Does SA really work? The clear answer from my own life is yes. I know it works, because it has worked for me.

But does it work for everyone? The more nuanced answer is no. Our own literature makes it clear that SA is not for everyone. There are quite a number of “ifs” in SA literature that there are plenty of reasons why it won’t work for some people. “If” they won’t work the program as it was designed, “if” they won’t surrender to God, then I certainly don’t expect SA to work for them.

It didn’t work for me for a lot of years. But that was because I refused to work the SA program as it was designed to be worked. I was prideful and I refused to turn my will and life over to the care of God. And without God, I had no hope in fighting and battling against the power of lust. But when I finally surrendered to God and worked the program as my sponsor told me to do it, I found freedom from the obsessions and compulsions. It worked!

And as the classic line we repeat at every meeting reminds me, “It works if you work it!”