https://12stepnationalmeetings.com/media/Step-3-Alcoholics-Anonymous.mp4
Hello. Hi the world. Are you now? We come to step 3 turning our will and our life over to the care of God as we understood him. Okay, we started off as we said step one with power less step to told us that there is a power greater than ourselves. We can be reconnected step 3 begins to go into who or what that power. Is it actually for the first time the mentions the word god.
Turning our will and our life over to the care of God, but then the wisdom of the 12-step group says as we understood him the truth of the matter is wherever you go, if you talk to two Jews they going to tell you about the God they believe in as they understand him. If you talk to to to Muslims, they’re going to have two different understandings. If you talk to to Christians, they’re going to have two different understandings, wherever you go people can only understand God personally for themselves, so they said,
Have to believe in the guy as you understand him you turn you’re willing your life over to the care of God as you understood him. This is where many people come into a problem. Unfortunately again religion has caused much pain not spirituality, but religion has caused much pain and because religion has caused much pain too many people to mention of God brings in a pain. I’ve heard people say I’m a recovering what-have-you Catholic. I’m a recovering
I’m Presbyterian. I’m not to come down on any religion. They are spiritual people in all religions, but they are people who have been hurt in all religions. And as soon as you mentioned God some people feel their pain come up to them and that’s why we say the God as you understood him not as your mother understood them now that your grandmother understood them not as your father told you they had to be but as you understood him turning our will and our life over to the care of God as we understood him and
Of the first things and maybe one of the only things I need to say is that the god I understand is the god of love a god of love not a god with a hammer up into heaven is going to beat me down. Every time I do wrong. I turn I wouldn’t turn my wheel of my life over to that kind of God. I wouldn’t turn my will and my life over to a God who is not on my side who’s not going to partnership with me for the best. Oh God as you understand him you get to choose. Nobody in any of the 12-step meetings is going to is going to dictate to you.
You to God that you need to believe in that’s something you have to handle and settle for yourself turning my will and my life over to the care of God As I understood him, but I have to understand God for me as a loving God and because I believe that God is a loving God that helps me to turn my will and my life over to God now. Why do I need to turn my will over to God? Well, first of all, I already found out their willpower will not help me to overcome my addiction.
My will is not strong enough, but my will is still there? What do I do with it? So often my will was to drink or to get high or to do something else. My will was to move in that direction. You can’t say that addicts don’t have willpower. They have willpower. They are overcome all kinds of obstacles to get to what they want to do and to get to their drug of choice. They use their willpower and very ingenious ways to stay addicted.
My will was moving in a opposite direction then way. I really wanted to go. Somebody said itself will run Riot the big book of Alcoholic. Anonymous says that selfishness is the root of our problems. So he I said a powerless person a selfish person and my will is twisted and bent basically towards me. I want I want I want I want it. I want it even if it kills me I want it and so what they tell me to do.
Is to turn my will towards God I want to turn my will and my life over to the care of God my will maybe to go be with the prostitute my will maybe to go get some heroin my will maybe to go and overeat. That’s what I will well what do I do with it? Well, I take the small portion of my Wilderness healthy enough. There is a portion that has some freedom. I believe and I take that part of my will and turn it over to the care of God it is no
On the my will thy will be done I take that will of mine that’s distorted and turn it over to God. I turn my will over to God but not only do I do that. I turn my life over to God my will to me means my mind my mind my will and my most is how I think I give that over to God my mind what I feel I give that over to God my motions how I feel about a certain thing. Somebody said if I had to sit down and put my
Hands on the my buttocks in order to not go out and practice insane Behavior to do that. Whatever it took that I had to do no matter what I was feeling when I first came around the rooms. I thought that I could just pray to a higher power and he would touch me some kind of way and take away my desire to do it. But when I came into the rooms, they told me no the higher power may not take away your desire. You may continue to desire to do it, but you could stay abstinent in spite of the fact that you want to do it. Well that was a new
Thing for me because I was used to doing what I want to do when I want to do it how I want to do it. Even if it kills me. I would do what I want to do King baby. I want it and I want it now. They told me no matter what you want Bernard set on it for a moment. Turn your will your want your Willa over to the care of God go ahead give it to him a her go ahead give it to a higher power. Turn your will over to them. Well, that was that was that that was big boy stuff to me that was hard stuff to do. I got to turn over something that I
I really desire to a higher power. So I turn my will over to that higher power. Not only that I turned over my life to that higher power. And what do I mean by my life? I turned over first of all what was happening to me that day the emotions. I was going through the pain that I was going through the obsession that I was going through. I believe that that high power was going to take it away that this craving would pass that this shaking would pass that this Obsession would pass. I believe that I turned it over to my higher.
