Read:
To acquire wisdom is to love oneself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.”
~Proverbs 19:8
Consider:
We live in a world of conflicting advice when it comes to loving ourselves. Blog after blog tells you to take time for yourself. Get away. Go to a spa. Buy a gym membership. Be selfish. Eat that piece of cake, in fact, go ahead and eat that whole cake if you want to. Do this or do that and you won’t tire of being a wife, a mommy or of any of life’s responsibilities for that matter.
The truth is while none of these suggestions are bad (in fact some of them sound like great ideas to me!), they are not the kind of “loving yourself” that are going to mold you into the woman who God created you to be. They’re all momentary pleasures trying to fulfill an eternal need, trying to do the job that only our Creator can do…and none of them are going to do the trick.
As woman we are sometimes guilty of putting others first to a fault. We often neglect ourselves to the point of unhealthy exhaustion or sickness and maybe that is why there are so many people out there in the world trying to sell us on dropping everything to love ourselves more.
The crazy thing is, they are right. We do need to start loving ourselves… just not the way the world is telling us to. What we need to start doing is taking the time to love ourselves in the way that scripture tells us. And the good news is, it’s actually simple.
Proverbs 19:8 tell us, “Acquiring wisdom is loving oneself.”
We need to be woman in the Word. We need to be wives and mothers and friends and co-workers that pray. Make it a priority. Find accountability and be intentional, because you are worth it.
You will never regret the time you spend with God. If there is anything that we, as women, are allowed to take time for, it’s time spent in our Bibles acquiring the wisdom within.
When we find that healthy balance in our lives everything else seems to fall into place, as it should. When we schedule time for God first, our schedules don’t seem so unbearable. When we give Him our worries, life’s stresses tend to fade. When we love ourselves enough to live lives that reflect that Jesus really is all we need, we’ll find ourselves overflowing with exactly what we need for each day.
Breathe:
Breathe in His love for you…exhale all of life’s pressures…
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Pray:
God, you are really all we need. Forgive me when I think that anything else can give me peace or happiness in my life. Let me be a woman who seeks you first everyday.
Today’s post was written by Amanda Sanders.
