Lately, my family has been going through storm after storm, yet I show up and do the work with a positive attitude. It’s not that I don’t care about the situation or that it’s easy for me. It’s because I know that even in the storm, God is with me, because He said He will never leave nor forsake me. I also understand that if I’m in this situation, then I can handle it. God could be trying to teach me something about me, because He doesn’t give us more than we can bear. However, I wouldn’t know these truths unless I was feeding my spirit through reading the Word.
Reading the Word is the beginning of self-care.
Are we taking care of ourselves?
Are we reading the Word of God?
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” — Matthew 4:3–5
We are tripartite beings. We have a body, a spirit, and we possess a soul. This soul includes our mind, heart (feelings and emotions), desires (dreams and goals), memories, and will.
We feed our bodies with physical food daily, hopefully healthy foods to sustain it. We also nourish our minds and emotions through various activities, including reading books, attending school, working, going to therapy, and doing coaching.
How do we feed our spirit?
The Word of God is living and goes directly to our spirit, even when we do not understand it.
“For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” — Hebrews 4:12
However, reading the Word once or haphazardly will not produce the desired effect. It has to become a habit. According to James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, a habit is a routine or behavior that is small, easy to do, and can be repeated to produce incremental positive outcomes over time.
When we develop a habit of reading the Word, we may begin with a verse. It enters our spirit and begins to transform our beliefs – the ideas we accept as truths. Our beliefs are not necessarily factual but may be influenced by how our minds are conditioned — by how we were raised, the culture, and our understanding of society. If we haven’t experienced other cultures or different ideas, we will assume everyone processes information the same way we do.
Habitually reading the Word transforms our hearts—affecting how we think, and ultimately, how we act.
In a perfect world, this could happen easily and quickly. But most of us do not live in a perfect world. We may be the only ones in our household trying to read the Word. We may live in a culture that demeans the Word.
How do we keep our focus?
Where does our help come from?
We ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to help us and allow Him to.
The Holy Spirit not only helps us understand where we are but helps us do what the Word says.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” — James 1:22
We learn through practice. Understand that we may not get it right the first time, or the second, or even the tenth. But if we do not give up, eventually we will do what the Word says. God is not looking for perfection but for progress.
It is also important not to grieve the Holy Spirit by getting rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. We do this by being kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave us.
Even then, we may mess up because we are human. If we do, we can boldly go to our Father in heaven and ask for forgiveness.
After we have developed the habit of reading the Word, we grow in it—reading several verses or chapters at a time. At this point, we begin to grow in our mind, our desires and even our will may begin to change. We may find ourselves wanting things we didn’t normally want. We begin to change in every area of our lives (not all at once) – spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relational, recreational, and financial. God has changed our souls to align His plan for our lives. However, there is always room for improvement. Therefore, we always seek to and continue to grow.
Is it well with our souls?
Now, when life hits, we can draw on what we know from the Word so our souls are not tossed back and forth (double-minded) because of how we feel. We can stand on the Word even when things in the physical world go against what we know. Let us get into the habit of feeding on the Word of God that changes hearts and minds.
And when we change, the people around us begin to change. So let’s begin changing our world for the better—by reading, doing and growing in the Word.
With grace and growth,
Sanchia and team.
Audio version
We can access the audio version here.