11/08/2013

Self-care in the Bible

The last several Fridays, I have continued the topic of Self-care. Today, as a Christian life coach, I address self-care from a Biblical angle. Let's think about what Jesus did in the Bible.

While Jesus did spent a lot of time with his disciples and in teaching. He also had time everyday alone where he spend in prayer (Mk 1:35, 14:23, Lk 5:16, 6:12,13, 9:28,  Mt 14:32, etc). He modeled what it means to have an intimate relationship with Jesus and he modeled the principle in Psalm 46:10 (NIV) which says, “Be still, and know that I am God."

Another concept to realize is that our bodies are important:

1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 (ESV) asks "do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. " We need to take care of our bodies.

Finally, a key principle from a Biblical perspective is in regards to the Sabbath, a day of rest for the Christian. The Christian is called to keep this day of rest, holy (Ex. 16:23, Is. 58:13, etc).
Is this still true for in the New Testament?

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11)
Does it have to be Sunday? Not necessarily. John Piper puts it this way (2013):

"Now I think that the principle in the New Testament (Rom. 14 particularly) is that God ordains that one day in seven be restful. I think that's a creation ordinance for our good, for our health."
The key is on the importance of rest, God even had a day of rest after Creation, we too need to rest in order to be our best the rest of the week!

References:
Piper, J. (2013). What does it mean practically to keep the Sabbath Holy?
Retrieved from http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/ask-pastor-john/what-does-it-mean-practically-to-keep-the-sabbath-holy

11/06/2013

Wednesday Link List


Here are this weeks' links:


1. 10 Way to Build and Preserve Better Boundaries  by Psych Central

2. How cutting sugar and carbs reverses aging by Wellness Achiever

3. High blood sugar levels linked to memory loss by Web MD

4. Study: Frequent Texters Are Stressed Out and Don’t Sleep Well by Relevant Magazine 

5. How Loneliness can affect your diet and your health by Huffington Post


Keep up with all things "Fully Alive Life Coaching," with my daily paper that features over 200 contributors but most importantly my feeds on Twitter, Youtube and Facebook. Here is the link: http://paper.li/f-1381598529

11/04/2013

Why men should see a coach

Men are a different breed from woman. This is not a new insight. God created women to have a 
great sense (and a better touch) with their emotions.
Women have better verbal and language skills, they
 tend to be more sensitive and offer more empathy
than men. Honestly, women simply have more
developed brain in a lot of ways. In general, men and
women compliment each other, each have a different
set of superior skills.

With this vast difference in gifts and skills, men often are turned off by the idea of seeing a "shrink" or counselor. Men often are not excited about the opportunity to share some of their deepest feelings, hurts and pains. This is also not surprising, although as a life coach and counselor,  some of the most gratifying work I done is with men. 

Often though it is coaching that is a comfortable fit for men. It’s less talking about feelings and more tools and strategies. So, in that regard, men will often consider coaching as an option when counseling isn't really going to be their gig. This can be a life changing and helpful opportunity of gain and growth!

I always tell my guys, I don’t really care about their childhood or their past relationships. I am primarily concerned with their present, and their future. Men want tools. I can help them get solid relationship tools on board. It’s a straight to the point, no messing around process. So men, do not fear coaching. A coach can offer you accountability and a better life!