Step # 3

We make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to God through Jesus Christ.

Hence also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.........Hebrews 7:25

Step # 3 brings us to the place where we either jump into recovery or stand on the banks watching others have their lives changed. It is a hard place to be in. You're being asked to give up everything you know and understand about how to deal with life. Granted you haven't been very successful or had many "good " days, but none the less, you are going to have to make a decision.

DO you see the beauty and simplicity of this step as it is linked to the other in the Twelve Steps? We have lived in self-deception. We have attempted to control our moods and emotions with the end result being that we have become more depressed and guilt ridden. We have attempted to control everything, and in the process our lives have become more and more chaotic and painful, or as Step # 1 so eloquently puts it....unmanageable.

At Step # 3 we are faced with a choice:  I cannot control and manage my life alone so -
1.) I will become the slave of my selfishness, habit and addictions or
2.) I will allow God to be my master.

Step # 3 works in two distinct ways.
1.) It is a once-in-a-lifetime decision
2.) It is a moment-by-moment decision.
You turn your live over to God once....
You turn your will over to God every day.

A woman in a local A.A. group explained this concept this way.
She said, "I was married on a specific day and time, but each day I have to live out that decisions. I decide to act married."  Placing your trust and life in Christ alone for your salvation is a one-time event through which you are saved from your sins (my rebellion against God) and brought into an eternal relationship with God.
Living in submission to Him is a daily, and sometimes hourly, choice.

I guess the chief thought behind Step # 3 is I make a decision.

God on you......
mb