Some really simple applications for some pretty complex passages.
Ten Baby Steps Toward Spiritual Health
Five Tips for Winning the Sabbath War
DISCLAIMER: If you are not religious, this blog post will still contain advice for taking time off and making sure you are well-rested. I believe everyone is designed to rest as well as work. With that said, taking a Sabbath (a full day off) is not easy. There are whole books devoted to the subject of the Sabbath. If you do a quick google search, dozens of reasons to take a Sabbath, why the Sabbath was commanded, and why it is still relevant will pop up. I'm not going to expound on those reasons, not because they are irrelevant, but because people much wiser and much more in-the-know have already written those books and articles. Frankly, those reasons don't necessarily help with taking a day off. Making time is a deliberate and often difficult process, but in this case, it's absolutely worthwhile. With that being said, here are five tips for making time for a Sabbath.
What Forgiveness Is Not
I hear a lot about forgiveness. As a Christian, it's a pretty big deal. In fact, it's such a big deal that it's commanded. If you don't forgive others, you will not be forgiven. The Lord's Prayer says "Forgive us our debts, AS WE FORGIVE our debtors." Apparently, there's no way around it.
Even so, I think that it's not necessarily understood in the same way that other commands are understood. I know how to not murder people, or so I think. Then, I remember that Jesus ups the stakes and says that hatred is murder. So, really, I don't actually know much about what to do. However, I do know a little bit about what forgiveness isn't. I say a little bit, because I am coming to understand this daily, and much more deeply. It's still a raw and fresh place in me; be gentle with the things I have gotten wrong or phrased incorrectly.