Happy are the meek. -Matthew 5:5
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship. -Romans 12:1
In order to change the direction our life is heading, we must turn our lives in a new direction. Growing up in the foothills of Pennsylvania, I have learned that there is a difference between going “straight” down a road, following the natural bends and curves, and actually turning from the road onto a new one. The scenery and direction might temporarily change, but unless we deliberately change which road we travel, our destination does not change.
Similarly, the natural progression of our lives can take us around bends and curves, but we are still on the same road heading to the same destination. If we want to change our destination, we must purposely turn off of the road we are on and onto a different road leading to a different destination. Change doesn’t happen unless we deliberately turn from our old ways and begin to head toward a new destination, a new way of life.
Turning from what we have always known and toward something new can be intimidating. However, if you’ve completed principle 2 (We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.), you already have everything you need to take this next important step- faith.
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. -Hebrews 11:1
To have faith in God, we must trust Him. The definition of trust is a, “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” (Source) Hopefully you have already established a personal belief in God from Step 2 and Principle 2. If not, please go back and work on these some more.
It is impossible to have full success in this program if you haven’t established the basic foundations of your belief system. If you believe that God exists and that He has the power to help you, now you must have faith that He will fulfill His promises to you.
If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. -Romans 10:9
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” -Romans 10:13
By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share in His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, dn knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. -2 Peter 1:3-11
