God Gives Us All Promises, Only If We Work for Them

The Ninth Step Promises someone reads before every A.A. meeting are significant to every recovering alcoholic. They also deliver a powerful message to anyone seeking to turn his world around and lead a God-centered life. Think about these words from your unique vantage point, from page 83-84 of the Big Book:

"If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to find a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

"Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us -- sometimes quickly sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them."

These are some key words and phrases:

• a new freedom and a new happiness;
• not regret the past;
• serenity and peace;
• benefit others;
• uselessness and self-pity will disappear;
• lose interest in selfish things;
• attitude and outlook on life will change;
• God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Notice that nothing in these promises deals with giving up alcohol. Instead, the promises tell what will happen when God is the center of our lives. They are meant for all of us. God gives us all these promises only...

...if we work for them.