November 19th follow-up

Philippians 4
“How to improve our spiritual health”

I’m sure most of us are aware of how our society has put a greater emphasis on improving one’s physical health through diet and exercise. Why is that? Because we have come to learn and accept that unhealthy diets and lack of exercise tend to lead to health issues later in life. So we will sacrifice foods we love to eat and will make time to exercise to improve our overall health. If we are willing to do this for our physical health, how much more should we invest in our spiritual health?

Just as there are things that can affect our physical health, there are things that can affect our spiritual health. We looked at 4 things that can affect our spiritual health. Problems with another believer, worry/anxiousness, our thought life, and contentment or lack of.

If we allow issues with another believer go unresolved it will hurt us. What do we do? Go to that brother and sister to seek to work out whatever the issue is. If you need others to help you with that, do so. The worst thing we can do is to let issues fester. Working out our issues will not only allow healing to take place but will result in spiritual growth.

When we find ourselves worrying about something. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Paul says don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything pray. Don’t let prayer be your last resort, let it be your first response. Prayer gets our focus off of our circumstances and unto Jesus. When we get our focus on Jesus, we are reminded of who it is that we serve. When we do that, then we will experience the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

Someone said yesterday that the mind is the battlefield. Our spiritual health is directly impacted by our thought life. We can either dwell on the things of this world or the things of God. Dwelling on the things of God doesn’t happen naturally. It’s a choice we have to make each day. But when we do dwell on the things of God, oh how differently we view life.

Lastly, contentment. Contentment was something Paul had to learn. Paul learned the secret to being content. What was the secret? We can do all things through Jesus who strengthens us. If you battle with not being content, just know that victory comes through Jesus.

As you go forth this week, if you have a problem with another believer, go to them and seek to work things out. If you are struggling with worry, go to prayer. Get your focus off your circumstances and unto God. If you are struggling with your thought life, spend more time in the word of God and less time on the news and social media 😊. If you struggle with contentment, ask God to help put your life in perspective. When you think you are lacking something, remember all that you have in Jesus, what awaits you in the future.