God’s Word admonishes us to love others as we love our self (Matthew 22:36-40). One action that is hard for most humans to accomplish is to take care of our body, soul, and spirit. Patience with our self and others is usually a painstaking effort. We lack compassion for the weaknesses in our self and others.
It is easier for us to blame, feel guilt, and judge – even though the basis for this behavior is colored by the example of adults in our life and by our own frustration level. We often feel abandoned and betrayed, which causes us to wrestle with a negative attitude and emotions. These also affect the health of our spirit and body (3 John 1:2).
Our thoughts and attitude affect our overall health. Stress is a killer, and depression also negatively impacts our health. Many of our health issues are caused by a leaky “gut” that is compromised by chemicals in garden fertilizers, and food additives, and preservatives as well as medication prescribed by our doctors.
A great way to improve our life is to rejoice evermore (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), and to eliminate toxic chemicals from entering our body through our nose, mouth, and skin. Having compassion on our self and those God gave us to cherish is a great healer. Encouragment, gratitude, and empathy go a long way in healing our self and others.
The proper amount of sleep decreases stress; encourages physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual restoration; and improves our overall health and attitude. Reducing busyness in our schedule, making time to play and have fun, and including Bible reading and prayer in our daily agenda will also improve our health.
Keeping a daily post in a journal helps us to empty our soul of pent-up emotions as well as enables us to see what is really bothering our soul. This allows us to release negative emotions, record positive emotions and events, as well as write our prayers and praises to our Daddy God. We can also record our food intake and isolate possible allergies to certain foods and chemical additives if we are so inclined.
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for teaching us to live in Your peace and joy rather than to be overcome by negative issues. Remind us that sleep and a lack of anxiety decreases our stress and encourages physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health and attitude. Teach us to manage the busyness of our schedule by prioritizing according to Your will for each moment of our day. Help us to think of ways to make time to play, have fun, grow into spiritual maturity, and pray without ceasing as we go about the duties of our day.
Remind us of easy ways to include exercise in our day. Teach us the importance of planning meals so we can stop eating 3 hours before bedtime, to use “blue blockers” with our evening computer usage, not to stare at our digital clock throughout the night, but to allow our mind to “chill,” to use natural sleep aids if necessary, and to sing praises in our heart to You as we fall asleep. We want to live for Your glory now and forevermore; therefore, eating whole foods, insuring good hygiene, and encouraging restorative sleep can really help us to enjoy more energy during the day.
Thoughts for the Day:
Reducing stress in this modern day and time is close to unmanageable, but not impossible. Inflammation is one of the chief causes of pain in our body. We can decrease inflammation by increasing our hydration with filtered water, organic fruits and vegetables, organic teas, and soups of all kinds. Our cortisol level is also very important, which is decreased by chronic stress in our life, so reducing stress is vital to our health. Focusing on ways to relax will not only improve our health, but will allow us to enjoy more time to rest in the Lord. This improves the proper functioning of our immune system and increases our health in body, soul, and spirit.
