JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrecovery

Our Own True Will

God’s will for us consists of the very things we most value. God’s will… becomes our own true will for ourselves.”

~ Basic Text p. 46 ~

It’s human nature to want something for nothing. We may be ecstatic when a store cashier gives us back change for a twenty though we only paid with a ten. We tend to think that, if no one knows, one small deception won’t make any difference. But someone does know—we do. And it does make a difference.

What worked for us when we used, frequently doesn’t work long in recovery. As we progress spiritually by working the Twelve Steps, we begin to develop new values and standards. We begin to feel uncomfortable when we take advantage of situations that, when we used, would have left us gloating about what we had gotten away with.

In the past, we may have victimized others. However, as we draw closer to our Higher Power, our values change. God’s will becomes more important than getting away with something.

When our values change, our lives change, too. Guided by an inner knowledge given us by our Higher Power, we want to live out our newfound values. We have internalized our Higher Power’s will for us—in fact, God’s will has become our own true will for ourselves.

Just for today: By improving my conscious contact with God, my values have changed. Today, I will practice God’s will, my own true will.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc 

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AROUND THE YEAR WITH EMMET FOX #essentialsofrecovery

THY WILL BE DONE

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10)

Now we too often choose to use our free will in a negative way; allowing ourselves to think selfishly, and this wrong thinking brings upon us all our troubles. Instead of understanding that it is our essential nature to express God, to be ever about our Father’s business, we try to set up our own account. We abuse our own free will, trying to work apart from God; and the very natural results is all sickness, poverty, sin, troubles, and death that we find on the physical plane. We must never for a moment try to make plans or arrangements without reference to God, or suppose that we can either be happy or successful if we are seeking any other end than to do his will.

Our business is to bring our whole nature as fast as we can into conformity with the will of God. “In his will is our peace,” said Dante, and the Divine Comedy is really a study in fundamental states of consciousness, the Inferno representing the state of the soul that is endeavoring to live without God, the Paradisio representing the state of the soul that has achieved its conscious unity with the divine will. It was the sublime conflict of the soul that wrung from the heart of the great Augustine the cry, “Thou hast made us for Thyself; and our hearts are restless until they find themselves in Thee.”

© 1931 by Emmet Fox 

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JUST FOR TODAY #essentialsofrec #Truth #NA

Our Own True Will

“God’s will for us consists of the very things we most value. God’s will… becomes our own true will for ourselves.”

~ Basic Text p. 46 ~

It’s human nature to want something for nothing. We may be ecstatic when a store cashier gives us back change for a twenty though we only paid with a ten. We tend to think that, if no one knows, one small deception won’t make any difference. But someone does know—we do. And it does make a difference.

What worked for us when we used, frequently doesn’t work long in recovery. As we progress spiritually by working the Twelve Steps, we begin to develop new values and standards. We begin to feel uncomfortable when we take advantage of situations that, when we used, would have left us gloating about what we had gotten away with.

In the past, we may have victimized others. However, as we draw closer to our Higher Power, our values change. God’s will becomes more important than getting away with something.

When our values change, our lives change, too. Guided by an inner knowledge given us by our Higher Power, we want to live out our newfound values. We have internalized our Higher Power’s will for us—in fact, God’s will has become our own true will for ourselves.

Just for today: By improving my conscious contact with God, my values have changed. Today, I will practice God’s will, my own true will.

© 1991 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services Inc

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

As Bill Sees It

Whose Will? p. 170

We have seen A.A.’s ask with much earnestness and faith for God’s explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to a minor personal fault, like tardiness. A man who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any questioning or criticism of his actions, he instantly proffers his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small.

He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his will into all sorts of situations and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God’s specific direction.

12 & 12, pp. 103-104 

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Just For Today #essentialsofrecovery

Our Own True Will


“God’s will for us consists of the very things we most value. God’s will… becomes our own true will for ourselves.”

Basic Text p. 46

It’s human nature to want something for nothing. We may be ecstatic when a store cashier gives us back change for a twenty though we only paid with a ten. We tend to think that, if no one knows, one small deception won’t make any difference. But someone does know—we do. And it does make a difference.

What worked for us when we used, frequently doesn’t work long in recovery. As we progress spiritually by working the Twelve Steps, we begin to develop new values and standards. We begin to feel uncomfortable when we take advantage of situations that, when we used, would have left us gloating about what we had gotten away with.

In the past, we may have victimized others. However, as we draw closer to our Higher Power, our values change. God’s will becomes more important than getting away with something.

When our values change, our lives change, too. Guided by an inner knowledge given us by our Higher Power, we want to live out our newfound values. We have internalized our Higher Power’s will for us—in fact, God’s will has become our own true will for ourselves.

Just for today: By improving my conscious contact with God, my values have changed. Today, I will practice God’s will, my own true will.

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

AS BILL SEES IT #essentialsofrecovery

Page 170

Whose Will?

We have seen A.A.’s ask with much earnestness and faith for God’s explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to a minor personal fault, like tardiness. A man who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any questioning or criticism of his actions, he instantly proffers his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small.

He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his will into all sorts of situations and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God’s specific direction.

~ TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 103-104
© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc

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As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrecovery

The Value of Human Will, p. 232

Many newcomers, having experienced little but constant deflation, feel a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever. They have become persuaded, sometimes rightly so, that many problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault powered only by the individual’s will.

However, there are certain things which the individual alone can do. All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires willingness, he is the only one who can then make the decision to exert himself along spiritual lines. Trying to do this is actually an act of his own will. It is the right use of this faculty.

Indeed, all of A.A.’s Twelve Steps require our sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God’s will.


12 &12, p. 40 

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EASY DOES IT #essentialsofrecovery

COURAGE

The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.

~ Robert Green Ingersoll 

One word often heard in group discussions is “will.” Yet, the will to do something cannot exist without the action required to do it, and that takes courage. It is courage that turns possibilities into realities and assures us that little in life is truly impossible. Experience teaches us that courage keeps our active emotions under control.

When courage guides our efforts, we can be sure that we will not only be capable of accomplishing success, but we will be worthy of it. We learn that courage is not recklessness; it is common sense, when we know that a goal is worth going for, courage has judgment and carefulness as allies, even though we may be moving against the tide of popular opinion or belief.

I am overcoming my fears about setting and working toward goals. It helps me to remember “courage is fear that has said its prayers.”

©1990 by Anonymous, Published by Hazelden

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AS BILL SEES IT #essentialsofrecovery

 Page 170 ~

Whose Will?

We have seen A.A.’s ask with much earnestness and faith for God’s explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to a minor personal fault, like tardiness. A man who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any questioning or criticism of his actions, he instantly proffers his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small.

He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his will into all sorts of situations and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God’s specific direction.

~ TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 103-104 ~

© 1967 by Alcoholics Anonymous ® World Services, Inc

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

As Bill Sees It #essentialsofrec

The Value of Human Will, p. 232

Many newcomers, having experienced little but constant deflation,
feel a growing conviction that human will is of no value whatever.
They have become persuaded, sometimes rightly so, that many
problems besides alcohol will not yield to a headlong assault
powered only by the individual’s will.

However, there are certain things which the individual alone can do.
All by himself, and in the light of his own circumstances, he needs
to develop the quality of willingness. When he acquires
willingness, he is the only one who can then make the decision to
exert himself along spiritual lines. Trying to do this is actually an
act of his own will. It is the right use of this faculty.

Indeed, all of A.A.’s Twelve Steps require our sustained and
personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to
God’s will.

12 & 12, p. 40 

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Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec