Bill Wilson was the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. For that accomplishment, Time magazine named Wilson one of the Top 100 People of the 20th century. But Wilson never found freedom from his addictive behavior.

One author noted that, "Despite his victory over drink, Wilson remained incurably addictive. He chain-smoked himself into terminal emphysema. Even on his death bed, he puffed incorrigibly as he suffocated." Wilson did not drink for the last 37 years of his life, and yet he always craved alcohol. "As he lay dying and semi-delirious, he repeatedly demanded whiskey."

Back in 1951, Wilson wrote, "Any way you look at it, it's a problem world." Although he battled the problem of alcohol addiction, he gave in to other obsessions. Wilson was serially unfaithful to his long-suffering wife, Lois. He had innumerable affairs and a long-term mistress with whom he contemplated eloping to Ireland.

Despite his program's insistence on "rigorous honesty," Bill Wilson lived a lie.

One of the most challenging things for any of us is to fully face the truth and live in truth. We tell the truth in one area and hide from the truth in another.