2. Self-awareness can improve my emotional health, and it can also strengthen my spiritual health.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
DO YOU SENSE A CONNECTION BETWEEN YOUR EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND YOUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH?
HOW MIGHT YOUR EMOTIONAL HEALTH AFFECT YOUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH?
HOW MIGHT YOUR SPIRITUAL HEALTH AFFECT YOUR EMOTIONAL HEALTH?
Self-awareness is a popular topic in many circles, especially those that work towards our emotional health. Psychology has shown how improving self-awareness brings emotional goodness to our lives. Secular approaches to self-awareness focus only on the human aspect of self-awareness: underlying causes, approaches to developing self-awareness, and the benefits.
Our souls are more than our emotions though; we need not only emotional health but also spiritual health. Self-awareness involves a look inside of ourselves; it includes noticing things about us that are not visible to others, and it can take us into places that touch the deeper aspects of our person. As self-awareness deepens, and as we invite the Spirit into our self-awareness, it can bring health to our spiritual dimension.
Our belief in God includes the truth that when Christians look inside our souls, we will not just find ourselves, we will also find the Spirit that lives within us. A secular look at self-awareness can be helpful, but a Spirit-guided journey into self-awareness offers so much more. The Spirit has been called the Therapist of the Soul and in that role, Spirit reveals to us things about ourselves that no other person or practice can.
We are more than our emotional self; we are spiritual beings with an eternal destiny and only the Spirit can invite us and guide us into that aspect of our soul. With the Spirit’s guiding we can discover the deficiencies in our character, but also the diseases behind our deficiencies. The Spirit not only plays the role of Guide but is also Healer of these diseases.
The Spirit knows us better than any person, knows what we need, and how to bring this about. Finally, the Spirit both reveals things to us and also joins us as a companion on our journey of self-awareness. The Spirit knows us better than we know ourselves and Spirit desires and can bring spiritual and emotional health and abundance to our lives. Our role is to give ourselves to the journey of self-awareness and invite the Spirit’s work in our lives.