God
admonishes us in His Word to live as instruments for righteousness, a living
sacrifice as one brought from spiritual death to life (Romans 6:13). He calls
us to live as a witness to others as an unreproachable Believer (Titus 1:5-16;
1 Timothy 3:1-13).
As
new Believers, we think that taking care of others is more important than
caring for our self. God's Word teaches us that we are to love others in the
same manner that we love our self. If we do not care for our self, we will have
no energy to care for others.
The
more we neglect our self in order to care for others, the more drained we get
in body, soul and spirit. We fight constant exhaustion and fatigue. We give our
entire resources to others and leave none left over to care for our self.
This
may even lead to depression caused by the anger that we feel toward our self
for our neglect of our personal needs. It helps to get alone with God each day,
to recharge our battery and to hear from His Spirit, so we can stop walking
outside of His will for our life.
As
we assess our motives for what we do, we can change our choices, habits and
thought life to fit in with God's plans for as His living sacrifice (Ephesians
2:10; Philippians 4:8). Some areas of our lifestyle are actually vitally
important to prevent self-destruction.
We
need 7-9 hours of sleep each night to allow our body to heal and to gain energy
for the next day. If we have a sedentary job, we need to remember to keep
moving. We also need to feel the sun on our skin and the grass under our feed.
Reading
daily devotions from Biblical sources is paramount. If we are drowning in busyness,
we can slow down, destress, and take frequent breaks to relax. Eating
nutritious meals, drinks and snacks is also indispensably important in order to
keep us healthy with strength to work as the Lord directs us.
When
we care for our self, we get to know who we are, what we need, and what we want.
This enables us to develop good habits that meet our daily needs. Self-care also
allows us to daily deny our carnal nature and to submit to God's Spirit as He sanctifies
us (Romans 8:5-14).
Prayer:
Father
God, remind us that we are made in Your image, and we can follow the example to
rest that You gave to us (Genesis 2:2-3). Jesus showed us that we need times
without the interruption of crowds of people (Mark 6:31), as well as social
media or ringing telephones. We can even prop up our feet and rest a while
between chores and duties. Remind us to have compassion for our own foibles and
failings, as well as for other people, forgiving our self and others quickly.
Help
us to feel our feelings, and to talk or journal about them, rather than to bury
them in our subconscious mind or to ignore them. Teach us to make frequent
lists of the good qualities in our self, mate, children, family members, church
family, co-workers, etc. and to learn to appreciate our self and others. We
really appreciate You, and we want to serve You with our life, both now and
throughout eternity.
Thought
for the Day:
As
we celebrate our gratitude for all of God's blessings, we can spend time playing
with our pet, working on a craft, chatting with a friend, snuggling with our
mate and children, fellowshipping with our church family, playing an
instrument, attending Bible studies and doing our daily devotion times, tinkering
with the car, reading, counting our blessings, watching a game or movie or
listening to our music, etc.; this all will bring a smile to our face, put
joy in our heart, and make us ready to abide as a living sacrifice for our God.
