The Relapse

Here is an unpopular fact that comes with being a child of God: There are forces working tirelessly to make you lose your grip on the Lord, to lose sight of heavenly things and block you from basking under the Lord’s goodness and light.

Often times we find ourselves backsliding and not in the most obvious of ways but gradually we lose our stripes; we don’t read our Bibles as vigorously as we used to, we don’t consult or thank the Lord as much, that gospel jam does not seem to hit as hard as it used to. Activities good for your soul just slowly disappear and before you know it, you find yourself in a rut! These seasons happen to the most of us, weather we ask for them or not.

But why do we find ourselves in these situations?

True to my opening statement, the devil works overtime to get us thinking about anything but the Lord. The devil does not have the ability to remove the Lord from our hearts and minds but he can bring about distractions to keep us preoccupied.

A slave to your habits

Repetition is an action our hearts resignate with, therefore we must take caution on the acts we repeat consciously and subconsciously.

What do I mean?

Well, reminding yourself and reflecting on the good things the Lord has done for you brings a sense of hope and faith in your life. On the other end, repeatedly carrying out a bad habit and satisfying temporary pleasures brings about self-wallowing and stagnation in your life.

These are both opposite ends of the same stick and it lies on us to ensure balance so we do not tip over to the negative end. That can only be done through self-control.

Let me let you in on my self control woes. In my failed attempts of practicing self-love, I’m guilty of thinking that choosing myself means succumbing to my desires like giving myself those three off days in a row, eating that dessert after conquering that 500 metre run etc.

Athough its taken me a while to see it, I’ve noted that there is a thin line between rewarding yourself and falling under a self-pleasing spell. It is so easy to allow situations, truthfully things will go as far as you let them weather good or bad and what you keep on feeding will continue to grow. Which is why we all need to practice self-control.

Self-control is not part of our genetic make-up, it’s a fruit of the spirit, a spiritual gift that we should never cease to pray for.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.

This means that we can not go with the flow, we need to be aware of the environments (spiritual and physical) we live in. In doing so, we practice self-control as we limit what is not growing us or leading us to a place of abundance. We should intentionally work to have the day and not for the day to have us. However, if the day has us instead, we should try again tomorrow.

The power is to intentionally work against the easier feeling of complatency and self-wallowing, this will save us from extreme battles like anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.