The steps (besides the first one) as I was taught them and use them, have little to do with getting me sober. That is what my first step is about, and why it is the only step that even mentions our addiction. The 3rd step and on are about keeping me sober. I must use the steps to turn my back on the entire way of life of an acting-out person. If I am still grappling onto lust "to kill it with one of the steps", I am a fool. Surrender either happens in my 1st step - which I may need to retake every single day or even many times a day - or it does not. The third step is about living in the solution, not about beating the problem. That is very, very precious and important to me.
Now, 'having to do this stuff over and over' sounds like an insurmountable task, but that is just a complete lie. It is not at all insurmountable. Remember, people from all walks of life have, and are, living with this program, inner-city uneducated , farm-hands, hot-shot lawyers, rabbeim, and doctors....anyone can do this. Heck, our destructive feelings and desires come to us over and over! So, we have to eat, go to the bathroom, and breathe over and over, too...so what? Do we ever get overwhelmed by "the immense job ahead of us to eat and go to the restroom over and over multiple times a day for the next 30, 50, or 80 years!" Of course not. We know we will do this moment's job at that moment and the next moment's job in that moment. It's simple. And it will all be OK.