Step 6 – Giving Away All Your Sins

The king said . . . what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy. . . . I will give up all that I possess . . . that I may receive this great joy. . . . The king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying: O God . . . I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day” (Alma 22:15, 17–18).

Reread Alma 22:15, 17–18 carefully. What obstacles — including attitudes and feelings—keep you from giving away “all [your] sins” and more fully receiving the Spirit of the Lord?

This is a powerful testimony of the kings willingness to submit his will to God. I feel like I’m getting closer to feeling this way than I’ve ever felt before in my life. I feel that, in the past especially, I would think to myself, “Well, I know I should keep my ‘chin up’ but I can’t really do that and I’m not sure I really want to do that, and what will it hurt anyway?” I now have a better understanding of the path that attitude and those actions lead me down, and that path isn’t worth it to me or my family.

I feel some of the main things that are holding me back from completely being there are personal accountability – not always being consistent in the daily things I need to do (scripture study, personal prayer, and working the program). By not doing these things, I can let other less important things get in the way causing me to simply forget what I need to be doing. I think this is why it says in the sacrament prayer, “…that they may remember…” Remembering is a sign of submission of my will to God, always having His Spirit to be with me and helping me DO the right things for the right reason.

I’m grateful for the progress I’m making with God’s help and feel I’m getting closer.

Learning Humility

If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27)

Being mortal and imperfect, we are all subject to many weaknesses. In this verse, the Lord explains His purpose in allowing us to experience mortality and to encounter such weaknesses—to help us be humble. Notice, though, that we choose to humble ourselves. How is becoming ready in step 6 part of humbling yourself?

Wow, I have a lot of weaknesses! Like it says in step 6, I “still harbor a prideful desire to change without the help of God…If [I] trust him and have patience with the process, [I] will see my pride gradually replaced by humility.” This question caused me to go back and read step 6 all over again. I found things that I hadn’t really even noticed the first time I read it. The fact that God will wait patiently while I try to do this all on my own, and that, when I decide to give my will to Him, He’ll help me see things in a different light and give me ideas on how to live a better life via the Spirit.

“[I] will grow in strength as [I] continue to study the word of God and ponder its personal application.”

“You continue to accept that God must truly become everything to you in order to save you from weaknesses of thought, word, and action.”

What I realize is that a few ways to show I’m willing to submit my will to God are in the following ways:

• Studying the word of God daily (not just reading but studying)
• Saying my personal prayers: morning, night, and throughout the day as I need help
• Serving my family and others with no expectation for reward or recognition

Things I’m Thankful For

• Being able to go with Becky to the YM/YW retreat
• Helping all the youth by serving them food
• Being with my family all day today
• Playing with the kids
• Making time to answer questions today and read step 6

Hasta luego!

Nate