Balance in the Christian life
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
One of the things most ignored in our spiritual lives is the need to continually work on balance between the physical and spiritual areas of our lives. Unlike any other creature we have been created to be both spiritual and physical. That means that Satan has the opportunity to work on us in both areas. There are physical things that can keep us from doing what we need to do spiritually; things like physical illnesses, depressions, and over burdens. But it is also true that we can have spiritual overkill which can be just as hazardous to us as physically not staying in balance because we close off our minds to problems that we cannot spiritually deal with. One of the first areas that we need to realize needs to be in balance is in the way we think of the physical being combined with the spiritual. I need to make a statement here that will take me some time in this blog to unpack for you. That statement is: disease is not a spiritual problem. Being over burdened with problems of this world is not a spiritual problem. Our views and reactions to ourselves and how we look at our worth physically is not a spiritual problem.
All of these things deal with balance in our lives. Balance is not achieved in an over kill mentality. We cannot look at this life as being all of one thing and none of the other. A balanced life is a life that includes all things in it in a balanced way. The pleasures of this life and the things that make us happy are as much a part of maintaining your health and balance as the list of things that you avoid. What makes you happy about yourself and allows you to love our becomes as important as the dedication to God's will for your life. It is important to realize that each day we rise we need to look at our balance for that day because it is a part of the maintenance of balance that keeps us close to God.
This all starts with attitudes: "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME". This is a freeze that we hear often, but what does that mean to you? Does it mean that you should do all things by yourself because you are invincible? Does it mean that you should wait for God to tell you what it is that he once from you? Do you think that there are always others who are ordained to do a part of the work that God has given you to do? This all speaks to for our attitude is "the true meaning of balance really is to us. Our lives are ruled by the idea that we must achieve the best of everything in order to be happy. We must be first in all competitions with others. We must have the best of clothes and the best of transportation and be somewhat in feed by others. Those are the temporary things that draw us into a false sense of achievement. Balance is achieved by having an equal measure of several things in our life. There are four main areas that are part of that balance; physical, mental, spiritual, and social. If we cannot become balanced in these areas equally we cannot become happy as people or successful as Christians and children of God.
We need to realize that physical happiness is so much more than having or possessing things. Can you answer these three questions for me? What is your most precious possession? What would you be willing to trade for it? In the last is why would you be willing to trade anything for it? Mental health is so important because of our need for control of life as we live here, but is it everything to our success in that life? What is it that controls our mental health? Do we compare ourselves to others? Is our mental state directly associated with our ability to have a relationship with God? The spiritual happiness affect mental health? Why? Spiritual truth in our worship of God is the driving force behind the complete relationship with God. How can we best achieve spiritual truth no matter where worship? Can we do this by going along with all of the other doctrines that we here in trying to obey the spiritual guidelines of the denomination we belong to? Or do we do this by study and discussion of the basic truths in God's word about who we are, and about what God has asked of us? Do we do this by thinking of ourselves on issues of great importance to our salvation? Ask yourself why?
Finally when we talk about social balance realize that it gives us the ability to get along well in group settings, however when does this become an issue in our relationship to God? If we are socially adjusted and accepted, does that mean that we are accepted by our heavenly father? You see the idea of playing well with others has always been stressed, but is there a point when it becomes a determined for us to just go along with the crowd? What was the relationship that Christ had with the church community? Which becomes the most important, following the rules and regulations of the church as we go or is it the example of Christ when we deal with everyday life situations? You see the believer of this generation will be forced to give an account for what they believe and why they believe it. We live in the last days before Christ's return. When we are confronted with what we believe and why we are ready to believe it can we give an answer? Do we spit out the information that we have been taught without checking it out to see if it's true or not? What part of our relationship with God is dependent upon our knowledge of the truth about who we are and why we were created? Can we afford to continue to just go through the motions of being a child of God without really understanding why we are? Well you can see that concerning balance there are plenty of questions to be answered. We could take a month just going through the questions that I have asked you today, or you can take the time to answer these questions for yourself and you'll probably find it to be a life-changing experience. Let me know what you think. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
One of the things most ignored in our spiritual lives is the need to continually work on balance between the physical and spiritual areas of our lives. Unlike any other creature we have been created to be both spiritual and physical. That means that Satan has the opportunity to work on us in both areas. There are physical things that can keep us from doing what we need to do spiritually; things like physical illnesses, depressions, and over burdens. But it is also true that we can have spiritual overkill which can be just as hazardous to us as physically not staying in balance because we close off our minds to problems that we cannot spiritually deal with. One of the first areas that we need to realize needs to be in balance is in the way we think of the physical being combined with the spiritual. I need to make a statement here that will take me some time in this blog to unpack for you. That statement is: disease is not a spiritual problem. Being over burdened with problems of this world is not a spiritual problem. Our views and reactions to ourselves and how we look at our worth physically is not a spiritual problem.
