God as we understand Him

A Reading on
"God as We Understand Him"

We have probably all known people who relentlessly try to defend their religious beliefs, or try to push their beliefs on others, or even try to prove that God exists. We may be turned off by such people and suspect that the program is offering more of the same. This is not true. Step Three simply assumes there is a God to understand and that we each have a God of our own understanding. Our understanding might be that He is weak or strong, conservative or liberal, out of date or even nonexistent. We should not allow our understanding of God to become a controversial issue at this stage of sobriety. We should simply accept the fact that if we remain abstinent and if we diligently pursue the program, significant changes will take place in us, including our understanding of God. We may find that as we learn to understand ourselves and other people better, we will also develop a better understanding of God.

For the time being, we should try to accept the definition suggested in the traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous: a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. This will allow us to give proper consideration to make the decision and then carry it out.

--- from The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous Interpreted by the Hazelden Foundation, page 23