The Life Recovery Bible has helped millions of people meet the only one who can break the chains of addiction. Helping readers encounter God through his Word and study Scripture with notes and features created by addictions experts to specifically combat the hold addictions have, the Life Recovery Bible is a resource for new life. Each feature in the Life Recovery Bible leads readers to powerful resources for recovery that are found in Scripture. Articles and guides offer help to anyone starting or running recovery groups at a church or in the community.
The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is the foundation for many recovery programs. The Life Recovery Bibleconnects these steps back to Scripture, allowing God to take over. Throughout the Bible you will read devotionals that are based on the 12 Steps and emphasize how God’s Word can transform lives. Read this Step 10 devotional based on James 1:21-25.
Step 10: We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” James 1:21-25, NLT
How many times do we look in the mirror each day? Suppose we looked in the mirror and found that we had mustard smeared around our mouth. Wouldn’t we immediately wash our face and clean up the problem? In the same way, we need to routinely look at ourselves in our “spiritual mirror,” the Bible. Then if anything is wrong, we can take the proper steps to fix it.
James uses a similar illustration to show how God’s Word should be like a spiritual mirror in our life. He said: “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25).
This illustration supports the sensibleness of making a routine personal inventory. As we examine our life, we need to respond with immediate action if something has changed since we last looked. If we put off taking care of a problem, it may soon slip our mind. Just as we would think it foolish to go all day knowing there is mustard on our face, it is not logical to notice a problem that could lead to a fall and not correct it promptly.
Listen to the 
God was unhappy with these people’s sacrifices, but he was not revoking the system of sacrifices he had initiated with Moses. Instead, God was calling for sincere faith and devotion. The leaders were carefully making the traditional sacrifices and offerings at holy celebrations, but they were still unfaithful to God in their hearts. Sacrifices were to be an outward sign of inward faith in God, but the outward signs had become empty rituals because no inward faith existed. Why, then, did the people continue to offer sacrifices? Like many today, they had come to place more importance on the outward show of their religion than on love for the God they should have been worshiping. Examine your own worship experience: Is it just entertainment as you enjoy the music and go along with what others do? Or is it genuine, heartfelt praise to God? God does not take pleasure in our outward expressions of worship if we lack inward faith (see Deuteronomy 10:12-16; 1 Samuel 15:22-23; Psalm 51:16-19; Hosea 6:6).