Loving yourself is taking time to pray. Remember God wants to have a relationship with you. Talk with Him.

Prayer is the MOST important part of your life! Let me reiterate, prayer is SO incredibly important. The more you know God personally, the better your prayer life will be.

Pray before a crisis happens, pray in the morning before your day starts, and pray at night before your body, heart, and mind rest. Stand firm in Christ.

When you pray, find a place that is your secret place to pray, where there are NO distractions. A place where you can be your total and true self. Your prayer place is a place where you can cry, sob, yell, and sing without the world looking at you and judging you.

Invite the Holy Spirit to come and guide your prayer. Playing soft instrumental music in the background helps me welcome the Holy Spirit.

To close your eyes or keep them open? It doesn’t matter. I do both. The Bible doesn’t say you have to close your eyes.

To go deeper in prayer, memorize scripture and recite it back to God in your prayer.

When I pray I like to go in this kind of order:

1. Praising God and telling Him how great He is.
2. Thanking Him for everything big and small that comes to mind.
3. Confessing my sin and asking for forgiveness, getting right with God.
4. Asking for the Holy Spirit to come into my heart and help me pray.
5. Asking for protection over the Enemy, and using God’s armor to stand firm next to Christ.
6. Other prayer requests, praying for people, situations, and myself according to His will.
7. Asking all in Jesus’ name. Sealing the prayer in and through Jesus. For instance, I end the prayer something like this… “Thank you Jesus, I ask all this in your name, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Sometimes, on challenging days, my order goes out the window and I simply talk to Him, lament, cry, and get it all out. He is full of truth, love, mercy, and hope. He is the only One. Pour into Him, trust Him. Ask Him. Love Him.

Here’s a post on prayer to check out. Ask, Believe, Recieve.

This is a HUGE topic. It can be an extremely complicated process based on the level of hurt involved. First and foremost, I am sorry for the pain and trauma that someone caused you or that you have even caused yourself. Secondly, you are not alone. We all have our wounds, and because we are different, we are affected by those wounds differently. Thirdly, your healing begins today, right now, in this very moment.

We are commanded to love. “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”Romans 13:8 (NIV) Love is a choice.

There is no clearer way to explain forgiveness as my Pastor did. He said it like this: Forgiveness is giving up the right to get revenge. He went on to say, forgiveness is giving your anger against them to Jesus and letting Jesus deal with them. The sooner we give them to Jesus, the sooner we heal and move forward in the love of Jesus.

Let me make something very clear. Forgiveness is not trusting again. Forgiveness is putting Jesus between you and that person and meeting in the middle.

As for forgiving yourself for self-infliction, ask Jesus to come into your heart with the power of the Holy Spirit and give him your anger. Bless your body, mind, heart, and soul. And rest in His arms. He will make your paths straight according to His will.

Permit yourself to take some time for self-care. Loving yourself is doing something for yourself. Pursue your passions, take a step towards your goals, try something new, just do something for yourself that makes yourself better. You gotta start somewhere.

Loving yourself is also taking care of your body, mind, heart, and health. Set boundaries and give yourself some time each day to lay in the sun, read a book, take a hot bath, go for a walk, or listen to music.

This is such a beautiful way to love yourself by buying a vase full of God’s love to sit on your kitchen table. Don’t wait for someone to give you flowers because they might never get around to it. Just buy them yourself. 

Flowers are not only beautiful to the eye but they bring a presence of God into your home. 

Protect yourself from distractions! Distractions are where the Enemy lurks, he prowls around looking for YOU to devour. He will devour you by distracting you from being connected to God.

God has something beautiful to give you, to show you, to bless you, to heal you. BE AWARE of His, the Lord/Jesus/Holy Spirit, presence around you. Distraction impairs your awareness. Pay attention!

