Divine Time ManagementSample

Loving Yourself With Your Time

To have the capacity to love others well, we need to take the time to love ourselves well. That requires not only physical self-care but also spiritual, emotional, and mental self-care. When we honor ourselves with our time, we have a greater capacity to display the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. When we don’t love ourselves with our time, exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit can feel like more of a struggle. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” ~Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)

Good self-care doesn’t have to require dramatic changes. It can involve forming a few simple habits and then staying attuned with your needs. 

For example with spiritual self-care, you can commit to Bible reading and prayer each day. I prefer to do my quiet time first thing in the morning, but you may find another time works better for you. And then stay aware of any extra time with God you might need. For example, when I’m going through something challenging, I sometimes take extra time to journal. 

With physical self-care, sleep, eating, and exercise are some of the main pillars of wellness. Having a consistent bedtime, eating foods that make you feel healthy, and taking some time for physical activity can make a world of difference with your wellness. To start, try something simple like setting a “get ready for bed” recurring alarm on your phone. Then aim to wind down at that time to get enough sleep. 

With emotional self-care, we need to take the time to be aware of what emotional burdens that we’re carrying so that we can give those to God on a regular basis.  

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” ~1 Peter 5:7 (NLT) 

For me, a lot of this emotional release happens during my morning prayer time. But sometimes, I have more things to work through, and I need to spend extra time in prayer later in the day or talk to a friend. 

Finally, with our mental self-care, we need to be conscious of what we allow into our minds and what we allow to stay there. 

As Romans 12:2 (NIV) explains we can’t have a passive approach when it comes to our thoughts: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” 

That means we need to refuse to accept lies and negative messages from the world and be focused on who God says we are in Christ. If any thoughts come into your mind making you feel like you are unworthy, unaccepted, unloved or not enough, you need to fight back with the truth from the Word that you are truly and complete loved! 

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” ~1 John 3:1a (NIV)

God loves you, and He wants you to love yourself. 

If you enjoyed this reading plan, you'll love Divine Time Management: The Joy of Trusting God's Loving Plans for You. 

Divine Time Management, the book, takes a deeper look into how you can take a God-centered approach to time management. Less stress and more blessings! 

Find out more about the book and discover additional resources at http://www.DivineTimeBook.com