The 12-Steps and Their Spiritual Foundation

It is an amazing fact that 75 to 93 percent members of Alcoholic Anonymous recovered from their addiction of alcohol. They all did it developing faith in God and relying on His powers and also following the principles laid down by Him in The Holy Bible.

The founders of Alcoholic Anonymous get their ideas by predominantly focusing on Sermons on the Mount, 1 Corinthians 13, and the Book of James. These members have, for many years, obtained the power, guidance and dependency from Bible.

Trusting the knowledge, reliability and powers of the scripture as guidelines has helped these former addicts gain back control on their lives. The Bible is the ultimate guide book that all humans should look up to for a life filled with peace and happiness.

We encourage the patients to trust the powers of Bible and seek guidance from the holy book to build faith in Christ. Likewise our 12-step Christian Track program has been formed keeping in mind the scriptural teachings. 12-steps of Alcoholic Anonymous state:

1. We admit that we were powerless over our addiction and compulsive behavior and that our lives had become totally unmanageable.
   I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For, I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
   (Romans 7:18)
2. We realized and started believing that only a power greater than ours could reinstate our sanity. God lives within you and it is it He who gives you the strength and will to walk on the good path set by Him.
   For it is God who is at work in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)
3. We decided to turn our life and will over to and in the care of God.
   Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God his is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)
4. We turned ourselves into a resource of fearless and ever-in-quest moral inventory.
   Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. (Lamentations 3:40)
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
   Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. (James 5:16a)
6. We submitted ourselves to the Almighty and He helped us filter the flaws of our character.
   Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)
7. We humbly asked the Lord to help us overcome all our shortcomings.
   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
8. We created a list of all the humans that we had, during the course of our phase, harmed and enthusiastically ask for a chance to mend our mistakes.
   Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)
9. Rectified our mistakes wherever directly possible.
   Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)
10. We started monitoring our behavior closely and asked immediately for forgiveness for mistakes committed.
    So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12)
11. We chose the medium of prayer and meditation to connect our conscious and contact with God. We asked Him to show us His will for us and grant us the strength to carry out his command.
    Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. (Colossians 3:16a)
12. After felt the bliss of spirituality within ourselves we tried to pass on the message to the others and promised to apply these principles in our daily life.
    Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)