BOTH free throws with 11 seconds left 🙂
Tomorrow I should be able to finish my inventory with Jason.
Until tomorrow!
Nate
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