Our I turned my will and my life over to that higher power. I turned over my life when it came to will I get my wife back I turn over my life. Well, I get my job back. I turn over my life. Will I get my health back everything about it? Will I get my finances back? I turn my whole life over to the care of a higher power. I wasn’t scratching and crawled clawing and trying to make a way to manipulate people and and calling people up and begging them and being a doorman. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I took.
All of it and turned it over to a higher power. I took my tomorrow’s and handed it over to a higher power. I took my today and handed it over to a higher power. I even took my yesterday and handed it over to a higher power all the things that I’ve done all the people that might be after me the people that might want to kill me the things that I’ve done that will make people want to get back at me. I turned it over to a higher power. There wasn’t much of anything I could do about I could.
Go back into yesterday and drag it into the day and somehow work on it and fix it. That was impossible what I had done. I had done my God, I’d done it. All I could do was just turn it over turn it over Turner. It was real it was stinky it was dirty, but I had to turn it over to a higher power. I took my will my emotions my feelings my fears my resentments my anger my
my Cravings My All In All and I turned it over to the I say it again a loving God may be some hurdles that you have to jump to believe in a loving God with such atrocities as Katrina certain things that we don’t understand but I just had to say to myself I have to believe that God is a mean ogre or I have to believe that God is a loving God who has a knowledge beyond my capacity to know I’m finite and perhaps God is infinite and perhaps
I know some things that I don’t know. Somebody says God writes straight in crooked lines of a say that we serve a God who works in mysterious ways his what wonders to perform. I don’t need to get into all that. All I know is that I’m not God God is God. And because God is God perhaps God knows some things that I don’t know. What I know is I’m powerless. What I know is I do Insane things what I know is I need some help.
And because I need help I’m going to just make a decision. I’m gonna make a decision to turn my will and life over to the care of God. I’ma make a decision to step out on faith and actually believe that God is loving that God didn’t Place me on this planet to torment me that God didn’t put me here to cause me to be an addict or drunk or a pervert that God had some real purpose for me that maybe I know not of right now.
I’m gonna make a decision because one decision just causes me to run away in defeat and say that God is mean and nasty and against me I can choose that if I want to I can choose that I can choose to say that God is Not on my side. I can choose that. I may even have enough evidence to make that coherent in my mind floods and earthquakes and good people dying young and people being gunned down. I may even have enough evidence to move towards the
thought that God is evil and God works in darkness. There may be enough evidence in this world.
But what does it do for me? So I make a decision I make a decision because there is other evidence there’s evidence of the birds singing as evidence of the sunshine that the evidence of families loving one another there’s evidence of the fact that I’m still living today in spite of the things that I’ve done there is evidence for the other side then as I stand and I look at both sides I choose to make a decision to turn my will and my life over to a loving God because that decision
Well, hey, it’s more pragmatic for me. It’s more utilitarian for me. It works better for me to believe that the other way drives me insane. This way drives me towards sobriety. It’s a practical thing in some sense, but the real deal is inside of myself. I really believe it’s a God the Big Book of Alcoholics. Anonymous says that God has placed in every man and every woman our knowledge of the fact that there is a God. All you have to do is be willing just cracked.
A little bit and say God if you really love it. I’m willing for you to show it to me today. If you really loving I’m willing for you to somehow come into my life today. I’m tired of you God you make me angry God I don’t understand you God. I’ve been through hell God. What kind of guy are you but since I’m sitting here, I’m willing to just crack the door bit just a bit Big Book of Alcoholics. Anonymous has you just have to be willing as a matter of fact you can you can just be willing to be made willing is
A little play on words. I’ve heard just be willing to be made willing.
As you just willing enough to just think maybe there’s a loving God. I believe that because of the overwhelming love that he has or she has for us.
He’ll show himself she’ll show herself strong. I made a decision to turn my will.
And my life over to the care of God.
As I understood him why don’t you find your own higher power gain your own understanding of your higher power thank you very much