Step Three
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Please share your experience, strength, and hope as it relates to Step 3. The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the person who gave them. Take what you liked and leave the rest. Member sharing on the Member Blog may be used in future Al‑Anon publications.
Learning to turn my will and my life over to the God of my Understanding was quite a challenge for me. I had learned while growing up in an alcoholic home to pray, but never to trust that things would work out well. Those first fearful steps were done with my Sponsor’s hand holding mine. She never let go, and she kept reminding me that I can make the plan; I can’t plan the outcome. That is where this Step came into play in my life. I made the first small plan when my husband found out I had been… Read more »
This Step was a turning point in my decision to stay in Al-Anon. When I came to the program my faith in God was at its lowest. I was raised with a punishing God and I felt that punishments well outnumbered the rewards in my life. I didn’t realize, at the time, the importance my “will” took in my life, this creating a lot of “punishments”, I was so distraught about. The second part of this Step “as we understood Him” got my attention. I realized that I knew about God, as I had heard many things about Him, but… Read more »
As members of Al-Anon, we are encouraged to define spiritual concepts “in our own terms” and arrive at our spiritual truths. The importance of defining that Higher Power becomes clear through Step Three. We are making a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God “as we understand Him.” We may notice after going to several meetings that we want what some of the more experienced members have. During my journey, I looked toward the group. As we study and work the program our beliefs may change and we work toward finding the “Higher… Read more »
I am a child of an alcoholic. Making decisions for myself is hard for me. It puts me under so much pressure because I always fear making the wrong decision and having to suffer brutal consequences. For me the third Step is a huge help in finding serenity. Whenever I am faced with a decision that stresses me out or I am unable to make at that particular moment, I can talk to my Higher Power and hand over my decision to it. I can be sure I will get the right pointers to make the decisions once the time… Read more »
Step Thee makes me stop and think. That I have to surrender to a Power Greater than myself. It also makes me work on acceptance and to be humble.