CWSA - Step #4

CWSA - Step #4

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This episode of *Christians with Secret Addictions* sits right in that question as Terry Hanna walks through Step Four of his Bible-based recovery journey: making a "searching and fearless moral inventory". You’ll hear Terry talk openly about how addiction hits mind, body, and soul, and why stopping the substance is only the beginning.

He explains how unaddressed guilt, shame, resentment, denial, and secrets become "spiritual landmines" planted in the mind, ready to blow up sobriety at any moment. As he puts it bluntly, "Your alcohol, your gambling, your drugs, whatever, that's not the problem. The problem is you. It's your disease thinking." Step Four, as Terry frames it, is about a renewed relationship with yourself.

With pen and paper, you start writing down the truth about your past and present, coming out of hiding much like Adam and Eve being called out by God in Genesis. This written self-examination is not a beat-yourself-up session, but a way to clear out "stinking thinking" and line up your life with God's truth so "the truth will set you free".

Terry weaves scripture throughout, quoting Ecclesiastes on the strength of community, Jeremiah’s call to examine and return to the Lord, Paul’s warning about thinking you’re standing strong, and Jesus’ promise of freedom through truth. He ties Step Four tightly to Steps One through Three, reminding you that newfound faith, sobriety, and gratitude are precious assets that can be protected through honest self-reflection.

The tone is direct, raw, and deeply faith-centred, aimed at Christians who feel trapped in secret addictions and want a spiritual route to recovery. If you’re wrestling with shame, resentments, or "take-to-the-grave" secrets, this episode might nudge you to grab a pen, face the past, and ask: what would it look like to let God into every hidden corner of your story?