Help Yourself, Then Help Someone Else

For many people, one of the more challenging truths to accept is Proverbs 23:7(NKJV). It’s a very well-known verse in the Bible, and it says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” It’s pretty astounding actually, because it speaks to the reality that we are all spiritual beings, and this is a reality most have not accepted. Our spirit-man or ‘inner man’ is the highest part of who we are. The brain performs functions that are so complicated we can hardly fathom the intricacy of its inner working, but even so, the brain does not define us. The heart is a wonderful piece of machinery, but it doesn’t define us either. People receive heart transplants all the time, but a new organ does not change one’s identity. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that the substance of a person is shaped and molded by the invisible activity of the soul. The soul’s centers of will, emotion, and intelligent creativity determine whether we will align with our highest self or betray it.

1Corinthians 6:19-20(NLT) tells us, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” Our physical body is our temple. It is made of dust, and when it is no longer alive, it will return to that of which it was made. This is not to say that we should regard the body any less than the magnificent creation that Heavenly Father formed it to be. However, we have no right whatsoever to assign to it functions higher or lesser than the ones sanctioned by our Creator. He has told us that the body was created to be a temple that houses the presence of His holy and powerful Spirit. If we worship the temple rather than the Holy One who lives within it, we have made our body an idol. Idolatry is the practice of worshiping the creation and not the Creator; this is a sin.

Jesus Christ said in John 6:63(NKJV), “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” The vitality, fulfilment, and richness that God intends us to experience in life can only be found in Him through Jesus Christ; it cannot be achieved through efforts of the flesh. It is impossible for you to give yourself life. You may have honed or increased the gifts, talents, and abilities you have, but you didn’t gift them to yourself. All that we are, everything that you and I own or have in our possession comes from God. Acts 17:28 tells us that it’s in Him that we live, move, and have our being. So what most of us have to do is to change our thinking about our relationship with God. We must begin to see that He’s at work on the inside of us, and then we must allow Him to come into our hearts in a greater way so that our lives will change. Romans 12:2(NLT) tells us, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

When we don’t understand the partnership between the human spirit, soul, and body with the Spirit of the Living God, and that all must be aligned and humbled to the Holy Spirit, we become disconnected from our own hearts. It shows up in the form of being constantly disappointed and continually emptied of life’s nutrients and favor; all because we seek treasure where there is none.

As a spiritual being, God saw fit to give us this earth experience. Ephesians 1:11(NLT) tells us, “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” He chose us way before we passed through our mother’s womb. He knew us as His spiritual children, and He ordained that we should help others see the light of Christ. He appointed the time and place of our births, and we were handpicked by Him for such a time as this. It’s an enormous, incomparable gift, and we must see it this way; for we are in time, and God is not. Therefore, it is pressed on us to be conscious of the reality that life on earth is a necessary and beautiful process. We are going through it, transforming into the person God already sees when He looks at us.

You must align with the reality that your spirit contains the treasure, and it’s with you everywhere you go. Yes, Christ is just that close. It is not selfish to choose to free yourself from the affliction and bondage of abuse. It is an action to move yourself and your thoughts to higher ground, where Jesus, not pain, is Lord! Don’t allow anyone or anything to stall or impede your process, because you are transforming into the very image of Christ, then you can help someone else do the same.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Overcoming Domestic Violence

Overcoming domestic violence and abuse through Jesus Christ!