NEGLECTED!

Neglect: n, to give too little care or attention to; to slight.

Often when we hear of neglect, it has to do with the care of children. This is a major problem not only in the USA, but in the world. In the USA we can gage the problem by our overwhelmed foster care system and child abuse cases that are reported or come to light. Another large area of neglect is our health. Health insurance does not insure that you will not neglect your health. Eating right, exercising, getting enough rest, eliminating as much stress from your life as possible has nothing to do with whether you have health insurance or not. These are the two most common forms of neglect we hear about and are often addressed by the media in some form or fashion.

Personally I’ve been on both spectrums of neglect. I’ve been neglected and I’ve also been neglectful. The neglect that I have incurred in my life was not my fault and nor did I have any control over it at the time, but I take full responsibility for the times I’ve been neglectful of me. Today I want us to take a look at a major source of neglect that might be in our lives and what we can do to turn that around.

Most often we look at neglect in the physical, emotional or natural state of being. And we don’t talk a lot about our spiritual neglect. Yet this is a huge problem for Believers, and especially for women. Why women? Because we are always busy. And busy has a way of running wild just as weeds in a garden. Anything that is neglected long enough will have tell-tale-signs of the neglect. If you do not weed your garden your plants or flowers will begin to die and the weeds become the prominent thing you see. If the outside of your house is not painted after a certain amount of years, the paint will start to chip and you lose your curb appeal. If you don’t dust or mop a floor for weeks you begin to see the dirt. If we don’t bathe, we have an unpleasant body odor. After awhile neglect always becomes evident, it is something that can only be kept a secret but for so long. It is the same with neglect of our spiritual wellbeing. We can only go so long, before the evidence of neglect starts to show up as, short tempered, cranky, flustered, frustrated, critical, moody, sad, touchy and just plain mean spirited.

Spiritual neglect is something we don’t like to talk about, because it would mean that we have to fess up to falling short in an area that is very important to our every day lives. As women we like to put on the face of “I have it all under control.”

Just recently I started to feel frustration in just about every area in my life. I found myself moving into the realm of being critical of others and what they weren’t doing versus what they should be doing. This is a red flag for me, and I had to STOP and take a good look at what was going on. Well, it didn’t take long to see what the problem was. For the past few weeks I had become neglectful of my daily spiritual life. Or to put it in real terms, “Neglectful of my relationship with the Lord!” And this translates into me doing things in my own strength, which leads to frustration and then discouragement.

My dear sisters, it is so easy for “life unscripted or our busyness” to creep in and take over. It is so easy to say, “I’ll read my bible later,” and later never comes that day, or the next day or the next. Feeding our spiritual self is something we must do in order to not become weak, or unhealthy. How long are you going to go before you feed your natural body or drink water? How long are you going to stay awake before seeking sleep to rejuvenate yourself? Without food, water and proper rest, our bodies and minds do not work very well. So is the same with our spiritual body. If not nurtured, feed, refreshed and watered, it begins to get weak and is more subject to attack.

How do we make sure not to neglect our spiritual selves? For one discipline is a key component. But I’m not one to tell you to work a formula to get that discipline. Formulas to God are a setup for failure every time. Relationship is what He desires from us. I’m not going to tell you to read a certain amount of the Bible each day. No, I’m just going to tell you to pick it up and read. I have had times where I have read the Bible for less than five minutes because a particular scripture jumped out and became my mediation for that day. Prayer is very important, yet I’m not going to tell you that you have to get up and pray an hour every morning before your day gets started. Why? Because that can be a setup for failure too. What happens when you oversleep that one morning and you can’t, how do you feel the rest of the day? Often guilty. God doesn’t want guilty, He just wants time with us. Prayer (our form of communication) is something we should be doing throughout the day. Might we need a more concentrated block of time to discuss particulars? Of course! But what is stopping us from praising God in the shower and expressing our love for Him as we are drying off? Why do we feel we have to wait until we have that blocked time before we can really talk to Him?

Since our individual lifestyles are so very different we each have to figure out (with the guidance of the Holy Spirit), what would work best in how we spend time with the Lord. But do keep in mind, that if we approach spending time with God as being in a relationship, things will have a more natural flow to them. We just have to purpose to make the time, and stop looking at being with Him as we do caller ID, “Oh I’m doing something right now; I’ll get back to them when I have a moment.” That is not how we treat those who are important to us.

I hope that today I have encouraged those of you who feel that you have fallen behind in your Bible reading to get over the guilt trip. Don’t worry about trying to read the Bible through in 1 year, just read it. If your life has become very chaotic in the mornings and you have been feeling guilty because you haven’t been spending 1 hour each morning with the Lord that you too will get over that guilt trip. Romans 10:17 tells us that “Faith comes by hearing the Word” and it has been very beneficial to me to call a woman of great faith and listen to her talk about the Word of God. A call like that kills two birds with one stone for me, I get to fellowship with a sister and I’m encouraged in the ways of God! Often when I get off the phone, I continue the conversation with the Lord, or read.

The beauty of relationships is that they are never the same every day. If they were, it would be very boring. God doesn’t want formulas from us; He wants us to want Him. So make the time, and let Him take the lead. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Repeat after me…”NO MORE NEGLECT OF THE SPIRITUAL ME!”



Love & Hugs
Ponnie


Friday's Blog: A little more from Ponnie. I hope you stop by.