Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
If you are having a life threatening emergency, call 911 immediately.
If you or a loved one is experiencing any kind of emotional crisis, mental health or substance use concern, you can find help 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling the New Mexico Crisis and Access Line or Peer to Peer Warmline.
Even before COVID-19, more than one in five adults in the U.S. said they felt lonely or isolated. Research shows that chronic loneliness even has negative effects on our physical health. We all need meaningful connections with people we care about, who care about us. How do we do that?
Do you want friends who will encourage you? Then become an encourager. Want friends who will help you grow as a person? Then practice listening, and show that you’re willing to change when you learn new things. Whatever you want to see in others, work towards becoming that friend yourself.
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Ask someone you know, “How can I pray for you?” Write down what they tell you, then pray for them regularly. Our Prayer feature makes it easy to keep track of everything you’re praying for. Not sure what to pray? Try Verse of the Day Stories. Every day has a Prayer you can pray for yourself—and for friends. When you pray regularly for other people, your empathy and concern for them grows.
Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
Relationships are built on trust. Trust goes in both directions. Don’t just talk about yourself. Ask a lot of questions, actively listen, and don’t judge. Not sure what to talk about? Do a Bible Plan together, and schedule a regular time to video chat about what God is showing each of you. (Verse of the Day is great for this, too.) The more you invest in each other, the more you’ll enjoy your times together.
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
Serving other people helps you beat loneliness, by taking your focus off yourself and giving you a sense of purpose. Millions of people have lost jobs during the pandemic.3 (If you’re one of them, we’re so sorry.) In most communities, food banks and other charities are busier than ever. Find services with social distancing and sanitizing policies that you’re comfortable with. Or, if you’d rather not leave your house, look for places where you can serve online.
Love one another deeply. Honor others more than yourselves.
A Prayer for the Lonely
Father, please meet me where I am. Lord, send people who will reach out to me, and give me ideas of people I can reach out to. Give me courage and strength, and please rescue me from my loneliness.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
As a new season begins, here are 5 spiritual disciplines you can practice to make time with God a daily habit.
Have you experienced healing? Answered prayers? Breakthrough in the life of someone you love? Salvation? As you seek God’s heart for this new season, take a moment to thank Him for what He’s already done.
Abiding in Jesus starts with stillness. Pause, take a deep breath, and give anything concerning you over to God. Spend 5 minutes centering your heart on the One who matters most.
God loves you. (Let that sink in.) The price He paid for you cost Him everything. Remind yourself of Whose you are, and then confidently dream big with God for this new season.
“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” – Psalms 119:97
How does Jesus want you to live? One of the best ways to find out is to spend time in Scripture. As you do, ask God to speak to you through His Words about what your next right step should be. (Not sure how to start studying God’s Word? Read this.)
You have been given the mind of Christ. If you’re not sure of what you should do in your next season, try asking yourself: What is praiseworthy? What decisions would honor God?
Make a list of whatever comes to mind, and intentionally pursue those things.
By practicing these 5 steps every day, you can actively create keystone habits: acquired patterns of behavior that form the basis of your daily routines.
Imagine what good, personal habits you might be cultivating a year from now because you purposefully chose to pursue intimacy with God today!
Dr. Caroline Leaf is a world-renowned cognitive neuroscientist, author, and speaker. In this interview, she reveals how to practically stop toxic thoughts and rewrite the way we think.
3:18 - We have so much more control over our brains than we’re told.
5:56 - We often say Christian “stock phrases” without realizing that they could be negatively affecting us.
17:14 - What does “take every thought captive” really mean in relation to our brains?
25:30 - Once you’ve spoken about an issue, it starts losing its power.
33:30 - Technology has deeply affected our minds, but there are practical ways to change the way we think.
Loving On Purpose builds powerful people. People who choose love over fear. People who strengthen and protect quality relational connections. They are passionate about equipping people to create a powerful relational legacy for future generations in their homes, organizations, and communities.
"Sheri and I had 15 rough years of marriage before we finally gained the skills and tools to turn things around and build the connection and family we always hoped for. Our journey has strengthened us to be able to give hope, healing, and skills to any relationship that is hurting or thriving. Loving On Purpose is our vehicle for exporting these tools to people around the world." - Danny Silk
Keep Your Love On Quotes
“Yes, it’s vulnerable and scary to keep your love on toward someone who has become a perceived threat—you cannot guarantee what he or she is going to do. But you can guarantee your own choice. And you can always choose connection.”
― Danny Silk, Keep Your Love On
“make an agreement to exercise mutual control over each other. The unspoken pact between them is, “It’s my job to make you happy, and your job to make me happy. And the best way to get you to work on my life is to act miserable. The more miserable I am, the more you will have to try to make me feel better.” Powerless people use various tactics, such as getting upset, withdrawing, nagging, ridiculing, pouting, crying, or getting angry, to pressure, manipulate, and punish one another into keeping this pact. However, this ongoing power play does nothing to make them happy and mitigate their anxiety in the long term. In fact, their anxiety only escalates by continually affirming that they are not actually powerful. Any sense of love and safety they feel by gaining or surrendering control is tenuous and fleeting. A relational bond built on mutual control simply cannot produce anything remotely like safety, love, or trust. It can only produce more fear, pain, distrust, punishment, and misery. And when taken to an extreme, it produces things like domestic violence.”
― Danny Silk, Keep Your Love On: Connection Communication And Boundaries
“In a respectful relationship, each person understands, “I am responsible to know what is going on inside me and communicate it to you. I do not expect you to know it, nor will I allow you to assume that you know it. And I will not make assumptions about what is going on inside you.”
― Danny Silk, Keep Your Love On: Connection Communication And Boundaries
“Powerful people do not try to control other people. They know it doesn’t work, and that it’s not their job. Their job is to control themselves.”
― Danny Silk, Keep Your Love On
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