Step 3 – the 1st 3 steps are foundational

“We don’t have to be good enough to turn our lives over to God, only willing. He will be with us, to help us change, as we take the following steps. It is just as if we had made a legal commitment. Emotions are not an issue.”

Our A.A. Legacy, by Clarence Snyder Sponsee Old-timers and Their Wives, p. 28.

From my experience, and the experience of many others, allowing God to move in our lives by softening our hearts and opening our minds is HUGE! Because the steps that are coming will be hard. They will challenge your faith, they will challenge your will to keep going, to stay sober. You’ll want to give up.

In Steps 4 through 7 we go deeper into our recovery and we start digging through all the lies and excuses we’ve created to stay in our addiction. If we’re fortunate, we’ll have the help of a sponsor or counselor to take us through the process of uncovering mental barriers. But even if you don’t have someone to be with you through the process, you always, always have God. It will be God who shows you what you need to do moment to moment, day to day, week to week, etc. to stay clean and sober. He’ll send you someone you can confide in and will listen to you as you rediscover what it means to live life on life’s terms. Or more realistically, live life the way God wants you to live.

God doesn’t desire for us to experience pain. He’ll let us suffer in pain because of our own choices, but ultimately God wants us to overcome pain. But first, we have to be willing to see how we created the addicted life we’re living in. Until we can be real with ourselves nothing will change.

Get connected with a local or online 12 Step Recovery group. Find someone you are comfortable going through Steps 4 through 7 with; it will either be a sponsor, a counselor, a therapist, maybe even a friend. Preferably, you want to connect with someone who understands the mind of an addict and is willing to hang with you through all your resistance, revelation, and success. It will be hard, but it will be worth it in the end.

“Drugs & alcohol do two things: They make can make you feel really, really good. Or, they can make you feel less bad. “Sobriety doesn’t necessarily feel good.”

—Dr. Bobby Davis (you can listen to more what Dr. Davis has to say about change and recovery here)

#changeistough #changeisnecessary #changeisgood