Definition of Step Five -Integrity:
The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
Synonyms of Step Five – Integrity:
Honesty, uprightness, probity, rectitude, honour, morality, virtue, sincerity, etc.
These notes are from recovery in AA and/or related 12 step programs. Readers are encouraged to click external links for more detail. We hope you find them helpful.
Love in fellowship.
Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. | More…
Once we have taken this step (5), withholding nothing, we are delighted. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. –Big Book p.75 | More…
The most important part of Step Five is the act of being totally honest about ourselves. Then we know that relationships – with our Higher Power, ourselves, and others – can be built. We have faced the truth. Now we know we never have to lie. –Keep It Simple/Anonymous | More…
When to do the Fifth Step this requires (prompt) action on our part.
If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking. BB p72 | more…
When we decide who is to hear our story, we waste not time. We pocket our pride and go to it. BB p75 | more…
We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. –Big Book .85 | More…
When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five. Scarcely any Step is more necessary to long-time sobriety and peace of mind than this one. –Daily Reflections | More…
In our drinking and using days, we did things we weren’t proud of. When we share these things in our Fifth Step, they lose their power over us. –Keep It Simple | More…
Almost immediately after taking the Fifth Step, I felt free from the bondage of self and the bondage of alcohol. –Daily Reflections | More…
With the help of A.A. the pain was released and I felt a complete sense of belonging and peace. I am in awe of the power of Step Five. –Daily Reflections | More…
The most important part of Step five is the act of being totally honest about ourselves. We have faced the truth. Now we know we never have to lie. –Keep It Simple | More…
Secrets help keep us sick. In our drinking and using days, we did things we weren’t proud of.
When we share these things in our Fifth Step, they lose their power over us. When shame leaves, pride enters our hearts. –Keep It Simple | More…
Provided you hold back nothing in taking the Fifth Step, your sense of relief will mount from minute to minute.
When humility and serenity are so combined, something else of great moment is apt to occur. Many an A.A. tells us that it was during this stage of Step Five that he first actually felt the presence of God. –As Bill Sees It | More… p.126
Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted. We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us.
We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. –Big book p.75 | More…
I see steps three, four, and five as surrendering to a higher power and becoming able to share your vulnerability.
3, Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of [God] as we understood him.
4, Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5, Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
The wonderful part of Alcoholics Anonymous is the openness that I am allowed to develop in my own relationship with God or a higher power. The words in italics at the end of Step 3 comforted me. These steps put the emphasis on looking outside of ourselves for comfort and direction. It is also a large part in the healing process. –Promises | More…
All of The Program’s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural inclinations and desires: they puncture, squeeze, and finally deflate our egos.
When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take then the Fifth, which suggest that we “admit to God, To Ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Few steps are harder to take, yes, but… scarcely any Step is more necessary to long-term freedom from addiction and peace of mind. –A Day At A Time | More…
Removing our masks and letting others see us as we are is only the first phase in the real honesty we’re seeking. After expressing ourselves authentically, do we find we like who we are?
Now that we know and admit the truth about ourselves,…. what are we going to do to make needed changes? –Walk In Dry Places/Mel B. 30/08 | More…
Many of us have found ourselves thinking, writing, and talking about what was wrong with us made us feel like we had it all under control. Sooner or later, however, we realized we were stuck in our problems, the solutions nowhere in sight.
We knew that, if we wanted to live differently, we would have to move on beyond Step Five in our program. Only then did we begin to experience the freedom of an awakening spirit.
Today, we’re no longer victims;
we are free to move on in our recovery. –Just for Today | More…
Defects grow in the dark and die in the light of exposure. The Fifth Step asks us to share our true nature with God, with ourselves, and with another human being.
When we share our secret selves in confidence with at least one human being—our sponsor, perhaps, or a close friend—this person usually doesn’t reject us. We disclose ourselves to someone else and are rewarded with their acceptance.
When this happens, we realize that honest sharing is not life-threatening; the secrets have lost their power over us. –Just for Today | More…
Time after time, newcomers have tried to keep to themselves shoddy facts about their lives. Trying to avoid the humbling experience of the Fifth Step, they have turned to easier methods.
Almost invariably they got drunk. We think the reason is that they never completed their housecleaning. They took inventory all right, but hung on to some of the worst items in stock. –As Bill Sees It | More… (p.213)
If we have truly done a thorough job of introspection and evaluation of our assets and shortcomings, do we have the integrity to own up to it?
It can be very difficult to be open and honest about our past behaviors. | more… We begin to learn to do the right thing even though no one is watching. | More…
Bill W. considered each step to be a spiritual principle in and of itself. The most important of these is Humility.
Core Spiritual Principles of the Program: Willingness, Open-mindedness, Honesty. AA’s Code: Love and Tolerance of Others
The Principles of the Twelve Steps
Step One: Honesty
Step Two: Hope
Step Three: Faith (Surrender)
Step Four: Courage
Step Five: Integrity
Step Six: Willingness
Step Seven: Humility
Step Eight: Brotherly love
Step Nine: Discipline
Step Ten: Perseverance
Step Eleven: Awareness
Step Twelve: Service (Charity)
The relative success of the A.A. program seems to be due to the fact that an alcoholic who no longer drinks has an exceptional faculty for “reaching” and helping an uncontrolled drinker. The heart of the suggested program of personal recovery is contained in Twelve Steps describing the experience of the earliest members of the Society.
One by one, we examined our character defects this way, and found them all defective—after all, that’s why they’re called defects. Were we entirely ready to have God remove all of them? Yes –Just For Today | More…
The five principles of the Twelve Step Program are; membership requirement, spiritual basis, personal inventory, restitution, and helping others. | More…
MORNING HELPERS 