Step 5: Admit it! Self manipulation and dishonesty exposed!Step 5: Admit it! Self manipulation and dishonesty exposed!
GOD TALK UNCENSORED
Zach and Monty talk about step five of recovery, focusing on self-deception, confession and faith, with Zach sharing frank stories of alcohol, drugs and gambling. The conversation highlights how brutal honesty with God, oneself and another person can open the way to real change and freedom.
23:48•26 May 2026
Step 5 and Getting Real: Zach Calls Out Self-Deception in Sobriety
Episode Overview
- Step five means admitting the exact nature of your wrongs to God, yourself and another trusted person, without hiding or minimising.
- Self-deception often starts with small justifications—like redefining what “one drink” means—that grow into serious dishonesty with others and yourself.
- Addictive behaviours can use pain, injury or stress as excuses, but long-term freedom needs alternatives to narcotics, alcohol and other quick fixes.
- Honesty includes money and practical life: secret spending, cash advances and hidden gambling all need to be brought into the light.
- Faith in Jesus and a willing prayer of “whatever it takes” can lead to losing comforts and possessions, but also to genuine repentance and lasting freedom.
“Getting honest with yourself is the beginning of being willing enough to not only discuss it with God, but to have a selected person… where you tell all of this stuff.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This raw conversation from the Sheep Guys—host Zach and his friend Monty—leans hard into step five of a 12-step style journey: admitting the exact nature of your wrongs to God, yourself, and another person. Zach brings the theme of self-manipulation and dishonesty to life with painfully honest stories from his own past.
From convincing himself that a mini-keg counted as “one beer” to telling his wife he was off to church basketball while actually drinking and gambling at a casino, he lays out how denial, minimising, and justification kept him trapped.
As he puts it, “I’m exposing myself to the idea that you’re lying to yourself.” Things escalate as he recalls pain pills after a severe back injury, cross-border trips to Mexico for more opiates, and the wild logic of using cocaine to “get through” opiate withdrawal. All of it sits under the bigger theme: addiction often starts as a solution to inner pain, but ends up as “a band-aid on a bleeding, gaping wound.” Faith is central throughout.
Zach talks about praying, “Whatever it takes, even if I have to lose everything in order for me to turn back to you,” and how that led to losing houses, vehicles, and financial security before reaching genuine repentance and honesty. Monty chimes in on how God’s work doesn’t stop with one person—it can ripple through families and future generations. The episode speaks directly to people wrestling with alcohol, drugs, gambling, lust, or even an obsession with money.
You’ll hear clear encouragement to stop lying to yourself, choose someone trustworthy to share everything with, and pay close attention to what you let in through your “eye gate” and “ear gate”. It’s messy, uncomfortable, sometimes funny, and very human—perfect for anyone who’s tired of pretending they’re fine and wondering if it’s time to get real. So where might you be telling yourself “it’s just one” when you know it isn’t?
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