MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING
Fear… of economic insecurity will leave us.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic
circumstances improve, are two different things. When
I was new in A.A., I had those two ideas confused. I
thought fear would leave me only when I started making
money. However, another line from the Big Book jumped
off the page one day when I was chewing on my financial
difficulties: “For us, material well-being always
followed spiritual progress; it never preceded.”(p. 127).
I suddenly understood that this promise was a guarantee.
I saw that it put priorities in the correct order, that
spiritual progress would diminish that terrible fear of
being destitute, just as it diminished many other fears.
Today I try to use the talents God gave me to benefit
others. I’ve found that is what others valued all along.
I try to remember that I no longer work for myself. I
only get the use of the wealth God created, I never have
“owned” it. My life’s purpose is much clearer when I just
work to help, not to possess.