The importance of Step Three is that a decision is made (in fact it is a final choice) for our thought process to no longer be propelled by our human instincts (our self will) but rather by the will of God through inspiration. Inspiration is defined as, "the thoughts of God implanted in the mind and soul of man."The Third Step is, "We mad e a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." In the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous in the chapter "How It Works" it states, "The first requirement (in taking the Third Step) is that we be convinced that any life run on self will can hardly be a success." As stated prior to this, "Remember that we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling, powerful. Without help it is to much for us. But there is One who has all power -that One is God. May you find Him now!" The chapter goes further in stating, "Selfishness - self-centerednes! That, we think, is the root of our troubles... So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self will run riot..." Self will is our thought process propelled by our human instincts. In the Big Book it says "above everything we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness and there seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid."
I learned in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous that we have three basic instincts, a social, sexual and security instinct. These instincts are God given and necessary for life but in us we can never get enough of what it is we think we need . The great psychiatrist Sigmund Freud defines an instinct as "a bodily need manifested in our thought process." It is there that our character defects exist - but these same defects, which will always exist to some extent in our human nature, cannot possibly be manifested in our behavior when our thought process is propelled by God's will, through inspiration.
Written By Armand
Alcoholism is a unique disease in that it is a two-fold malady. There is the physical allergy that ensures each and every time we put alcohol into our system we'll get sick, drunk, and into all kinds of trouble. But more paramount - we have a mental obsession that ensures, even though we don't want to drink, sooner or later our mind will tell us it's okay to pick up the intoxicating substance, triggering the physical allergy. We will surely get drunk again.
The "Big Book" Alcoholics Anonymous states, in reference to the Ninth Step and the Promises, "If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know 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 interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and 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."
It is through all our experience with our character defects that we've realized and recognized, set boundaries and applied cognitive therapy and behavioral modification but all to no avail - using these methods is like applying a band aid to a festering sore. What we really must do is get to the root of the problem. Our character defects exist in our human nature, not in the will of God. Therefore, if we are willing to perform the work necessary for the Spirit to be awakened within us by living in the back half of The Eleventh Step, "Praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out" (Alcoholics Anonymous) , our character defects will not and cannot possibly manifest in our behaviors. The power to carry out such knowledge must come from God, as our human nature will only try to sustain our selfish desires. Once we have taken this step we have pulled the root of the problem from it's poisonous soils.
In 1930 a member of the Oxford Group and an alcoholic, Roland Hazzard, visited on more than one occasion with the noted psychiatrist Dr. Carl Jung. After Roland failed to cease drinking multiple times Dr. Jung gave to him the solution for alcoholism -- a vital spiritual experience. Spiritual defined as "of or pertaining to God" and vital as "life giving". We have to give life to our experience with God. This is accomplished by surrendering our nature to the will of God.
The day I stood in the parking lot drunk such a long time ago a most fortunate event occurred. I bumped into the only person I knew who was in AA. Such kindness he showed me - by speaking with me and taking me to my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that very night. It was there at that meeting that I raised my hand and said "my name is Armand and I am an alcoholic." Some seven years passed from that first night until I admitted complete defeat. Those seven intervening years proved difficult ones in my life as a direct result of alcohol. Fortunately, I did survive a bottom those seven years produced from which I could push up from.