May the Lord bless you and keep you. Let me begin there, always there—God, our Father, will bless you and keep you. I would also like to thank Deborah for having me as a guest blogger.
In my day job, I am a psychology professor. I have been teaching at Charleston Southern University for over 28 years now. Several things I have noticed lately—students seem more and more unable to handle stress, so many people give up too easily, and therapy is more available than ever. These things don’t seem to go together with me. Then, I realized just how few people, even at a Christian college, are connected to God and other people.
Another aspect of my teaching is, and I know I shouldn’t have, but I have a favorite class—Positive Psychology. I truly believe that class is just psychologists rediscovering what people of faith already know. Developing people’s strengths and virtues is so much more effective than trying to fix their problems. Living in the present, finding joy in contentment, the importance of humility, and faith—all of these are there in Christ’s words if we just look.
So, in my professional opinion, let’s build each other up, while praising God.
Finding Joy: Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Find that time for reading His Word and knowing joy.
Living in the Moment (Mindfulness): Matthew 6:29: “Consider the lilies how they grow; they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Don’t worry; trust in God. Just sit and enjoy the sunshine often. Or the snow, if you live up north. 😊
Humility: Proverbs 22:4 “Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.”
At first, Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive Psychology, put humility aside because it didn’t predict happiness and was connected to religion. Later, they found that this little virtue does exactly what Proverbs says it does—it helps people succeed in life, other people like you more, and those who score higher on humility experience less depression.
Faith: Isaiah 41:11 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.”
I am not saying that we will not experience hardship in this life—we will; it is promised. However, we can build up our strength in the good times and know that God will be with you, always, and he will uphold you.
So, dear readers, I pray that you will read your Bible, keep a journal, practice gratitude, and keep on learning. But then, be still and know He is God.
He’s got you.
Featured Photo by Irina Iriser on Unsplash
Today’s post was written by Christina Sinisi.