The Christian Habits Podcast

Do you ever have a hard time making yourself read your Bible? Or do you start out reading, only to find yourself reading the same passage over and over again because you can’t make yourself concentrate? I spent twenty years of my Christian life struggling to have a daily quiet time. I’d do fine when I was in a church Bible study but when I was on my own, I just didn’t have the discipline to read my Bible. And even with church studies, you’d often find me rushing through all the lessons one hour before class! Back in those days, I would have loved to have someone take me by the hand and help me develop a daily quiet time habit. Following are some of the things that helped me develop a now 20+ year daily quiet time habit. Tips to Help You Become Consistent with Bible Reading Remember your why. Authors of books on goal setting tell us the first thing we need to do is know our “why.” In other words, why do we want to develop this habit? Take a minute and write down as many reasons as possible of why you want to develop a Bible reading habit, then refer back to that list each morning you don’t feel like reading! Here are some reasons I thought of: to grow closer to God, be conformed to His image, find insight for current life, see how Jesus lived life, learn from other believers’ stories, store up truth to combat the world’s lies, gain comfort and strength, find good verses to memorize and meditate on, gain counsel for everyday life. For more ideas, check out Psalm 119! Start small. Habit experts tell us our best chance of developing a habit is to start small. So instead of saying, “I’ll read my Bible for one hour a day,” set a smaller goal. 15 minutes a day, maybe. Or even 5 minutes a day. Whatever you think you can make yourself follow through on. You can always up the time after your habit is established. Don’t be a perfectionist. Because I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to quiet times, it surprised me when women told me they feel they need to spend at least an hour in quiet time for it to be legitimate. I often spend an hour in quiet time, but if I felt like I had to, it might make me procrastinate or skip my quiet time! Try to remember that your Bible reading time is relationship-with-God time. And all amounts of time are good! Find something that engages your mind. This was one of my problems back in my can’t-make-myself-read-my-Bible years. I read through the whole Bible after becoming a Christian in 7th grade, but then I wasn’t sure what to do next. I thought, I’ve already read the Bible. Now, what do I do? Well, obviously the answer was, “Read it again!” but at that time, I’d lost my motivation to read the Bible again. When that happens to you, look for a Bible study that will engage your mind. One that makes you think. I actually wrote the questions in my new Bible study on James during one of my own quiet times when I couldn’t make myself focus on the Bible. I love Bible studies that make me think, whether they are topical or a book-of-the-Bible study. Focus on fellowshipping with God rather than checking “read Bible” off the list. If you view your relationships with people as duties rather than fun times to be with them, you won’t want to get together with them. It’s the same with Bible reading. If you view it as a duty, rather than time to fellowship with God, you won’t want to do it. Take time when you’re reading to visit with God about anything that pops up in your reading. I like to read small portions of Scripture each day so I have plenty of time to think about it, see how it interacts with my life, and talk to God about it. Don’t feel like your Bible reading has to be in the morning. My husband does his Bible reading at night because he is like a walking zombie in the morning. He likes to wake up, start his coffee, then sit in the dark drinking it. Rather than trying to force his mind to wake up that early, he does his Bible reading at night. Join a group study or find an accountability partner. Group studies really helped me in the old days when I didn’t have much discipline. It can also help to have an accountability partner. This blog post will give you ideas on how to set that up: Christian Accountability Partner: A Beginner’s Guide. Expect opposition. Often we stumble because we expect habits to be easy. So when we miss Bible reading for a couple of days, we think, I’m not capable of this, and give up. We’ll be more likely to succeed if we expect it to be hard. Because here’s the truth: It is hard! Not only do we have our flesh saying, “Let me sleep just a little longer!” we also have an enemy who doesn’t want us to read our Bibles. Satan is the father of lies and he doesn’t want you to develop a Bible reading habit. Here is a podcast episode that will help you defeat those lies: Consistent Quiet Times: 10 Lies That Get in the Way. Don’t beat yourself up when you fail. Not only does Satan lie to us, but he also condemns us. So when we beat ourselves up for not following through on Bible reading, we’re playing into his condemning tactics. God is a God of grace and He is for us. He knows what it’s like to be tempted so He’s not a bit surprised when we don’t follow through on things He wants us to do. Know that you won’t be able to do this perfectly but just continue to persevere to make it a habit. Look at the tips in today’s post to see if one of those might help you follow through with daily Bible reading. That’s about it. I tried to come up with one more tip so it would be an even ten, but I couldn’t think of one! My prayer is that you will be able to develop a Bible reading habit that fills your soul and draws you closer to God. If you’d like help with a study that will engage your mind, check out my latest book below. James Bible Study This is a Bible study I didn’t set out to write. It came out of one of my own quiet times when I couldn’t make myself focus on the Bible. After several times reading the same paragraph over and over because I couldn’t concentrate, I thought, Maybe if I write some questions down first, it will be easier to concentrate. I did that and I loved the process. Not only did the questions help me apply the passage to my life at the moment, they also drew me closer to God as I used that Bible passage to visit with Him about what was going on in my life. If you’d like to see a sample of two of the 20 lessons in James, check out these blog posts (you’ll find the lessons at the end of each blog post): Lesson 3: Overcoming Temptation Lesson 4: Slow to Anger Other Resources Mentioned on the Podcast How to Truth Journal Christian Accountability Partner: A Beginner’s Guide Consistent Quiet Times: 10 Lies That Get in the Way How to Use the Bible for Help with Real-Life Problems Rally Bible Study – a Bible study on trials that helps you learn truth journaling How to Listen to the Podcast Version of this Blog Post To listen or subscribe on Google Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Android: click here  To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here  To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here  Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.”  