The 3rd Step, Tradition, and Concept

Each month we focus on the Step, Tradition, and Concept of the month, and provide a quote from Bill W. This is a quick and easy way to learn about these important pillars of the program.

Step 3 “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” “Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more.” Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions,  p. 35 Tradition 3 “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.” “At last experience taught us that to take away any alcoholic’s full chance was sometimes to pronounce his death sentence, and often to condemn him to endless misery.” Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 141 Concept 3 “To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A. – the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives – with a traditional ‘Right of Decision.’” “Our entire A.A. program rests squarely upon the principle of mutual trust. We trust God, we trust A.A., and we trust each other.” Twelve Concepts for World Service, p.11 All quotes from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts for World Service are reprinted with permission from A.A. World Services, Inc.