Exploring inside the the canyon walls of Zion National Park was like discovering endless displays of beautiful rock architecture. I love to explore wonders in nature but for years I ignored the exploration of my inner world. I would get angry when my kids showed any negative emotions, I felt guilty a lot, and I wore a shell of self-protection by avoiding vulnerability at all cost.
Recently I have come across the line from a poet named Rumi. I’ve been chewing on it for several weeks.
“If you are here unfaithfully with us, you’re causing terrible damage.”
One of the authors Parker Palmer who quoted this line, went on to say, “Self-care is never a selfish act; it is simply stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others. If we are unfaithful to our true self, we will extract a price from others. We will make promises we cannot keep, build houses from flimsy stuff, conjure dreams that devolve into nightmares, and other people will suffer.”
Self-care is a phrase that causes many to scoff. It gets labeled as selfishness or weakness, or something we will do “later.”
Let’s adventure in for a closer look. Any of these resonate?
thinking you must ALWAYS put someone else’s needs before your own, yet your service is peppered with resentment, seething anger, bitterness
letting false guilt drive you
believing that what others think of you is more important than acting in your values
exhausting yourself or silencing your own voice for fear you will disappoint someone
allowing yourself to be perpetually demeaned, belittled, or taken advantage of by someone and not setting limits to protect yourself ~believing you HAVE to say yes every time you are asked for something
~ignoring or stuffing your own body’s warning signs that you are over-worked, over-stressed, and exhausted
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. Just a starting point. Jesus asks us to serve and love others sacrificially and we are supernaturally empowered to do so! But we must remember that Jesus did not command us to ONLY love our neighbor, but AS WE love ourselves. And what we love, we take care of. Paul said in I Corinthians 4:2 “It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” But we often assume the only things we are to steward are our resources, gifts, talents, etc. Let’s be found to be trustworthy stewards of who we are, okay?
How about stewarding your soul today with lavish and abundant grace so you can love others out of your spiritual and emotional health and not your desperate exhaustion? Explore the beauty of who God made you to be and let the peace of Christ rule in your heart.
Soul Adventurer, that is an adventure worth taking.♥
