You have a spiritual and an emotional growth assignment. It’s your job to grow in those areas. Here is an overview of these two areas:

Practice the spiritual disciplines

• Pray daily (Talk to God.)
• Read your Bible.
• Be part of a Church.
• Join a small group community.
• Stay connected.
• Spread the good news.
• Help build the kingdom.

Work on emotional growth

1. Reinforce the recognition that your identity comes from being a child of God. Release all false identity and refuse to accept what others say about you. For example, when someone says, “You are stupid.” reject this identity statement: “No! I am a child of God.” (This is true even though I make some mistakes.)
2. Daily protect your innocence. Make it a daily discipline to not engage in edgy, scary, troubling, ungodly activities or media. Move back towards innocence and protect it.
3. Run your emotional system on peace, rest, and joy. Any thoughts, beliefs or behaviors that cause trouble in your soul must be challenged and told, “You are no longer a part of me. Get out.”
4. You are a spirit that lives in a body. You are in charge of running your brain. Talk to your brain. Tell it how to think. For example, “Brain No! I don’t want to entertain that thought. Stop bringing it up. Put it back.”
5. Use new emotional language. Examples: “That’s my old, child program. I used to act like that. I’m on an emotional growth mission. I’m learning and facing my fears. And, I refuse to live ignorant of my own emotional program anymore.”
6. Fear drives all bad behavior. Learn your core fear. When it’s triggered, your whole body will surge. Is your fear: failure, rejection, or unworthiness?
7. Manage your male sexuality. This is a critical topic, and too large to address in a small blog entry. View some of my podcasts for insight in this area.

Prayer

Father, thank you for your love and vision. Help your vision and my vision to be one. Help me be disciplined in spiritual and emotional growth. Jesus help me be like you. Holy Spirit show me the way. Amen.

Bible Connection

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. – Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV)

Jesus also repeats – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. – Mark 12:30 (NIV)