Self Care
“Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health.” Thus, we offer this as a prescription for strengthening your relationship with Christ.
The Dedicated Man Men’s Ministry’s Vision is:
EVERY MAN is devoted to God, family, community and himself.
We have been trained to be the breadwinners and provide financially for our families. We do not readily share if we are sad, disappointed, frustrated, or tired. If we’re being honest, we tend to not take great care of ourselves. Yet, Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:39 to love ourselves in order to love others. Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. Christ desires that we serve others with humility, but we cannot give what we do not have!
In Matthew 14:23, the Word of God tells us “After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.” If Christ is our example, there are some things we must do.
Prioritize our health – Diet, sleep, water intake, exercise, actually taking DAYS OFF WORK, reading a book, journal reflection, and many other health-related activities must be included as part of our daily and weekly routine. We cannot wait until our vacation to relax! Our Self Care needs to be deliberate, systematic and purposeful!
Get Organized - This aspect of our lives is so important because once we do have self care practices in place, only an emergency should prevent us from doing the things mentioned above. We should say no for a time so we can be our best selves in the long term!
Be humble and admit when help is needed - We should humble ourselves and ask for help in prioritizing our health and getting organized. If we are not growing in ALL areas of our lives on a consistent basis, the opposite is true...
When needed, seek out professional help from counselors and/or therapists. Pastors are ‘spiritual advisors’ and may not have the gifts of counseling for some mental and emotional challenges. Professional advisors can open our minds and pastors can open our eyes. Jesus says, if we receive His fullness, rivers of waters will flow out of us regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow – this is the work of God, Who rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
If you believe in Jesus, you will do what He says and take care of self. When this happens, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty rushing rivers of blessings for others.