We Can't Turn Our Backs on Alcohol Without Turning Our Faces toward God
Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.
The writers of the Big Book italicized those words, not I. God as we understand him must be part of sobriety or sobriety doesn't work. I find God at the root of all that I read and all that I hear at A.A. meetings. Actually, Step 3 must be a part of everyone's lives, addict or not, in order to fully understand real joy, to maneuver through life's setbacks, to overcome our flaws, and to care about others.
I like to quote The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-purpose-driven-life-what-on-earth-am-i-here-for-by-rick-warren/247079/?mkwid=s|dc&pcrid=263432259749&pkw=&pmt=b&plc=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt-r-5bHv3AIVQbXACh1qcQoAEAAYBSAAEgKB8fD_BwE#isbn=0310210747&idiq=5181304). But that doesn't mean I always have to agree with everything it contains. On page 101 it says, "God is pleased when our love is accurate.... But we cannot just create our own comfortable or politically correct image of God and worship it. That is idolatry. Worship must be based on the truth of scripture, not our opinions of God.... To "worship in truth" means to worship God as he is truly revealed in the Bible."
I believe it's that kind of doctrine that has turned many, including alcoholics, away from God and to a life of emptiness and despair. Sunday School taught me to believe as we believe or you are headed to a life of eternal damnation.
Excuse me, but the God I now know is one of love. Some in A.A. struggle with the concept that the Bible is the only true word of God, it is 100% accurate and literal, the people who wrote it and translated every different version were inspired by their deity to write each word, and every other religious belief -- and having no belief -- is wrong.
I thank my God, my higher power, I found a better belief system. My alcoholism, the biggest scurge in my life, led me to my God as I understand Him. If He's not the same as you understand Him, I won't try to convert you to my way of thinking. Who do I think I am if I claim to have the one and only map to heaven? The important thing is to find peace and joy, to p
ray God's will be done, and that His will be done through you.
The Big Book is my Good Book. "Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another's perception of God.... We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, and all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all (people). When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God."
Therein lies my sobriety today. I couldn't turn my back on alcohol without turning my face to God. He is the God of my understanding. Seek the God of your understanding. An entirely new outlook on life awaits you.
The writers of the Big Book italicized those words, not I. God as we understand him must be part of sobriety or sobriety doesn't work. I find God at the root of all that I read and all that I hear at A.A. meetings. Actually, Step 3 must be a part of everyone's lives, addict or not, in order to fully understand real joy, to maneuver through life's setbacks, to overcome our flaws, and to care about others.
I like to quote The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren (https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-purpose-driven-life-what-on-earth-am-i-here-for-by-rick-warren/247079/?mkwid=s|dc&pcrid=263432259749&pkw=&pmt=b&plc=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt-r-5bHv3AIVQbXACh1qcQoAEAAYBSAAEgKB8fD_BwE#isbn=0310210747&idiq=5181304). But that doesn't mean I always have to agree with everything it contains. On page 101 it says, "God is pleased when our love is accurate.... But we cannot just create our own comfortable or politically correct image of God and worship it. That is idolatry. Worship must be based on the truth of scripture, not our opinions of God.... To "worship in truth" means to worship God as he is truly revealed in the Bible."
I believe it's that kind of doctrine that has turned many, including alcoholics, away from God and to a life of emptiness and despair. Sunday School taught me to believe as we believe or you are headed to a life of eternal damnation.Excuse me, but the God I now know is one of love. Some in A.A. struggle with the concept that the Bible is the only true word of God, it is 100% accurate and literal, the people who wrote it and translated every different version were inspired by their deity to write each word, and every other religious belief -- and having no belief -- is wrong.
I thank my God, my higher power, I found a better belief system. My alcoholism, the biggest scurge in my life, led me to my God as I understand Him. If He's not the same as you understand Him, I won't try to convert you to my way of thinking. Who do I think I am if I claim to have the one and only map to heaven? The important thing is to find peace and joy, to p
ray God's will be done, and that His will be done through you.
The Big Book is my Good Book. "Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another's perception of God.... We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, and all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all (people). When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God."Therein lies my sobriety today. I couldn't turn my back on alcohol without turning my face to God. He is the God of my understanding. Seek the God of your understanding. An entirely new outlook on life awaits you.
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