Self-reflection
is a healthy practice. Take an inventory of your body, spirit and soul - your thoughts, choices and emotions. Are you experiencing any negative pain in any
of these areas?
These
negative issues are red flags trying to alert us that something is wrong. God
knows the root cause and will gladly help us to identify and resolve them if we
go to Him, ask Him for wisdom and then wait on His answer.
This
practice also helps us to identify and manage possible triggers for conflict,
which we can now avoid since God gave us understanding. This allows us to
function in God's Spirit and to avoid the carnal thoughts, feelings and choices
we would otherwise make.
Our soul may
be reacting out of memories from our past, rather than current issues, or the
events of the moment may remind us of some incident from our past. This causes
us to react more intensely due to unresolved conflicts buried in our
subconscious mind.
When we
identify unresolved conflicts within our soul, it enables us to control our
reactions to current struggles. We can even change our focus about a matter in
order to reduce our negative feelings.
Overwhelming
issues usually cause us to fight, run away or shut down in order to survive the
current events. Managing our reactions helps us to cope more successfully with
conflict in our relationships.
God
willingly enables us to find healing from past issues and to meld with our
family and friends in healthy interactions. He desires for us to live in health
in body, spirit and soul.
Prayer:
Father God,
help us not to cover up our emotions and the thoughts that accompany them, but
to face them head on and bring them to You. We need You to help us to find clarity
on their cause and ways to heal them prior to them causing any relational discord
in the present. Remind us that it is okay to feel vulnerable and to put down
our pride and independence in order to kindly express how we are feeling to
other people.
Enable us to
identify the emotions fueling our anger, irritability, resentment, depression,
anxiety, etc. Disappointment, abandonment, deprivation, fear, etc. all drive
our intense emotions that cause conflict. Give us the courage to express our
feelings and thoughts in a kind and gentle manner in order to gain the help of
our family and friends to settle them.
Thought for
the Day:
Processing
our emotions and thoughts, explaining to loved ones how we feel and enlisting
their help in resolving our issues can help to avoid conflict in our
relationships.
