6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Long ago a female friend of mine was lamenting the actions of a male friend of mine regarding the relationship between the two of them. His actions were giving her mixed signals. On the one hand he had made it perfectly clear that they were not an item anymore. But still he would casually drop over her house, talk to her about important things, and just generally not give her the physical or emotional space to move on.

She asked me what I thought and I gave her this analogy: he was behaving like a kid who had outgrown a toy or had a toy that was irreparably broken, standing with his or her hand over the garbage can, knowing he or she needed to let it go, but not quite being able to yet.

That is what this step reminds me of. We have investments in our defects. Our anger is justified. Our sarcasm was righteous. Our wounds were deep and valid.

But clinging to our defects keeps us from growing and moving on, just as my male friend was unintentionally stifling my female friend moving on with her life.

Make sure you're ready to let go of the toy.