The post When You Can’t Make Yourself Read Your Bible – 9 Tips appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Are you in the middle of a big life change? Or still adjusting to an old life change? Change can be difficult, even when it’s positive. Yet so many life changes don’t feel one bit positive. Here are  just a few of the life changes we go through: A move Change of occupation: new job, loss of old job, career change, beginning college, etc. Engagement or marriage Divorce or separation Natural disasters and pandemics such as Covid Death of a loved one Serious illness, disease, or injury Children leaving home Retirement of yourself or a spouse Since I’m experiencing my own life change at the moment (my husband just became a travel physical therapist and we’ve left our home of 30 years to travel around the country doing physical therapy and writing), I thought it might be helpful to do a podcast/blog post on how to navigate major life change. Following are a few things I’m trying as I enter this new season of life. 10 Tips to Navigate Life Change Well Recognize that it’s hard. So often we say things like, “I shouldn’t be feeling this way,” or “Buck up, Buttercup!” And while I’m a big fan of that latter phrase, it’s helpful to realize that it’s not surprising that we’re struggling. Even a happy occasion like marriage can cause adjustment problems. We’ll do better if we admit to ourselves that yes, this is an adjustment, and yes, it’s hard. Have realistic expectations for the process and give yourself grace. If you recognize it’s hard, you’ll be more likely to give yourself grace. Beating yourself up for not adjusting quickly enough isn’t helpful. I’ve found that if I have realistic expectations for how long something takes—whether it’s a task on my to-do list or an adjustment to a new situation—I’ll be less likely to get worried, depressed, or beat myself up. Work on making this new life the best life possible—put time and effort into it. Often, we complain about how hard life is, but we do nothing to change it. Instead, we expect it to get better over time. While this does sometimes happen, we’ll have much more success if we put some effort into making it better. The rest of these tips will give you ideas of how to make the best possible life. Brainstorm ideas to make life better. When you’re in a new situation, you’re not an expert at that situation. Instead, you need to learn how to be joyful in this new life. Take a list and brainstorm different ways to make it better. Talk to a friend, mentor, or loved one. Visit with someone who’s been in this situation to see how they handled it. Then circle a few things from the list to try. Join a support group or get involved in a community ASAP. When we moved to our first travel assignment in Santa Fe, the first thing we did was to find a church. We tried two churches in one day and found one we loved. We visited with people in the church, and I mentioned that it was hard to leave our community in Hamilton, Montana. This led to one couple inviting us to a home group and now we have instant community–a group of wonderful people to fellowship with. If your life change is traumatic, look for a support group in your area of others who are going through a similar trial. Dwell on the good. My tendency is to dwell on the good of the old life and the bad of the new life! This is not helpful! It’s easier to dwell on the good if you have a positive life change, but it can be incredibly difficult with a traumatic life change. That said, God can bring good from any situation. A bad situation is a perfect “opportunity” to develop a thankfulness habit, grow closer to God, and practice dwelling on the good. Lean on God and expect Him to teach you new lessons. Trusting God isn’t just a trite phrase. It’s an active event where we spend time with Him, time in His Word, time in prayer. The closer we get to God, the happier we’ll be. In fact, in some situations, this may be our only chance for happiness, at least in the beginning. Romans 5:3-5 and James 1:2-4 tell us that hard times are opportunities for growth. Our new pastor in Santa Fe said in a recent sermon that hard times can make us bitter, battered, or better. Leaning on God (rather than the way life used to be) will help them to be better. Recognize that you’ll have bad days. That said, expect to have bad days. It’s a process. One day you might think, I have this new life down pat! I can handle it now! And then the next day might be a disaster. That’s normal! It takes time to adjust to a new life. Don’t despair and don’t beat yourself up. Instead, trust that God will be by your side to help. Renew when upset. If I didn’t already have an established renewing habit, my current life would be much worse. As I write this post, we’re only three weeks into our new life. I went from being super depressed the first day here to being positive, hopeful, and excited about this life now. This happened through employing all the previous tips but this last tip was most helpful. Renewing is what helped me to see this experience from a biblical perspective, and more than anything, that’s what helped me be content. I’ll show you one of my renewing entries from the last few weeks below. Accept what you need to accept. Renewing helps, but often, you’re still left with an unpleasant truth. Your loved one is gone. You lost your job. The government is doing things you don’t like and they’re not asking you for permission. Accepting what we need to accept allows us to move on. It frees us up to pursue the best possible life within the context of what we can’t change. And it also frees us up to look for things—even in this life—to be thankful for. And we are far happy when we’re living in thankfulness. My husband and I on top of Guadalupe Peak in Texas – we are immensely enjoying our current life change! Renewing Example: Barb’s Journal Entry – 1/10/22 One of the ways I like to renew my mind is to make an option chart. When you hear the phrase option chart, you might think of a chart that explores all of our possible options. But a renewing option chart explores the options we’re currently taking to see how those options are affecting different outcomes we want: things like our relationship with God, our relationship with others, progress on a goal, or our personal wellbeing. In the following chart, I’ve listed three things I want: to be happy in our new lifestyle, to feel close to God, and to be able to be productive in this lifestyle. To write and podcast and get other writing-related things done.  