08-0746 - Nurture your spirit

When a mother gives birth to a baby, one of their many joys is seeing their baby grow. It is amazing how one looks at themselves in the mirror a year after their last birthday and doesn’t see much difference when so much could have changed. Year after year, day after day, we grow and most of the time when we do notice changes in our lives it’s the outward changes we note. Very few times do we evaluate other scopes that make us whole, like our spiritual lives.
I see my friend strain to get her groove back on as she gained 15 kilograms after the birth of her first baby. I hear her wine every day, in front of the mirror, about the size 12 jeans that now does not fit her size 24 waist. When free to express herself, her first comment when she meets you will be how fit or unhealthy you look since the last time you were together. Rarely and almost never do I see her give as much attention to anything else that is a part of her but not physical. She is ready to admit of her weight gain and ever so ready to beat herself up when she eats a plate of french fries. This contrasts her determination to consider steps to heal her spirit as she does not sacrifice even a minute to take a glimpse at its state.
We seek physical perfection everyday through aiming to lose a kilo as soon as a friend blurts out a comment insinuating that we have grown fat. We take significant amount of time and resources dressing ourselves, buying the latest designs of clothing. When we do not afford the expensive clothes we take a small portion out of our income to save and be able to afford it so that we can have that fashionable flashy outfit.
How often do we watch our spiritual weight? Do we take as much time to dress our souls or make our spirits shine like our outward appearance does in the flashy outfits? How often do we comment on the visible spiritual changes in our friends’ lives? Is it as often as we comment on their physical changes and outward appearance?
Our spirits are our engines. They motor our lives to our destinations. Depending on how well we nurture our engines our destinations will be blissful and our lives complete. Focus put only on the outward aspect of life while neglecting the spiritual aspect guarantees loneliness even when in the largest of crowds.
Let us not invest in growing in the world where the riches will be eaten up by moths and stolen by thieves but seek to have true riches. Feed your spirit, monitor its growth and let it shine and bless others. Take 10 minutes out of your 30 minutes dressing time every day and pray to your God. Read the good book. Just as you would watch what you eat and what you wear, similarly be keen on what you listen to and what you watch. As you pay for those shoes and that monthly gym registration buy an inspiring book. Address those issues that you try to hide behind the glamorous outfit. As you look forward to lose that extra kilo or fading shirt, work on that bad habit you know you have.
Nurtured spirits make us whole. They act as tool boxes when your life needs fixing. Just like our mothers are overwhelmed with joy from their child’s growth, God, our maker is overjoyed when we focus and commit to growth of what really matters, our spirits.