God has given me life and in return, I need to take care of myself solely for Him. What can I do to take care of myself? How can I be a good steward of my spirit, soul and body for God? These are a few questions that I ask myself on a regular basis.
Paul writes, "guard what has been entrusted to your care" (1Tim 6:20). Our entire being is entrusted into our care for God's use while we are here on earth. Should we not do our best to feed our spirit, soul and body with good things and guard ourselves from the evil of the this world: greed, gluttony, malicious talk, pettiness and the list goes on.
We must first take care of our spirits, that part of our being that allows us to connect with God. We must "fight the good fight of the faith." (1Tim 6:12) Praise God for what He has done for us. Pray to Him for what we need. Guard ourselves from the evil that is around us. Cover ourselves with His word everyday. I have learned so much from listening to my 5 year old pray to God. Just the other day on our drive home from school, she asked if we could pray for a friend at school who was at the doctor. Her ability to stop what she is doing and lift someone up to God is amazing. I want to be able to do this too!
Next we must take care of our souls (mind, will and emotions). We can do this by following what Paul wrote to the Philippians, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." (Phil. 4:8) Let's fill our minds with good things and align our will with the will of God. We must guard our hearts against negative emotions and allow the Holy Spirit to produce in us His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Finally, we must take care of our physical body. Let's get the sleep that we need and not burn the candle at both ends. Let's feed our bodies with healthy food and exercise. For me, taking care of my physical body is one of the hardest things for me to do. As a mom, I am always doing for everyone else and I tend to forget to take care of myself. I have been trying to do better at this. I am practicing saying "yes" to what God puts before me and "no" to what the world puts before me (which helps me be a better steward not only of myself but also my time).
If we want to take care of everything that God has entrusted to us; let's take care of ourselves. By taking care of ourselves, we will have the energy and motivation to do the work God puts before us and therefore, extend that care to others.
1 Spout:
Thank you, Jennifer, for this good reminder to be a wise steward of the life God has given us. Life truly is a gift, isn't it...a gift to be used for His glory and neither wasted nor taken for granted!
Jill :)
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