As imperfect people we have harmed others that we have crossed paths with. We have mistreated family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers. No one has been protected from our harm. Some harm was an intentional act, while others were not. In any case, we have done wrong to other people. As an addict our life has been damaging, not only to ourselves, but to others. During the course of our life we have done harm. We have cheated and manipulated others for our benefit. As all of the harm we’ve done builts, we become angry, bitter people. Now we have knelt before God and received His forgiveness. Now, it’s our turn.

We tend to put blame in the wrong place. Many times the wrong place is other people or circumstances. We don’t like taking blame upon ourselves. To do so would be admitting we did wrong. And admitting we did wrong brings a responsibility of doing something to correct the wrong. So we take the easy path and blame anything but ourselves. We think we can hide behind blaming others or our circumstances. However, the truth of our wrongs are visible to others, and to God. The blame game started many years ago in the Garden of Eden (See Genesis 3:1-13). Today, the blame game is still being played.

Being human means we are imperfect. There is no way to avoid it. As flawed individuals we say and do things that hurt and offend others. Sometimes it’s intentional, while other times it’s not. It’s not if we mess up, but when. The Bible calls it sin. We label it many different ways so that we feel better about what we’ve done. “Oh, I made a mistake.” Mistakes are made in math math problems. Notice here in Step-5 it doesn’t use the word “mistake” or “messed up.” It specifically uses “wrongs” to describe what is being admitted to God, ourselves, and another human being. What Step-5 is addressing is sin, the wrongs that we do.