1-3
Quote:
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We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him. If you have already made a decision, and an inventory of your grosser handicaps, you have made a good beginning. That being so you have swallowed and digested some big chunks of truth about yourself.
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The way that we become convinced of the ability of God to change our lives is by doing the things suggested in this program. When we experience for ourselves that this works to solve our problems, we acquire faith --- a reliance upon the power of God. It is our old ideas and attitudes about life, the symptoms of which are our defects of character, that stand in the way of our access to God. By swallowing and digesting big chunks of truth about ourselves, we are nourished and can grow.
We do not do our fourth step merely to gain self-knowledge. Self-knowledge will not solve our alcoholic problem (39:3). Our writting helps to clear away self-justification which allows us to honestly appraise our character. When combined with attempts to establish a relationship with God, it produces spiritual experience, experiences of God working in our lives. We may build upon this as we continue in this new way of life. Our purpse is to discover the obstacles in ourselves so that the grace of God can enter us and expel the obsession that compels us to drink.
Source:
The Annotated AA Handbook
Frank D.