In the Third Step we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. The Fourth Step is the next step in the process, the purpose of which is to find out what it is about me that is keeping the grace of God from my life. It is through the grace of God that the healing occurs. Many spiritual traditions include a deep and thorough look at the past to discover the truth of what is uncovered. Alcoholics Anonymous is no different.As we work through the Fourth Step we may get the sense that the completed program of Alcoholics Anonymous will allow us, possibly for the first time, to be living our lives as God originally intended us to - free of the manifestation in our behavior of resentment, fear and anxiety. We will then become the human beings God created us to be and we will maximize our human potential, as the manifestation of our human nature is perfected in the will of God.
Written by Armand
In The Third Step I was able to ask for the help I desperately needed in order to become the person I was born to be. Short of that, I was destined to live in fear with false pride manifesting itself in every part of my life. I was never to get to know or love myself - a wasted life. In The Fourth Step, I finally found the courage to face myself and to commit to a plan of action in order to enliven my spirit and re-direct my path toward The Power Within me. In that process, I had to confront my inordinate fear and to begin to incorporate the program of recovery into my life. I learned that short cuts would not suffice. I had to face me to find me - but I could not do that alone. The grace I needed would come from that unsuspected inner resource, The Power Within me and within all of us. Only when I fully realized a personal relationship with That Power did my purpose became clear - to know and love myself and to give myself away.
ReplyDeleteMichael C.
Steps 3 through 7 are so dynamically intertwined it's hard for me to spiritually separate them. In Step 3, I made a decision. In Step 4, I begin to act upon it. The subject of the inventory was to seek out the location of my moral compass and the direction the needle points. If I am fearless, I'll admit it's been buried in the belly of the beast for a long time, a very, very long time... And like all things buried it had entirely lost its ability to function. It's glass was missing, the needle gone, its face illegible and caked with the mud of a misspent life. It was beyond my ability to restore. A miracle was called for. In Step 5, I furtively showed it to the Master. In Step 6, I firmly placed it in His hand. In Step 7, I asked Him to restore it and place it in my heart. There it sits to this day, surrounded and protected by His loving hands.
DeleteA Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic.
Michael having made a decision in 3 fives us the strength through the grace of God to face ourselves and gives us the courage to have a desire to forgive those on our list...Thank you...Armand
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