Bad beliefs are a reality in everyone. Is your belief about a higher power wrong?
It is important to remember that not only did we bring bad beliefs in to recovery – we can also continue to develop bad beliefs in recovery. Progression in spirituality depends upon what we use as the source of our truth. It is the truth that sets us free – from bad beliefs. There is an abundance of practical truth in our A.A. program on how to stay sober and how to behave better but it does not provide depth to the spiritual solution. How to understand the deeper meaning to life can only be appropriated by exposure to God’s written Word found in His book – the Bible. God’s Word is more powerful than the dangers found in this current world-wide transmission of a deadly virus. The troubles of life will always be with us but through the understanding of God’s truth – the fear that troubles bring gets replaced by peace.
What then, is the real meaning of the words “God as we understood Him” as stated in the Twelve Steps?
This idea goes back to the first encounter Bill Wilson had with Ebby, his childhood friend, who had sobered up with help from the Christian fellowship, the Oxford Group. Bill at that time had lost his faith in God and had no belief that the God he grew up with would personally help his situation. But here in front of him was a sober alcoholic friend, who was claiming he had gotten religion. From Bill’s story in the Big Book we find: My friend suggested what he seemed a novel idea. He said, “Why don’t you choose your own conception of God?” When we look in depth at the early program, it is clear what was meant by this statement. It was a simple explanation, that our help will come from the God of the Bible, but we just don’t understand Him yet. The dilemma we have is that we only have a limited understanding of who the biblical God really is and that we should seek for more understanding. This is to say that our perception of the biblical God lacks depth of truth. Conception means perception. What it does not mean is the common mistake found in AA today – that we are to conceive or create our own God.
What does it really mean to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him?
Turning our will and our lives over to God’s care is often misunderstood. Psalm 139:14 tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are God’s own design, and He created us to have choice. The will is the instrument of choice. Our life is what happens from our choices. We make choices based on our beliefs. If we have bad beliefs, we make bad choices. God wants us to do His Will which we can only do by first knowing it, making a choice to do it, and then taking the action of the choice. We find His Will in His book, the Holy Bible. We study that, and this process of growing in understanding of His Will is a lifetime effort. We are not robots or marionettes on a string. God wants us to choose. Being saved and having the Holy Spirit in us does not take away our choice. His job is to help give us the understanding of His Will (Word) and the power to choose His Will (Word).
What then, will be the result when God becomes the Central Fact in your life and Christ becomes the Lord of your life?
Life will become exciting for you. You will know the joy of taking control of your own life, yet it is Christ’s life within you. You will have let go of those things that had stopped you or held you back in the past. You will concentrate on only those things that help you take control of yourself, focus your efforts to do the Will of God, and direct yourself in an exciting new way. You will take the time to determine what you want from your life and how that fits in to what God wants you to do with your life. You will find what you have always wanted, know where you are going, and realize who you are.
You will never feel that you are a victim of circumstances. You will not live your life by accident, but by your choice and your design. And this will all be within God’s design and His Will of Commandment and His Will of Control. You will not put things off and will accomplish more than ever before. Because you are in control of you, you will meet your responsibilities to yourself, to others and to God. You will control your time and your activities because you will know what your purpose in life is. You will desire to do everything within God’s principles and achieve meaningful significance in your life.
You will make progress every single day! Your understanding of God will increase daily. You will feel significant and receive blessings from our Holy God who loves you. You will understand, with clarity, what it means to have turned your will and life over to the care of God. You will find serenity and peace because you treat others as you would treat yourself. Your sense of intuition will grow, and you will intuitively know what it is that God would have you do. You will replace “That’s life and there is nothing I can do about it” with “I am a child of God and there is something I can do about it (as long as I am relying on the power of the Holy Spirit, of course)!” You will experience the joy of being rocketed into the fourth dimension. (From the book Eternal Sobriety)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV).