5 SUGGESTIONS FOR SPIRITUAL HEALTH

      Recently, I purchased a cheap version if "FitBit" to track my steps, and I'm changing my eating habits so that I can be physically fit. Like many others, I strive to be financially and emotionally fit, and I try to keep my mind sharp and my relationships "healthy." In short, it is important for me to be
fit... but nothing is more important than a healthy spirit! Nothing is more important than spiritual health because a healthy spirit enables us to feel the joy, peace, and hope that comes from being at one with our God and with our fellows. Spiritual sickness separates us from God, others, and our own best self... even as it leaves us vulnerable to any number of sins and temptations. There is nothing more important than spiritual health, and I confess that spiritual fitness has been a struggle for me.
Before I accepted Christ, it was impossible altogether because I was spiritually bankrupt... and with grateful praise, I can now report that spiritual fitness comes much easier for me. However, I've learned to stay alert... because old habits and the tempting voices of this world are just around the corner.  Over the years, it has become easier for me to "let go" and "trust" in God... but I've had my share of "ups and downs." Therefore, I would like to share some of the things that I have learned through personal experience. If spiritual health is important to you, consider these suggestions:

1.   WORK AT BEING SPIRITUALLY FIT! Pray frequently... study Scripture continually... and join a community of faith! Pray frequently. Pray before meals, pray upon rising in the morning and upon retiring at night, pray as you drive around town, pray with your family. Pray. It will center you and open your spirit to God's voice. Read God's word! Get some help... join a class... listen to others... and if you've read it a hundred times, read it again... and listen to it speak to you. Join a Bible believing church and get involved in God's work! Visit the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, actually DO what Christ did and you will grow. Spiritual health is NOT automatic, and lack of exercise may kill you;

2.   GET REAL! Quit worrying about what others may be thinking. Ask questions. Admit mistakes and don't tell others only what you think they want to hear. Don't be one person in one group and an entirely different person in another group. Give up your tendency to please people... and get rid of all of the masks that you have routinely used to manipulate others and protect yourself. Remember this great truth: you- as you are- with warts and all- are the person Christ died to save... and you are- even now with your secrets and fears- are the person whom Christ is calling! Phoniness will make it impossible to grow spiritually;

3.   LIVE IN THE NOW. Get out of your time-trap. The past is dead... and after you have learned a lesson or two from it, it must be buried! Quit wrestling with it. Quit dragging it around. No one can fully live in the present when they are carrying the past of their backs. Likewise, the future is God's time. It is not ours! Nothing- not a single thing- has ever been done in the future. It has always been done in the now. Learn the truth of this. It is Biblical and it is liberating. The present is a "present: from God- a "present: we call life. Live it... and get rid of that "if and when" notion that you will be happy "if and when" something happens someday;

4.   DON'T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS... OR EXPECT THEM TO MAKE YOU "WHOLE"  As I've taken my spiritual inventory over the years, it has become clear... that I am much sicker when I am comparing myself to others! Whether it's a matter of not getting as many "breaks" as others seem to get, or not being as serene as someone else seems to be... comparisons always bring me down spiritually. When I compare myself to others, I always lose... because I will either feel superior or inferior to the other person. Both of these feelings separate me from others and fan a sense of pride or resentment... both of which are spiritual cancers! You cannot be happy if you are comparing yourself to others... or relying on them to make you "whole" because only Christ can do that;

5.   DO WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET RID OF RESENTMENTS AND "SECRET SINS." Spiritual health requires spiritual exercise and discipline...and righteous living! We cannot deliberately sin and expect to grow spiritually. Unconfessed "secrets" and "unrepented sin" make spiritual health impossible... because righteousness is part of the armor of God. No one is without sin or secrets... but... in Christ... we are new creations! Thus, the sins that used to have their way with us... are dead (with our old nature). This is a great blessing. So... claim it... and bury your sins along with your former self. Let them die... and rid yourself entirely of resentments! Begin each day with a gratitude list and end each day with spiritual inventory... and if you see the slightest sign of resentment... get it out of your life.. because spiritual health is rooted in surrender and forgiveness.

      Well, libraries are filled with books on this topic, but I have found that the preceding steps- prayer, study, service, integrity, a fearless, daily spiritual inventory... and a commitment to focus on the "log in my own eye"... have been helpful to me. Amen.