All of these things deal with balance in our lives. Balance is not achieved in an over kill mentality. We cannot look at this life as being all of one thing and none of the other. A balanced life is a life that includes all things in it in a balanced way. The pleasures of this life and the things that make us happy are as much a part of maintaining your health and balance as the list of things that you avoid. What makes you happy about yourself and allows you to love our becomes as important as the dedication to God's will for your life. It is important to realize that each day we rise we need to look at our balance for that day because it is a part of the maintenance of balance that keeps us close to God.
This all starts with attitudes: "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME". This is a freeze that we hear often, but what does that mean to you? Does it mean that you should do all things by yourself because you are invincible? Does it mean that you should wait for God to tell you what it is that he once from you? Do you think that there are always others who are ordained to do a part of the work that God has given you to do? This all speaks to for our attitude is "the true meaning of balance really is to us. Our lives are ruled by the idea that we must achieve the best of everything in order to be happy. We must be first in all competitions with others. We must have the best of clothes and the best of transportation and be somewhat in feed by others. Those are the temporary things that draw us into a false sense of achievement. Balance is achieved by having an equal measure of several things in our life. There are four main areas that are part of that balance; physical, mental, spiritual, and social. If we cannot become balanced in these areas equally we cannot become happy as people or successful as Christians and children of God.
We need to realize that physical happiness is so much more than having or possessing things. Can you answer these three questions for me? What is your most precious possession? What would you be willing to trade for it? In the last is why would you be willing to trade anything for it? Mental health is so important because of our need for control of life as we live here, but is it everything to our success in that life? What is it that controls our mental health? Do we compare ourselves to others? Is our mental state directly associated with our ability to have a relationship with God? The spiritual happiness affect mental health? Why? Spiritual truth in our worship of God is the driving force behind the complete relationship with God. How can we best achieve spiritual truth no matter where worship? Can we do this by going along with all of the other doctrines that we here in trying to obey the spiritual guidelines of the denomination we belong to? Or do we do this by study and discussion of the basic truths in God's word about who we are, and about what God has asked of us? Do we do this by thinking of ourselves on issues of great importance to our salvation? Ask yourself why?
Finally when we talk about social balance realize that it gives us the ability to get along well in group settings, however when does this become an issue in our relationship to God? If we are socially adjusted and accepted, does that mean that we are accepted by our heavenly father? You see the idea of playing well with others has always been stressed, but is there a point when it becomes a determined for us to just go along with the crowd? What was the relationship that Christ had with the church community? Which becomes the most important, following the rules and regulations of the church as we go or is it the example of Christ when we deal with everyday life situations? You see the believer of this generation will be forced to give an account for what they believe and why they believe it. We live in the last days before Christ's return. When we are confronted with what we believe and why we are ready to believe it can we give an answer? Do we spit out the information that we have been taught without checking it out to see if it's true or not? What part of our relationship with God is dependent upon our knowledge of the truth about who we are and why we were created? Can we afford to continue to just go through the motions of being a child of God without really understanding why we are? Well you can see that concerning balance there are plenty of questions to be answered. We could take a month just going through the questions that I have asked you today, or you can take the time to answer these questions for yourself and you'll probably find it to be a life-changing experience. Let me know what you think. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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