THE SAME MAN WILL DRINK AGAIN…BUT WHAT WILL THE CHANGED MAN DO? And how do we know that we are really changed? Initially the first real proof that we have done step three right or with our heart is that we will continue on and do the rest of the steps especially a thorough step four.
“The evidence of the Spirit of God is Love”. How do we know that our third step prayer has taken hold? How do we act after our Higher Power gives us the psychic change that will keep us from self-destructing?
One huge misconception among the church folk and early born-again Christians is that once God has delivered, healed, and made us new we will no longer sin, be unhappy, get depressed or cry. Even the Bible’s versus imply that we shall “go and sin no more.” Big mistake to expect perfection and perpetual joy from any human being no matter how intense their white light experience has been. This view of somehow being born of Spirit and then sinning no more is exactly what drives many baby Christians into shame and isolation. Oh how those of the church Love to put on their Sunday go to meeting masks and pretend they are sinless, while all the time engaging in the worst flavor of sin called judgments and hypocrisy. Surely that is what drove many a man away from the church and crawling into the bosom of AA. Where they find the same God under different labels and precepts…the same God nevertheless. After-all how can we relate to a room full of perfect lives? Of course we don’t fit in!
What’s in a label if the heart is in the right place? “God looks upon the heart.” Or so it is written. God jealous? Really? I surmise that God, He, She, or It doesn’t mind being called by different names as long as He is called. “Seek and ye SHALL find.” Personally I believe that when a heart seeks its God, its God will answer.
Perfection and constant joy are off the table! Next, what about all those yummy and sweet fluffy scriptures about “Love” in the book of 1st John about if we Love we know we are in Christ but if we hate we are of the devil? Being “of” or “in” Satan or Christ really just means we have choices and free will to choose with fear or Love. Yikes…Being Loving all the time is off the table as well I don’t care how deeply you were touched by the Great Spirit of God. As long as we are in our human flesh we will feel resentment even after we have done a thorough fourth step. So the changed man knows the solutions for resentment while our old man or addict man stays in the blame. The changed many does not condemn himself for having a resentment. He acknowledged it and does what it takes to expel it.
Loving all the time is off the table! But wait a minute? What then does happen after a spiritual awakening and intense white light experience or even a mild touch from the Great Spirit?
We will Love ourselves and others a little more. We will seek out emotionally nurturing solutions to our emotional disorder. We will care for and help others a little more. We will no longer view alcohol as a solution to our feelings. We will reach out for the solutions that we learn in AA instead of sitting in the problem and spinning around. After absorbing enough meetings, working the twelve steps and establishing enough sober relationships we will have developed a set of coping skills that will steer us through our emotional upheavals without drinking or smoking crack. We will have a self-awareness called a conscience that we will have learned to listen to (most of the time anyway). We will have learned that The Twelve Steps are all tools to pick up and use at any time especially when we have a resentment or are bungled up with fear.
The changed man is humble not self-condemning. That changed man Loves his brother and does not take hostages. The changed man takes responsibility for his actions rather than blaming others for them. The changed man cries a little, laughs a little, and continually relies on his Higher Power rather than pretending to be a Higher Power. The changed man teaches by example rather than emotional punishment and control-ism.
The changed man knows that he has a choice.
WE DO HAVE A CHOICE OF HOW WE DO OUR STEP ELEVEN AND WHAT FLAVOR THIRD STEP PRAYER WE BELIEVE IN. HERE ARE SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR THIRD STEP PRAYER VARIATIONS BY VARIOUS FAITHS. THANK YOU FRIENDS OF BILL W. http://friendsofbillw.net/third_step_prayers
Third Step Prayers |