How Should Christians Practice Self-Care?
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How Should Christians Practice Self-Care?
Self-care is more than splurging on a new bag, taking yourself out to dinner, or enjoying a luxury spa day retreat with your favorite friends, it’s about maintaining spiritual and mental health.
BLURB
Welcome to the 41st post of The Aim and Soar Life, a weekly Christian personal growth and lifestyle newsletter that provides actionable, relatable, and biblically rooted content to help you live abundantly and GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
GREETINGS!
I hope your December has gotten off to a great start! This week started off a little rough for me when I realized how many commitments and responsibilities required my attention. I was cranky, tired, and frustrated!
If you are thinking, “How was she walking around acting like the Grinch when she is a woman of God and a therapist?” stay with me for a bit.😂
I had to quickly remind myself of the posts I’ve written on mental health, like “How to Have a Stress-Free Christmas, and “How to Mind Your Mental Health in Hard Times.”
I needed to reboot and refocus. I had become so engrossed in work and other stressors, that I hadn’t anchored myself in the Word.
When I say “anchor,” I’m talking about being diligent and digging into the Word every day and meditating on scriptures when things pop up that threaten to rob me of my peace. I was borrowing tomorrow’s problems! Ugh! That makes for disaster.
Since this month’s focus is mental wealth, I want to talk briefly about self-care for Christians.
Should Christians Practice Self-Care?
If you have ever wondered if Christians should practice self-care, the answer is yes! And if anyone says anything to the contrary, please tell them to call me!😉
Of course, you should practice self-care. Jesus did! Luke 5:16 tells us that He often withdrew into the wilderness to pray. Now, you don’t have to go into the wilderness. A room or closet will do unless the wilderness is your thing. 😁I’m saying that you need regular “quiet and alone” time to pray. That is the foundation of self-care. Then you can go hit that luxury day spa!
So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
Luke 5:16, NKJV
The Foundation of Self-Care
Self-care is more than splurging on a new bag, taking yourself out to dinner, or enjoying a luxury spa day retreat with your favorite friends. It’s about maintaining spiritual and mental health.
One thing I know for certain is that you cannot maintain mental health if you don’t maintain good spiritual health!
Daily anchoring in God’s Word is necessary. It can’t be a quick fix. You can’t rush through it like one more task that has to be checked off your list. You must make a deliberate decision to be intentional about your time with God. You have to give Him first place in your life.
I recommend establishing what I call a “divine appointment time” with Jesus!
Set a time to sit before God, read His Word, and listen to what He wants to say to you. I’m a morning person, so mine is set at 5:00 AM. Even when there are times that I oversleep, I know that my divine appointment time should take precedence over everything else. It’s built into my schedule.
Divine appointments set the tone for your day! I’ve talked to people in great physical shape; one thing they do without fail is hit the gym. They go to the gym daily at a scheduled time. It’s non-negotiable. That’s how our time with God should be. It may take making some adjustments to your present schedule, but it’s totally worth it.
Maintain Your Peace
As followers of Christ, our peace is found in Him. Don’t attempt to maintain peace by any other means because it will be short-lived. Once you have established a routine of spending time with God daily, there are three ways to maintain your peace:
1. Learn to say “No.”
Refrain from overextending yourself. I once read that “No” is a complete sentence. Yup! There is no need to go into detail about why you can’t do a particular thing. Others do not know your responsibilities and commitments, so don’t say yes to everything that is asked of you.
Prioritize your must-dos and protect your personal time by learning to say no. A lot of times we agree to things because we don’t hurt other people’s feelings or want to be nice. You can still be nice with a gentle “no.” Practice saying, “I’m sorry, I’m unable to do that at this time.”
2. Listen to Your Body
God has given us one body to serve Him on this side of heaven. It’s not good to ruin the only one you have.
Some aches and pains are due to age or injury, and some are due to doing too much! Aches and pains can be your body’s way of telling you to sit down and rest. Constant headaches and body aches could be a sign of stress. Maintain your physical health by being in tune with your body.
Get enough rest. Pulling all-nighters may work for a 20-year-old college student, but not for most of us “seasoned” folks.😂
3. Steer Clear of Negativity
It’s easy to get sucked into family squabbles, work gossip, and the social media cesspool of online arguing/debates. But I’m here to tell you, unlike the Nike slogan, just don’t do it!
When you feel like a discussion is going left, let it go left without your input! If you want to keep a calm and peaceful disposition, you’ve got to focus on the things that keep your mind calm and peaceful. Don’t let other people’s drama and negativity consume you.
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Romans 12:18, NKJV
Be the one who steers clear of situations and conversations that won’t grow you mentally or spiritually. Not only does negativity not grow you, but it’s also quite draining. Have you ever been around a negative person? By the time you leave their presence, you feel like your day has been ruined.
Meditate on the goodness of God and the things that are right in the world. Things that uplift. Things that encourage. Things that bring us closer to God. Most importantly, build a strong self-care foundation by spending time with God daily during a divine appointment time.😍
Until Next Time,
GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Sherrhonda 😍
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