Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Six

"Were entirely ready to have God remove all
these defects of character."

"THIS is the Step that separates the men from the boys."
So declares a well-loved clergyman who happens to be one
of A.A.'s greatest friends. He goes on to explain that any
person capable of enough willingness and honesty to try re-
peatedly Step Six on all his faults—without any reservations
whatever
—has indeed come a long way spiritually, and is
therefore entitled to be called a man who is sincerely trying
to grow in the image and likeness of his own Creator.

Of course, the often disputed question of whether God
can—and will, under certain conditions—remove defects
of character will be answered with a prompt affirmative by
almost any A.A. member. To him, this proposition will be
no theory at all; it will be just about the largest fact in his
life. He will usually offer his proof in a statement like this:

"Sure, I was beaten, absolutely licked. My own will-
power just wouldn't work on alcohol. Change of scene, the
best efforts of family, friends, doctors, and clergymen got
no place with my alcoholism. I simply couldn't stop drink-
ing, and no human being could seem to do the job for me.
But when I became willing to clean house and then asked
a Higher Power, God as I understood Him, to give me re-
lease, my obsession to drink vanished. It was lifted right
out of me."