Step 9: We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others

"If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God" Matthew 5:23-24 – The Message

Topic for thought

Today we are tackling Step 9, which is about actually making amends to all the people we have been putting on our Step 8 list. These are the people we have hurt, either intentionally or unintentionally, and we are now saying we are willing to try and put right the damage we have caused. We recognise that the only exceptions should be in cases where contacting someone would injure them or another, and we are discerning whether this might be the case with the guidance of our Sponsor.

The Issue

The purpose of Step 9 is to contact as many people on our list as possible - all those people we have hurt throughout our lives - and, where it will not inflict further injury on them or others, make some kind of amends. The purpose is to restore our damaged relationships wherever possible. It doesn’t matter what their response is – my responsibility is to clean up my side of the street.