The Twelve Steps and Their Biblical Comparisons

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors. That our lives had become unmanageable.
   
   I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. (Romans 7:18)
    

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
   
   For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:13)
    

3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.
   
   And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? (Romans 12:1)
    

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
   
   Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn again in repentance to the LORD. (Lamentations 3:40)
    

5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
   
   Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:16a)
    

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
   
   When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor. (James 4:10)
    

7. We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.
   
   But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. (1 John 1:9)
    

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
   
   Do for others as you would like them to do for you. (Luke 6:31)
    

9. We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
   
   So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. (Matthew 5:23-24)
    

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
    
    If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin. (1 Corinthians 10:12)
     

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out.
    
    Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. (Colossians 3:16a)
     

12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs.
    
    Dear brothers and sisters, if another man is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. (Galatians 6:1)