Step 3

Please note: The use of the term “God” in the following paragraphs is not meant to be misconstrued as an over-riding of your own belief system. The term is being used generically. Feel free to substitute whatever name, term or phrase that resonates with you.

Step Three is the step of faith. It states "We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God." It is in Step Three that the surrender that we learned about in Step One and practiced in Step Two really comes into play. This is the Step where we effectively commit, based upon faith alone, to the spiritual path that leads to unification with our Creator. Our progress along this path is in direct relationship with our willingness to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the God of our understanding. The concept of turning over our will and our lives doesn’t mean that we are becoming a controlled puppet. What it means is that we utilize the one power that we have, the power of action, by making decisions that apply the spiritual principles we believe God would want us to practice. Until we learn the definitions and applications of all the twelve virtues (see Tch Lao’s 12 Virtues on this site) it will be sufficient to just practice the three we came to believe God shows to us; loving, caring and forgiving.

By turning our will and our lives over we also detach ourselves from the results of our actions, provided those actions haven’t harmed another or generated any karma that will require more reincarnations. We can also detach from the infinite number of events that directly or indirectly touch our lives. This ties in the lesson of Step One in that we are powerless over people, places and things. The outcomes in either case are up to the God of our understanding or up to the will of other human beings. We can now stop taking responsibility for the outcome of all the situations in which we are involved or which touch our life. If we act from a loving, caring and forgiving heart and we utilize the 12 virtues to the best of our ability, then what happens after that is not our concern. This is not to say we will always like the outcome. Sometimes the outcome will be extremely painful. It may be that these painful episodes are the vehicle for the lessons we are here to master.

We can also use the turning over of our will and our lives to God to help us detach from our thoughts and our feelings. This allows us to utilize our faith in God as the source of direction for our actions in dealing with the thoughts and feelings that Step One teaches us we are powerless over. What that powerlessness means is that our thoughts and our feelings can come to life without any warning but when this happens we don’t have to act out on them. We can choose to surrender and walk towards our God by allowing at least the basics of God’s will for us, loving, caring and forgiving, to guide us in our actions. If we don’t make this choice then we are choosing not to surrender and to allow the pain and fear to lead us on the path of anger and self-loathing which detaches us from our God. Simply stated, we cannot think and feel ourselves into a better way of living but we can live ourselves into a better way of thinking and feeling by following Spiritual principles.

STEP THREE   to download or print click here  To download or print click the PDF icon

“We made a decision to turn our will and our life over to the care of God as we understood God”

1. What does “made a decision” mean (don’t be afraid to use the dictionary)?
2. What does “turn over to” mean (don’t be afraid to use the dictionary)?
3. What does “ our will” mean (don’t be afraid to use the dictionary)?
4. What does “our life” mean (don’t be afraid to use the dictionary)?
5. What does “care of” mean (don’t be afraid to use the dictionary)?
6. Why does this Step use the word “understood” in the past tense?
7. How does one “turn their will and their life over”?
8. What is the difference between your will and God’s will?
9. How can you utilize this Step to increase your self worth?
10. How can this Step help you forgive yourself and others?