2 Corinthians 7:1—”Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
We are in the midst of the school summer break. Oh! Holiday time! Time to break free of alarms and bells, time to let go off schedules, regimens, and the daily rush of our disciplined lives. In the bargain, life’s new busy twist may get us caught up in the neglect of our duties maybe due to time or other factors. The easy way out choice may cause us into a few neglects, a few bad habits and may lead us to bad health habits too, for example when our time constraints deter us from cooking, we order in some quick meal – a fried junk food instead of a warm home-cooked nutritious meal.
A similar route, the easy way, is what we may take in our spiritual habits as well. The bad habits may creep in this area of our life as well. After a long hot morning of errands, we may prefer to lie on the sofa in front of the tv with some cold milkshake, iced tea or coffee as comfort. The easy feel-good way than to open our Bible, God’s Word, that encourages us.
Then, we’d rather sleep in than get up and spend some time in prayer quiet time with God.
It is too hot to go outside so we opt to watch a service online than worship with our brothers and sisters in church.
Easy and quick isn’t always better for our physical or spiritual needs. Longer time and effort are important for our health and to build our strong faith.
We have a responsibility to care of ourselves spiritually because of Who resides inside: “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
Instead of focussing only on our looks let’s take sometime to focus on the inside. Let’s commit to a healthy spiritual diet to feed our spirits, to lighten our hearts, to nourish our souls and to fuel our walk with Christ.
I have read this “food for thought called D.I.E.T.” (online) on how to become a spiritually healthier you.
D — DISCIPLINE: 1 Chronicles 16:11 says, “Search for the LORD and for his strength; continually seek him”.
This means a daily dose of disciplined faith, which includes setting aside time every day to seek God through His Word and prayer.
I — INTENTIONAL: Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”.
A strong faith doesn’t happen on its own but needs to be intentionally pursued. I have to make a deliberate effort to put God first in my life.
E — EARNEST: Hebrews 11:6 says “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”.
Being earnest in our faith takes effort to the next level. We cannot read a passage of the Bible or listen to a sermon, and forgot the topic 10 minutes later. This means our mind and heart weren’t fully engaged. When we sit down to spend time with God in any form, we mist give Him our full attention with intentional and earnest faith.
T — TRUSTING: Psalm 9:10 says, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you”.
We must trust God in the good and bad times.
In our weakest times we may doubt God’s plans or purpose for the hard times. But we need to remove any doubt that has settled in our heart and choose to trust God.
Always remember that – you are a temple of God and the Holy spirit abides in you.
“Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?”-1 Corinthians 3:16 Let’s place Jesus at the center of it all.
