The essence of who you are (your spirit/soul) is directly connected to your values and beliefs. The choices you make have a profound impact on you. If your choices and behaviors are not in alignment with your values and beliefs, you will experience distress.
Identifying Values & Priorities
In order to live your life in keeping with your values, you must first know what it is that you value. Take the time to consider what really matters to you. It helps to make written list of the things you value. For example: faith, family, friends, honesty, financial security, career, travel, leisure, fun, spontaneity, creativity, independence, education, physical health, etc.
Once you’ve identified your values, it is important to prioritize them. Knowing your priorities will help you when its time to make tough decisions.
Think you already know your values? Try listing your values and then comparing that list with how you’ve actually been spending your time and money. If they don’t line up, you haven’t been living your life in keeping with your values. You may need to take a look at decisions you’ve made and how they might be steering you away from your values.
Decision Making
Our decisions tend to be more difficult when we are forced to choose between two or more of our personal values. It may feel like a “no win” situation but that is not quite true.
We may not like the choices we have, but we do have a choice and we can choose the option that best matches our values and priorities.
The key to being able to live with your decisions is to be sure that the choice you make honors your highest values.
When you make an informed decision based on your true values, you are more prepared to live with whatever may follow.
Choose carefully and be ready to accept the consequences of your decision.
While it is important to have solitude and time for yourself, it is equally important to have fellowship and time with other people. Too much isolation often causes us to spend too much time inside our head, worrying or ruminating about things, and causing ourselves distress. If you are feeling isolated, seek out opportunities to make good friends.
Not sure where to find people who might make good friends? Go out and do activities you enjoy doing and while you are out there, take a look around and see if there are others doing the same thing. You already have that activity in common and might have other things in common. Consider taking a fun class in your community and meet other people who are taking the same fun class! One of the best ways to meet people with whom you have something important in common is to participate in activities that are consistent with your values and/or faith. You might also consider volunteering someplace and connect with other volunteers with similar interests/values.
Like it or not, we are influenced by the people around us. That’s why it is so important to be selective when choosing your friends. If you choose friends who do not have the same values, they are likely to undermine your choices when the choices do not fit their values. If you choose friends who have similar values to you, they can encourage you to remain true to those values.
In addition to having friends, it helps to know what additional supports are available to you. Check on community resources, faith-based supports, clubs, organizations, and other supports. Even if you don’t feel that you currently need them, it helps to know that you have options — and you might be able to share the information with a friend in need.
About Spirituality
Your spirituality is an essential part of who you are. If that area is neglected, you will experience a void that cannot be filled in any other way. What you believe influences how you see yourself/others and how you deal with the challenges in this world. Please take the time to research and find real truth. Be discerning. Don’t be fooled with empty promises or by someone who simply tells you what you want to hear.
Choosing what you believe is literally the most important decision you will ever make.
If your spirit is broken, the best way to get it healed is to connect with the One who created it.
With God, all things are possible.
What the Holy Bible says about having a Strong SPIRIT
We are created with a need to know our creator. Lack of that relationship can result in feeling empty, lost, alone, and unequipped to deal with challenges. People often try to fill that void in a number of ways (e.g. substances, material possessions, activities) but that void is a spiritual void which can only be completely filled when we have a personal relationship with God.
When we sin, we feel it in our spirit. Even people who do not know God have sense of right and wrong because God has written His laws into everyone’s hearts. We know when we have sinned but our sinful nature tries to convince us that what we did was okay — even though we know in our innermost being that what we did was wrong.
When our walk is close with Jehovah God, we make decisions that are in keeping with His will. When faced with difficult choices, we can consider which option best fits biblical principles. We can also go before God in prayer and ask for His guidance. We can live with our decisions because we can know that we did what was right in the eyes of God and that He promises to bless our obedience.
Christians can face difficult challenges because we know that: God loves us, He will protect His own, whatever He allows He has a purpose in it, He can make something good come from anything, He will be with us so we don’t have to go through it alone, and we do not have to be afraid.
In addition to having a personal relationship with God, Christians are also encouraged to seek out Christian fellowship. Attending church and spending time with fellow believers can help to provide biblical guidance, encouragement, support, and accountability. The bible refers to Christians as parts of the body of Christ, each equipped for special purposes. If we do not engage in Christian fellowship it is like trying to function without all our parts.
If you have been deeply hurt by a particular church and are not able to return to it, look for a different one. Denominations are different and within a denomination, congregations are different. Seek out a church that can provide the biblically based teaching and fellowship that you need.
Keep in mind that not everyone who attends church is a Christian. Some are still seeking. Some are infants in their faith. Some think they are on the right path but are woefully mistaken. Some are genuinely trying to walk the walk and follow God’s commands but even so, everyone is on some part of a learning curve. Be discerning. Be patient. Try to see people through God’s eyes. And remember: people may let you down but God never will.
For more information on what the Holy Bible says about specific challenges, simply click on the topics listed on this website.