Twelve Steps to Recovery: The Fifth Step

The following is a summary of the Fifth Step of the Alcoholic Anonymous Twelve Steps to Recovery. See the WUMC website for a summary of steps one-four. The Fifth Step states: “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.”

In this fifth step of the AA method of recovery, it is now time to share the “moral inventory” created in Step Four with our trusted advisor or counselor. The Big Book of AA states, “In actual practice, we usually find a solitary self-appraisal insufficient..” So it seems that confession is a necessary element in finding the strength to repent (literally, to turn around, to reverse one’s direction) and to achieve redemption through grace and faith in our higher power. We find the wisdom for support of this step in James 5:16: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

This summary, prepared by the Faith Partners group of WUMC, is part of a continuing series of articles on the Twelve Steps.