“The less distracted we are, the more aware of God we become.” – William McDowell

Here’s a post on how to fight off spiritual warfare, it has some tips you don’t want to miss. Claim Your Life Back: 7 Steps

This is a life-saving act you can do for yourself right now. Not only does this make it right with God, but through Jesus, you will have eternal life. Asking for forgiveness of your sins (repenting) is a huge way to love yourself and love Him.

Ask for forgiveness for your sins daily, in Jesus’ name. Don’t allow the Enemy to have a foothold and mess with you. For there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2).

Jesus didn’t die on the cross for you to be a doormat. Ask to be forgiven and change your ways. Keep moving forward, even if you take a step back, ask to be forgiven, and keep doing so every day.

Do yourself a favor and memorize this verse. Comparing is a death spiral. It will eat you alive. Stop it. Make every effort to ignore comparing. Comparing is the opposite of love. It probably offends God when you compare yourself either pridefully or wishfully wanting to be like someone else. God made you to be YOU! This might mean getting off social media or, at the least, changing what you look at on social media.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV)

This is not only about eating cleaner foods, it’s about giving yourself permission to go to bed early and sleep. Take a five-minute break and step outside to enjoy the sun, beauty, and breeze pressing against your face.

Yo. Eat a cleaner diet. What you put into your body affects how you feel and how you think, not to mention, your choices too. Choosing less processed foods is a good start. Pay attention to your food combinations if you’re experiencing indigestion and are having digestive issues. Here’s a post about Food Combining. Be sure to check out these recipes!

Drink more water! Nothing is cleaner than filtered water. Hydration is so critical in living a healthy life. Check out this post: Chronically Sick? Choose the right water filter. 

Sleep. 

Exercise. Keep the blood flowing and get the heart pumping. That’s all you need to know. 

Spend time with God without distractions. Jesus went to be alone with the Lord to pray all the time! Rest in His arms by intentionally spending time with Him. Enjoy the silence. Here’s a post to help you out. 

Reducing stress is a HUGE part of loving yourself. Stress is the number one cause of chronic illness and pain. Stress! That blows my mind because more than half the time stress is something we can choose to control. Get some big tips on how to reduce stress in this blog post.

Fight off the Enemy and his forces. He (Satan) prowls around you looking for a foothold and an open door. Don’t put up with that *#it! Use the tools, weapons, and the power that the Lord gave you to stand your ground next to Jesus. Ephesians 6:10-18

Jesus didn’t die on the cross for you to be a doormat, put down, abused, and held in bondage. Stand firm. Call the Enemy out and command him and his warfare to leave in Jesus’ name. You must say “in Jesus’ Name”. To learn more please visit this post on How to Fight Spiritual Warfare.

Love yourself by surrounding yourself in His creation. Nature is a great way to give yourself a little love. Did you know that nature can help relieve stress? Being outside increases endorphins and enhances your problem-solving, not to mention, being more creative. The outdoors is a great place to pray and to walk with God. Treat your mind, body, and spirit to a bit of nature. Watch for God to move you with a sunrise or sunset. Look at the clouds, watch the weather around you, and feel the wind press against your face.

Here are a few blog posts to motivate you:

Nature Quotes: the power of the outdoors

Enjoy the Silence: 4 reasons you don’t want to miss

13 Ways to Naturally Help the Winder Blues

Self-talk is a BIG deal. Listen up. Speaking kindly to yourself will change you. You will be more confident and a happier person. Affirmations are great, I actually have some for you to download in my Freebies, but what’s better than affirmations? God’s promises.

Speaking God’s promises over you and in you, will not only bring you closer to God, it will help you get to know your Creator better, and you then will know more about yourself. I put together some of His promises found in the Bible here. Download them, memorize them, or tape them to your bathroom mirror.

Get rid of the old and bring in the new. Ecclesiastes 3:6 says, “a time to search and time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away. “

You are beautiful. You are smart. Keep moving forward. Speak goodness into your heart. For your heart is the wellspring of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

As Romans 12:2 says:

² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Here’s a post on how to build self-esteem. Check’r out: How to Build Self-Esteem, 3 Tips to be Yourself. 

