GIVE

Principle 8: Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words.

“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.” (Matthew 5:10)

Step 12: Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1)

Prayer

Illustration of leaders and volunteers

The G stands for GOD first

When you place God first in your life, you realize that everything you have is a gift from Him. You realize that your recovery is not dependent or based on material things, it is built upon your faith and your desire to follow Jesus Christ’s direction.

Romans 8:32 (GNT) says that God “did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son — will he not also freely give us all things?”

We are never more like God than when we give — not just money or things but our very selves. That’s what Jesus did for us. He gave us the greatest gift of all —Himself.

The second letter in give is I. When we give, the I becomes we.

None of the steps or principles begin with the word I. The very first word in Step 1 is we. In fact, the word we appears in the 12 Steps fourteen times. The word I never appears even once in any of the 12 Steps. The road to recovery is not meant to be traveled alone. This is not a program to be worked in isolation.

Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Matthew 22:37 –39).

When you have reached this step in your recovery and someone asks you to be a sponsor or to be an accountability partner, do it! The rewards are great, and being a sponsor or an accountability partner is one way to carry the message!

Ecclesiastes 4:9 –12 (GNT) makes this concept of giving very clear: “Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone ... there is no one to help him.... Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone.”

The third letter stands for VICTORIES shared.

God never, never, never, ever wastes a hurt! He can take our hurts and use them to help others. Principle 8 gives us the opportunity to share our experi­ences, victories, and hopes with one another.

Deuteronomy 11:2 tells us to remember what we’ve learned about the Lord through our experiences with Him. We start off by saying, “This is how it was for me; this is the experience of what happened to me. This is how I gained the strength to begin my recovery, and there’s hope for you.”

Second Corinthians 1:3–4 (GNT) encourages us to “give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father, the God from whom all help comes! He helps us in all our troubles, so that we are able to help others who have all kinds of troubles, using the same help that we our­selves have received from God.”

All the pain, all the hurt that my twenty years of abusing alcohol caused, all the destruction that I caused to myself and those I loved, finally made sense when I got to Principle 8. I finally understood Romans 8:28 (TLB): “We know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.”

He called me according to His plans, and because I answered God’s call, I can stand here as an example that God works all things for good according to His purpose.

To God be the glory!

I want to spend the rest of my life doing recovery work. You know, though, it’s not really work. It’s service, a service of joy.

This thought leads us to the last letter in give: EXAMPLE of your actions.

You all know that your actions speak louder than your words. Good inten­tions die unless they are executed.

In James 1:22 we are exhorted to be “doers of the word.” But, in order to be of help to another, we are to “bring the Good News to others.”

That’s what Step 12 says. It doesn’t say to bring a little good news or to bring good news only to others who are in recovery.

You have all heard the term “Sunday Christians.” Let us not become just “Tuesday night recovery buffs.”

Works —actions, not words —are proof of your love for God and another person. Faith without works is like a car without gasoline. First John 3:18 (NEB) says, “My children, love must not be a matter of words or talk; it must be genuine, and show itself in action.”

Giving and serving is a thermometer of your love. You can give without loving. That’s what we sometimes do in a codependent relationship. Or we give because we feel we have to. You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.

John 14:23–24 NKJV

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

Illustration of all that Jesus has given us.

Invitation