Universal Life Church Monastery of Massachusetts: March 2016

Thursday, March 31, 2016

HEALTH: Don't Worry

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Worried sick”? Worry is a type of stress that has negative affects on our minds and bodies, and can in fact, make us sick. Worry robs people of peace and joy. It is a bondage that holds them in darkness and not only affects them, but those around them.

Jesus told his disciples not to worry. He asks them, “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. (Matthew 6:27-29 NLT)

A lot of time can be wasted worrying and nothing much gets accomplished. If you continue to worry, you are not trusting God. Take your problems to God in prayer and ask him to help you be at peace and give you possible solutions.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

LIFE: Get inspired.

As creatures of habit, we can get trapped in a “think/belief rut” as I like to call it. What this means is that we can get in the habit of allowing negative thinking to dominate us and as a result, we sink lower and lower into disappointment and frustration.

One way to replace the negative with positive is to read and/or listen to encouraging literature. Our nation has multitudes of self-help, inspirational, and motivational books, videos, and audios so finding resources is easy. I assure you that listening to positive information over and over can help you change your thinking from negative to positive and give you hope. I like to find a variety of inspiring quotes, print them out, post them around my house, and memorize them. This helps me to redefine my mind and not allow negativity to camp out.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

HEALTH: Depression

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 9% of Americans are currently diagnosed as clinically depressed. That is over 20 million people who are having a hard time functioning daily because they are so depressed.

Though there are many effective treatments available for those suffering from depression, there is one treatment that I believe is overlooked: God’s word.

God tells us that we are to base our life on the truth of his word, not our feelings. (Philippians 4:1) He also tells us to consider it all joy when we find ourselves in trials. (James 1:2) Trust what God says and not your feelings. Ask God to help you get to the underlying cause of your depression and ask for solutions. Perhaps you are not seeing your life from God’s perspective or are consumed by self and not God’s will for your life. Fight the good fight of faith and don’t allow depression to control you.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

LIFE: Make a gratitude list

I’ve heard that what we focus on, we empower and enlarge so if we find ourselves being negative, we actually invite more things in our lives that will attract negative thoughts and feelings. Negativity tends to distort our reality and oftentimes we find ourselves thinking irrationally. I mean, really, how many times have we told ourselves, “This is so terrible and I can’t handle it!” but in reality, we could and did handle it and it wasn’t “so bad” after all”.

Reality tells us that life isn’t normally quite as terrible as we think. To become more positive, I encourage you to sit down and make a gratitude list. List the things you are grateful for in your life whether it be attributes, people, relationships, material things, etc. Everyone has at least one thing to be grateful for. Making a gratitude list and looking at it frequently will help you to focus on the positive things in your life.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

HEALTH: Success

God wants us to be successful spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Our bodies are God’s temple and it is important for us to take care of our bodies. We find in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in us, and we are therefore to honor God with our bodies.
How do we do that? By first, finding out what God requires of us regarding physical health. God’s word is a roadmap to health and if we want optimal health, it is important to read and follow God’s instructions. God is willing to help us honor him with our physical body. All we need to do is ask and put forth effort at following his guidelines for optimal health and happiness.