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Post by ChrisK on Jan 25, 2005 7:38:31 GMT -5
HOW DO WE GET SOMEONE TO BELIEVE IN A POWER GREATER THEN THMSELVES? I MEAN A LOVING GOD AS HE MAY EXPRESS HIMSELF. I DON'T WISH TO SHOVE GOD DOWN ANYONE'S THROAT. I JUST WONDER, HOW DOES EVERYONE ELSE IN HERE TELL SOMEONE THAT, GOD HELPS THEM?
LOVE
CHRIS
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Post by lildee on Jan 25, 2005 8:56:08 GMT -5
Hi Chris,
For me it is not a matter of telling someone to "believe" in God. A lot of us have been away from God for a long , long time. And when we left God it was on a bitter note because all our hopes, wishes and dreams were not fulfilled.
You can believe in anything you want as long as it is more powerful than yourself. Thus the phrase Higher Power. It can be the rooms, people in the rooms, a religious leader, a spirit, an idea, a flower, or a butterfly, electricity.
Most of us have had problems with believing and trusting anyone or anything. Trust takes a long time to rebuild.
For example if you have been used to begging and pleading with God to save you from your demon addictions, and your prayers go unanswered ..... how much trust can you have?
If you have prayed to God to save the life of a loved one who is dying from a terminal disease...... and they die. How much trust can there be?
An open discussion about what the person believes in is a start. From there you can give them options, something they feel comfortable with something they can trust in.
Another way is to show them your own spirituality. Let them see by example. This is the one that worked for me early in recovery. I had been away from God for more years than I care to mention. When it came time to choose a sponsor, I picked one with a strong religious background. Seeing her spirituality was contagious. I began to believe once again. Not in the harsh, judgemental, brimstone and fire God of the past, but in a loving and caring God , that I could count on.
Recovery is about change, and a change in our attitudes. So why can't we change how, or what we believe in? Mainly because we have be trained to believe one way. The way society or religion dictates.
Back when I started working the steps I was all hung up on the God thing. Then a very dear friend, a wise old sage, and I had a long discussion about God, religion and such. What it all boiled down to was that man created religion and that God was above any religion. Man created the rules and regulations of the church or temple, not God. But the twist is that God created man, so He is above everything else.
So in short by having an open mind and willing to accept change, and seeing spirituality at work is what worked for me.
Love and God Bless
Arlene
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Post by caressa on Jan 25, 2005 9:39:43 GMT -5
I read something the other day that said, "You don't have to believe in God to find the Spirit within."
I thought this was very empowering. I thought I knew who God was, but as I worked this program i came to realize that God had been an old tape and I only knew God third hand. God was an old tape and I had to go on a spiritual journey to find out what God meant to me.
For me, God is, as he reveals Himself to me.
I keep telling people not to keep God in church. He is there for sure, but He is everywhere, and why should you limit God by your narrow vision and perception.
I can't make people believe anything, yet hopefully, by living my own program, they can see God working in my life and catch a glimpse of Him through me.
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Post by ChrisK on Jan 26, 2005 1:15:04 GMT -5
Don't you feel sorry for them to not know a loving God?
Until, I let go and let God my life was hell:(
Now, I feel I've been blessed:)
chris
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Post by Tiger on Jan 26, 2005 14:45:58 GMT -5
How do we explain that God wants to help us? - a pretty tall order! First, one has to believe there *is* a God. A logical approach to this is ask him/her when they die would they rather wake up and find there is no God or wake up and find there *is* a God they denied! It's a win/win situation to accept God!! Secondly, a God who helps us? this story may help on that: A new member of AA had no belief in God and although the old-timers had tried to convince him, they failed. Finally, one member asked the new comer "wasn't there ever a time you asked God for help/" He replied "only once, when I was on a hunting trip in the North Woods and got seperated from my friends and was lost in a blizzard" The member replied "well, your still here, aren,t you?" The new-comer replied "If an indian scout hadn't come by at that moment I would have frozen to death"  Tell your friend to look for coincidences in his life....it's properly the HP working in his/her life! Tiger |
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Post by caressa on Jan 26, 2005 18:34:17 GMT -5
Reminds me of a long time joke about someone dying and his friends coming to say goodbye. The one fellow looks at his friend in the casket and starts to laugh. His buddy calls him on his behavior and says it wasn't very appropriate for the occasion. He said, "I can't help it. Look at him lying there. He always claimed to be an athiest. There he is, all dressed up with no place to go."
It is funny, yet it is sad. To think of having no hope or direction in your life makes life so much more difficult. We have been there, although I knew there was a God, I just didn't believe that He believed in me.
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Post by majestyjo on Jan 31, 2021 2:07:08 GMT -5
Some good thoughts. Pray even if you don't know who you are praying to and don't yet have an understanding.
Go on a spiritual journey and connect to your God.
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. I will be back looking for Lin and others.