Memorizing scripture is a tool to pray with and a weapon against the Enemy. The Bible tells us there is power in scripture. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (NIV)

Scripture welcomes healing. I see it as a divine hug. If you desire healing, here are some verses to get you started. Bible Verses for Healing

More to come.

What you put in your mind determines your words and actions. This is true. You should be concerned. Do an experiment and put only positive things in your mind this week and see how you feel; pay attention to how to speak and what you think. For instance; stop watching the news, and change the channel to shows that don’t use profanity or violence. Listen to music that promotes goodness and not violence or anger. Read stories that are good. Get the Bible out and read a few scriptures everyday evening. Watch The Chosen. 

Pay attention to what you dream about when you have made the switch. What do you think about yourself? Do you feel refreshed? Less stressed? 

Here are a few blog posts to help you:

Claim Your Life Back: 7 Steps to Fight Spiritual Warfare 

Drama-Free Life? A Strategy You Don’t Want to Miss

How to Heal Your Body: 8 Must-Haves

Ugh. Why are we do hard on ourselves? I do this all the time. We all do this. Why? Simply put, because of the world and how it judges others…broken. As hard as we try to be perfect with our words, actions, jobs, roles, health, and home design…perfectionism doesn’t exist. Jesus is the only one who is perfect. Jesus is our only way. Yo, this world is messed up. We may want to think it’s all good, but friends, it ain’t. The only way we’re going to survive and thrive in this world is through Jesus. He will show us how to navigate and how to love, all in all, prepare us for eternity. Listen to HIM! Not your social media. Go to the Bible and only the Bible.

Below are some blog posts I suggest digging into to experience freedom.

5 Important Ways to Measure Success Without Numbers

13 Ways to Naturally Help the Winter Blues

9 Easy Ways to Learn More About Yourself

Claim Your Life Back: 7 Steps to Fight Spritual Warfare

Take responsibility for your actions and choices. It’s crazy how much better you’ll feel knowing you are staying accountable for yourself. For starters, manage your money better and eliminate your money problems. This one is a great place to start. 

Another thing you can do is to use your manners. Seriously. It’s crazy how this jesture is an act of love for not only the person who recieves your kind gester, but it loves your back. 

There’s a saying “Manners make a man/woman”. Expressing genuine manners brings self-dignity to not only the person receiving, but giving good manners. Being polite, respectful, and thinking of others rather than yourself shows an act of love towards others and helps you lead a blameless life. Of course, abide by the 10 Commandments the moral law. 

Equality in this world starts in the heart, and manners are an action we can take today to bring peace. Guard your heart. May your words and actions reflect what is in your heart. For your heart is a wellspring of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

Some common manners are:

– say “Please and Thank you”

– look people in the eye when talking to them

– hold the door for people no matter if their sex, beliefs, or age.

– pick up after yourself at your own home, guest’s home both indoors and outdoors, your hotel room, vacation rental, and even the public restroom and fast food joint.

– write a thank note or send a thank you text for gifts

– chew with your mouth shut, don’t talk with food in your mouth, quiet those bodily functions, place your napkin in your lap at a restuarant or guest’s home, eat your food don’t play with it, and offer to help with food prep or clean up.

– say “Excuse me” or “I’m sorry” when you need to pass by someone in a tight space or when you need to speak up (interupt politely)

– respect those who are older than you

– put your phone away and turn off the ringer

Activate your creative side and get your hands busy with a hobby or a craft. You know that feeling when you made something, you completed a task, or someone enjoyed something you made for them? Yep. That’s some good old fashion love. We feel good! Get your hands dirty in the garden, sticky with glue, speckeled with paint, or dusted with glitter.

Hobby Ideas + 13 Reasons Why You Need a Hobby Now