Step 8

"Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all"


The eighth step of the program calls for some action as well. The word made is a verb which means that we have some more writing to do. The list that we are about to compile is the people that have been affected by our drinking, but even more by our attitudes and actions. The main idea to grasp is that we are trying to clean up the wreckage of our past and to clean our side of the street. To a large degree the list has already been made in our fourth step. We need to make sure that everyone is on the list.

Many of the twelve steps have two parts. The eighth step does too. "Became willing to make amends to them all" is the second part. We can ask God for willingness. We can humble ourselves to the truth that although some of these people on our list have done us wrong, we were also at fault. We are not concerned about the wrongs they did us. Remember, "clean up our side of the street." Unless we become willing to make amends to people, we can't actually make the amends in a sincere way that it asks in step 9. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. We are still in step eight.

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for having correct motives for my actions. Today I will guard against incorrect motives and act properly toward others. I pray that I live by correct motives and actions.