I hope you are doing well. As we wrap up our study on The Power To Change, I’d like to remind you of five things.
- Consider Where You Started
- Celebrate Your Wins
- Keep Moving Forward
- Walk In the Spirit
- Remember Who Before Do
Consider Where You Started
I’d like for us to take a moment to reflect on how far we have come. When we began, I would guess that making positive changes to your brain health didn’t seem like a reality to you. Sure, we all want to change, but if you are like me, you’ve tried to make changes before and failed. I’ve tried to stop unhealthy habits before, and it didn’t work.
What is one habit you either started or stopped during this study?
If you are still working on starting or stopping a habit, that’s okay. I’m right there with you. I am in training and working toward losing a total of 26 lbs. As of today, I still need to lose 3.6 lbs to hit my goal. I am also in training, working toward improving the quality of my sleep. I’ve made some major progress, but I have a long way to go.
Celebrate Your Wins
During this study, I successfully weaned myself off of coffee to help lower my baseline anxiety level. This was not something I wanted to do. Quite the opposite. I loved coffee, but I also wanted a better quality of life. My desire to live a less anxious life was my major motivator for quitting. Today, I am celebrating the change that came about through quitting this habit.
Is there a win you need to celebrate today?
Keep Moving Forward
Just like a baby learning to walk, you may find yourself crawling and pulling yourself up to the couch. As you awkwardly start to take steps, you may wobble a little and occasionally fall down. And just like a baby, we dust ourselves off and try again. Maybe we are a little scared; our legs might be shaky, but we move forward.
What is one thing, either a phrase or a mental picture, you can remember to help you dust yourself off when you fall down?
Walk In the Spirit
This series has not only given us a new way to go about change, but it is also teaching us a new way to live by walking in the Spirit. In the last few episodes, we learned about four strategies to help us walk in the Spirit.
- Renew your mind
- Remain in Jesus as your home.
- Acknowledge your need.
- Ask God directly for his help.
There are two R’s (renew and remain) for before the moment. Then there are the two A’s (acknowledge and ask) for in the moment.
What are you doing before the moment to prepare you when you are in the moment?
Remember Who Before Do
As we work towards making positive changes to our brain health, we will face moments where we want to quit. In a moment of frustration, we’ll say to ourselves that whatever changes we are trying to make aren’t worth it. Early in our study, you might recall this simple phrase, “Who Before Do.” It is a reminder for us to prioritize who God has called us to be over what we are supposed to be doing.
Your calling is more about who you are becoming than what you are doing.
-Craig Groeschel
Who is God calling you to become? What does that person look like? How would you describe that person in one to two sentences?
Reflection
- What is one habit you either started or stopped during this study?
- Is there a win you need to celebrate today?
- What is one thing, either a phrase or a mental picture, you can remember to help you dust yourself off when you fall down?
- What are you doing before the moment to prepare you when you are in the moment?
- Who is God calling you to become? What does that person look like? How would you describe that person in one to two sentences?
