Corking the Bottle

I finished reading God Is for Real today ( https://www.heavenlive.org/god-is-for-real ). Much of it I agree with, some of it I don't. What struck me in Chapter 21 was Todd Burpo's parallelism with A.A.'s Twelve Steps without him mentioning them per se. "God smiles at your spiritual steps just as you applaud a child's physical ones. What if you envisioned God's commands as steps? Steps can take you up a stairway that brings you closer to Him. Steps can also take you higher in your relationship to others as each steps takes your character higher too." That's Step 2, Step 3, and Step 12. See all 12 Steps below. A few pages later: "Is a grudge holding you back? Is there someone you hold something against, or who holds something against you? If so, it is time to put that to rest, and ... make that right." Clearly Step 9. Then: "...make a list of those you need to reconcile with, and do what it takes to love them and forgive them w...

J.T.: Thanks for the analogy you shared with me today. God put us together so that I could pass it along on my blog site. It's not exactly the way you told it, but my readers will get the point anyway. At one time, I had trouble accepting God and putting Him first. My life was so confused I knew I needed to give my life to Him if I was going to turn things around. I started by giving God my house and all it contained. I stood in the living room: "God, my living room is yours." I went into the kitchen: "God, my kitchen is yours." And so on. "God, my bathroom is yours." "God, my dining room is yours." "God, my study is yours." But when I came to my closet, I found I couldn't give it to God. After all, I needed something to still be mine. "Please, God. My closet is where I keep all my secrets. All my character defects, all my mistakes, all I've ever done wrong I keep locked in this closet. I can't give you eve...