I put those at the top of the chart and all of my tendencies on the left side of the chart. I always start by writing down what I really want, which is always completely unrealistic. In this example, I wrote, “to be perfectly happy all the time during travel therapy.” Since I am NEVER completely happy all the time, even on vacation, it stands to reason I won’t be completely happy in this new life so I listed “NOT AN OPTION” on that line. With all the other options, I listed an up or down arrow indicating how I thought that action would affect the outcome and then listed a reason I thought it would go that way.  You’ll notice that my middle options almost always have a whole row of down arrows! Yet those are the options I consistently take if left to my own devices. On the bottom row, I always list what I call the “God” option. I think about it for a bit and record what I think God would want me to do. Then I evaluate that option with arrows. And I almost always discover that God’s plan is best. Option charts help me have the strength to do what God wants me to do because they show me that God’s way really is best. Following is a picture of my journal entry. Because it’s hard to fit charts in a blog post format, I thought it would be easier to just upload an image. I apologize in advance for my messy handwriting! At the time I wrote this, I had no idea I would be posting it on my blog! This option chart completely changed my perspective. I’ve also done some truth journal entries that have helped. By making a commitment to regularly renew and also employ some of the other tips I mentioned, I’m able to celebrate and enjoy the good aspects of this experience and live a contented life. God is good. We just need to go to Him for help to see that life is also good, especially when we’re having a hard time adjusting! Have you gone through a big life change recently or in the past? I’d love any tips you have for me on how to adjust! Resources Mentioned on the Podcast Skip Heitzig message on trials – Skip is just starting this series as I write this post, but by the time it publishes, you should be able to watch all the videos in the series. James Bible Study by Barb Raveling The 12-Week Year by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington How to Develop a Thankfulness Habit How to Listen to the Podcast To listen or subscribe on Google Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Android: click here  To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here  To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here  Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.”    The post How to Navigate Life Change (Even if You’re Not Crazy about the New Life) appeared first on Barb Raveling.

If you’ve been married a long time, chances are good you’ve been attracted to someone at some time or another. In today’s podcast, I’ll be visiting with my friend Trish about how to keep that initial attraction from morphing into something that could potentially hurt your marriage, your family, your community, and yourself! We’ll be discussing how to avoid (or end) an emotional affair. What We Discussed on the Podcast What exactly is an emotional affair? How an innocent friendship can morph into something more Questions to ask ourselves about interactions with the opposite sex Tips for setting boundaries about your relationships with others Tips for how to avoid getting into an emotional affair Helpful ideas about how to end an emotional affair Resources We Talked About on the Podcast Barb’s upcoming James Bible study How to Listen to the Podcast To listen or subscribe on Google Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Android: click here  To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here  To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here  Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.”    The post How to Avoid (or End) an Emotional Affair appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Do you ever set goals and fail to reach them? I used to do that all the time. The only goals I completed each year were my recreation goals! Over the years, though, I’ve learned some tips to help me be more successful with reaching goals. On today’s podcast, we’ll discuss ten tips about how to achieve your goals this year. I’ve asked my friend and fellow podcaster and writer, Dr. Melanie Wilson, to help me with this podcast as she is the master at completing goals!   Following are the tips we’ll discuss more fully on the podcast: Tips to Help You Achieve Your Goals Develop a routine. Make it easy. Make a plan for dealing with obstacles. Find ways to make it fun Keep your why in front of you. Let go of perfectionism. Be a good coach to yourself. Renew your mind when necessary. Gain support. Conquer procrastination. Melanie Wilson is a Christian psychologist turned homeschool mother of six.  She is also the author of a fascinating book called A Year of Living Productively. For one year, Melanie made a commitment to try a different productivity strategy, app, or program each week. In the book she shares how it went that week and what she liked and didn’t like about each of the productivity strategies. Resources We Talked About on the Podcast Melanie’s routine kit Melanie’s book: A Year of Living Productively  Melanie’s blog: homeschoolsanity.com Melanie’s podcast: The Homeschool Sanity Show Barb’s upcoming James Bible study Freedom from Procrastination Renewing of the Mind Project Barb’s decision making sheet (Click on the link, then scroll down to “Resources Mentioned in the Book.”) 45 Bible Verses for Procrastination How to Listen to the Podcast To listen or subscribe on Google Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Android: click here  To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here  To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here  Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.”    The post How to Achieve Your Goals – 10 Tips appeared first on Barb Raveling.

