Matthew 5:44 KJV
However, I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.
Step 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Step 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
The enemy wants to destroy every effort you make to remain clean and sober, so why would you love anybody who would do such a thing? How can you show love for a person that wants to see you suffer? Jesus did not say it might help if you try to love your enemy. He did not say love your enemy if they apologize to you. He said love your enemies. Is there a connection between character defects and not being able to love an enemy?
In step six you to prepare to remove all of your character defects. What are your character defects? Are they defects of character that you know to be true? Did someone else determine they are defects of character because they want you to change to fit their needs?
Early recovery is a time when feelings rebound strongly. After many year of being repressed by drugs and alcohol, feelings come flooding back into your conscientious life. This also includes feelings about things that happened long before the addiction began start to come back. In that sense, is it a character defect to watch person go through a terrible experience and not help, or is it that you re live a childhood trauma of watching one parent abuse the other and felt helpless to do anything about it so you do nothing to help a person as they go through a terrible experience today?
What about promiscuity? Promiscuity as an adult is sometimes the childhood sexual abuse turned upside down in addiction as a way to get what you want. Is it a character defect or someone else’s interpretation that promiscuity is a character defect based on what they do not know about you? The more self aware you become the better able you are to be honest with yourself about who you are, love yourself and defeat the enemy that lives in the dark corners of your mind. Is the enemy yourself without awareness of love of self?
Character defects can be changed. It is different when a person tries to reject parts of themselves. A new set of problems start to surface when it gets to this level. So when you hear talk about removing character defects it might mean additive thinking in the face of fulfilling the need to belong. You can change how you think and how you act. You cannot change how you look. This has nothing to do with the cosmetic changes such as body art that only make the same person appear different.
Jesus wants us to love ourselves. So if you look at what he tells us about the enemy is he telling us first to confront the enemy that lives in the dark corner of your mind so it can be exposed and removed? This is a very complex issue and these words are only thoughts.
Character defects do not just drop out of sight never to be seen again. It takes time, help from others and prayer to God for help.