Despite how busy or tired I may be, each day I try my hardest to look my best. If you were to walk into my bathroom and look at my vanity area (accurately named, by the way) you’d see jars of nourishing face and body creams, hair products, assorted perfumes, and a drawer which is full of make-up products. My refrigerator is full of locally grown fruits and veggies, organic dairy products and fresh meats. I cook most of our meals because eating healthy is important to me. All of these little things are what I do to nourish my physical body.
Our spiritual bodies require just as much time, effort and nourishment as do our physical bodies. In fact, the Bible makes it rather clear that our spiritual selves need to be our priority! We must spend time nurturing our spirit. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
What does nurturing my spirit mean?
For me, this means drawing closer to God by building my relationship with Him. It’s all very personal, and we are all at different phases of that relationship process. For those of us who grew up in the church, this idea of relationship is one we’ve heard and probably worked on for years. But for others, who are new to the Christian faith, building a relationship with a loving God may still seem like a really difficult task, because, let’s face it, it can be embarrassing to feel like you don’t have the same knowledge about God as the other women in your Bible study! The enemy tells us we can’t have a real relationship with someone we know so little about! But remember that God desires us to constantly pursue Him, and grow in faith as we grow in our relationship with Him.
One way to grow in our knowledge of God is to better know the Bible. As a parent we can share this time of learning with our children! I remember when my husband was new to the faith, and we’d put on the VeggieTales video about Josh and the Big Wall. That was his first time hearing the story of Joshua. Hearing this story told in words that a five year old could understand is sometimes the perfect catalyst needed for a 30 year old’s inspiration to learn more about God’s Word! Today we have the wonderfully understandable What’s in the Bible? series that covers each book of the Bible. What a perfect way to learn what’s in God’s Word along with our children! Growing in our knowledge about God, His love for each of us, and His plan to make sure each of us spends eternity with Him. That’s building a relationship. That’s what’s called nurturing our spirit!
Lisa Strnad is a weekly contributing writer/blogger to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly. She has been a homeschooling mom of two, who works independently in Christian media in the areas of writing, promotions and marketing. She lives with her husband and children in Nashville,TN. Follow her personal blog posts on www.talkinglikeagirl.blogspot.com
