Happy Wednesday to you!
April is starting out quite beautifully. The sun is shining brightly, and there is not a cloud in the sky. Hooray for spring! Hopefully, the temperature will warm up in the upcoming weeks. Today's post is a continuation of our discussion on maintaining spiritual wellness. As previously said, it is not enough to desire spiritual wellness. We have to commit to the necessary work in order to sustain spiritual wellness. Last week, I focused on the topic of appreciating solitude. This week, I want to deal with the issue of alignment.
When you're ready to break a bad habit, you wouldn't hang around persons who continue that habit. For instance, if you're in recovery from drug use, you wouldn't [willingly] hang around people who are active drug users. The same should go for people who are envious or spiteful. If you are trying to live a life free of jealousy or hatred, you should not entertain persons who spew negativity. If you continue to align yourselves to negative thinkers and doers, your behavior will be negative. Consequently, you will never reach a place of sustained spiritual wellness.
The Bible mentions the importance of not only hearing God's word, but doing God's word. In other words, it is not enough to read, "Love your neighbor as yourself". You have to love your neighbor as yourself. It is not enough to read, "Forgive those who trespass against you". You have to actually forgive the people who wrong you. For those of us who desire to be obedient, sometimes, it is challenging to obey God's word. Unfortunately, we make it ten times harder on ourselves when we align with people who have no interest in doing God's word.
It is time to align ourselves with people who are truly committed to achieving spiritual wellness. It is time to hang around persons who forgive and harbor no grudges. It is time to listen to people who speak blessings over others and not curses. It is time to follow people who actively seek the best interests of others. It is time to fellowship with people who applaud the success of others instead of putting down the accomplishments of others. Our peace, our joy, our spiritual wellness is locked into our commitment to align with persons who aim to be spiritually whole.