Godly Self Care or Worldly Self Care?

When was the last time that you took a moment to pause? To breathe and pray in a moment of serenity. Do you define self-care as watching your favorite Netflix series, going on vacation, or reading a book? Today our self-care is all focused on our ‘self’. What about our godly self-care? I’m referring to self-care that truly nourishes our soul and brings genuine rest to our mind and body.

Subscribe to Jesus

Luke 6:12 speaks about how Jesus went up on a mountain to pray and talk to God and that he prayed all night. To me, that is a perfect example of godly self-care. If we attempt to escape from the world into worldly distractions, we will still carry our worldly struggles. The only thing that can overcome our worldly struggles is Jesus. And the amazing thing about Jesus is we do not pay a monthly subscription, we don’t have to travel somewhere, and we don’t have to spend any money! We only need to be willing to take a moment to pause and talk to him.

Worldly Distractions Quickly Dissipate

I used to have the habit of reading the Bible every day on my lunch break. The days that I did that I noticed such a difference in my mental health and my well-being. Slowly within the chaos, I got out of that habit. Instead, I would watch a show or TikTok as a distraction from work. As soon as that distraction is over and I return to work, I immediately reverted to feeling stressed in a bad mental state. Worldly distractions are brief and do not last. They quickly dissipate.

Your Family Can’t Lift Your Burdens

But, don’t be discouraged. The peace that you can get from Jesus does not go away! Reading in His word, you will be filled with more knowledge and peace than you ever knew possible. Read about the way you are supposed to live. The mindset you should keep and the peace that can be found in Jesus, the joy and hope. 1 Peter 5:7 says give all your worries and cares to him for he cares for you. It doesn’t say to give those worries and cares to your friend, your spouse, or your family members. They are not meant, nor designed, to carry the weight of your struggles. Sooner, or later, it will wear them down. In the end, you will still feel burdened because no one can lift that burden from you except Jesus.

We Were Never Designed That Way

If you ever noticed when you retell the story you relive those emotions. You can talk about a story and become upset again. But when you pray, it’s this divine connection that you can feel that heavy weight lifted off you. Truly letting it go, because Jesus tells us to cast our worries and cares on him. He does not tell us the cast our worries and cares on others. We were never designed that way and that’s why it does not work.

God is in Complete Control

In Mark 1:35 it says before daybreak the next morning Jesus got up and went to an isolated place to pray. It doesn’t say that he went to his disciples or his friends. He isolated himself and fervently prayed to God. Because he knew God is the one that’s in complete control. When you go to other people in place of God you are putting those people in control of your happiness. If they don’t respond the way that you expect or want them to you leave more broken than you came. In doing that, you’ve not surrendered fully and gave God complete control of your life. Matthew 22:37 says we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. 

Agape Love

If we love the Lord with everything in us, and every part of our being, would he not be the first person we turn to when we are hurting, stressed, or in pain? Why is it we want to turn to our earthly loves to cure our pain when we have an agape love that can truly give us the peace and relief we so desperately seek? Start practicing godly self-care. Stop burdening those around you with negativity and burdens because they too have heavy burdens. You never know how heavy of a burden someone else is carrying. After all, they may not share their burdens as you do, so don’t put that weight on them, because they were never meant to carry it. Give your burdens to God like he tells you to and you will feel so much more peace in your life for it.

Isolate and Pray

Next time you go to start placing your burden onto someone else instead isolate yourself and pray. Speak positively and make a conscious effort to not complain as complaining will only make you feel more down. God has done so much for you and you have many blessings to share. Don’t go your whole life to look back and realize you spent most of it complaining. Seeing all of those wasted moments you could have been speaking of your blessings and spreading the joy and glory of God.

Practice Godly Self-Care

Get yourself out of the way and practice godly self-care instead. Instead of watching that show that you shouldn’t be watching find a Christian show to watch. Rather than reading that book that isn’t going to benefit you, read a passage or a chapter out of your Bible. Find a good devotional to read daily and meditate on the word. Make notes on how it speaks to you.

God is the Creator

Get involved with your church. Attend the small groups that they have. Find a Bible study to do. There are numerous ways that you can unburden yourself without burdening those around you. If you go through life without peace it’s because you’re not living your life how God tells you to. God is the creator and if we live outside of how he designed us to live how would we ever find peace?

Don’t Live in a way you were never designed to.

For example, you wouldn’t use scissors to cut your grass, you would use a lawnmower. You could cut your grass using scissors, but it would be difficult and tiring. That’s because scissors are not designed to cut grass as the lawnmower is. When things are used outside what they were designed it often causes chaos or simply doesn’t work. Even if it might work for a moment, in the end it is considerably harder because you have used something that it wasn’t created for. Therefore, do not live your life in a way that you were not created for.

Handbook for life: A.K.A. Holy Bible

The Bible is a handbook on how to live your life. The more that you read it, the more you will see how we were designed and created. There’s a reason God calls us to live a certain way and it’s because his way is the only way. Only his way brings about peace. Our way brings about destruction. Trust in God and God alone.

Give God Praise First

Always remember to give God the praise first. When we pray, praise should always be first, not our wants, or our complaints, because the fact that you woke up today is a reason for praise because many didn’t. The fact that you have a job today is a reason for praise because many don’t. There are many small things that we take for granted. Remember, while you may envy someone else’s life, they could envy yours.

If God can’t trust you with the small blessings how can he trust you with the big ones?

Let God carry you.

Never lose sight of keeping him first and you can never go wrong. Practice your godly self-care every day. Even if you know you are going to have a busy packed day, set aside at least five minutes to step away to pray, or read a daily Bible verse. You would be surprised at how many times I see a daily Bible verse on my phone that directly relates to what I’m going through at that moment and how it gives me the strength to carry on.

God will NEVER forsake you.

God is always here. He will always be here. Do not fear for he will never leave nor forsake you. He’s the one person that you can always count on. There should be extreme comfort in that. I pray this helps you realize how important godly self-care is as much as it did me. When I research verses and brainstorm for a Blog I’m writing, it speaks to me as much as I hope it resonates with someone else. Godly self-care is an area we can all improve in.

I hope you enjoyed my take on this topic. I’d love to hear how you practice godly self-care and your tips in the comments below!