To give advice or not to give advice? That is the question. In the past I used to answer that with, Of course I should give advice! Why wouldn’t I give advice?! Well, I have since learned a few reasons why I shouldn’t! Why You Should Think Twice Before Giving Unsolicited Advice For starters, too much advice can hurt relationships. On our end, we think we’re giving wise advice to help people be safe and happy. But on their end, they often feel like we’re trying to fix them. This makes them annoyed with us and hurts relationships. Unsolicited advice can make the recipient feel unloved. Again, we’re trying to keep them happy and safe because we DO love them! They on the other hand feel like we’re focusing on something negative in them. That can make them think we’ll only love them if they’re perfect. Unsolicited advice also hurts relationships when we give the same advice over and over. This makes people not want to be with us because they’re tired of getting advice! Finally, unsolicited advice can hurt relationships with our adult children because it’s seen as a lack of respect. We think, I need to tell them this so they don’t make the same mistakes I made! They think, Mom (or Dad) doesn’t realize I’m an adult! So how do we break free from giving too much advice when it’s something we just do without thinking? Well, let me give you some advice about that… How to Decide if You Should Give Advice or Not In this blog post (and podcast episode), I want to share an acronym I’ve made that’s helping me know when to give or not give advice. I’ll warn you ahead of time, though. Usually I decide I shouldn’t give advice after asking the questions! I call the acronym SPIKER. Think of a person standing at the volleyball net, jumping high to shove the ball down the other side of the net and take out the opponent. That’s how advice often feels to the advice-receiver. We think we’re giving a nice gentle lob over the fence to help them have a better life, but they think we’re pounding them with advice. This acronym will help you evaluate what you have to say so see if it’s worth giving. With the holidays coming up, it seemed like the perfect time to share this acronym as many of us will be surrounded by people we want to give advice to! SPIKER Acronym: 6 Questions to Ask Before Giving Advice Ask these questions before you give advice. If you have adult kids coming home for the holidays, think about what kind of advice you may want to give them while they’re here. (Yes, I know it’s already running through your mind!) Ask yourself these questions before they get home. Or better yet, each morning before they wake up! For Covid/Political Discussion: You can also ask these questions to determine if it’s worth getting involved in a political or Covid discussion – or if it’s worth saying that comeback you’re dying to say when the topic comes up. You’ll just have to tweak the questions a bit since they’re designed with advice giving in mind. For example, with P for Profitable, you could ask, “What are the odds they’ll change their mind if I engage this topic with them?” or “Is this discussion worth the damage it could do to our relationship?”) S – Sure – Are you sure you’re giving the right advice or is there a possibility you’re wrong or you’ll find out one day that this was bad advice? P – Profitable – Will it be profitable? In other words, how likely are they to consider taking your advice? (This is especially helpful to think about for unsolicited advice.) I – Important – Is it important? Or are you wasting your advice-giving-currency on things that aren’t that important? K – Knowledge – Do they already know this? E – Edifying – Is it edifying? Will this build them up? Or will it make them feel like you think there is something wrong with them that needs to be fixed? R – Repeat – Have you said this before? How many times? (Most people don’t want to hear the same advice more than once or twice.) If you’d like to hear some examples of this acronym in action, check out the podcast episode. (Scroll down for links to listen to the podcast or click the player at the top of this post.) How to Give Advice: 6 Rules If you decide to still give advice after going through the questions, follow these six guidelines to help it be a positive experience. Be respectful. You will have a far better chance of them listening if you’re respectful. Before you give advice, try thinking of five things this person is doing well or five things you like and respect about this person. This will help you be respectful. Consider asking them for permission first. Since so many people don’t like unsolicited advice, it may be helpful to ask before you give advice. Just remember they may say no, and be respectful if they do. Which means no advice! (And no little comments about how they need advice!) Choose the right time and place. Try to choose a time outside the heat of the moment, but also not when they’re relaxing and having fun. It may even be helpful to tell them you have something to talk about and ask them what a good time would be (if they have time). Build people up with your words. In Colossians 4:29, Paul tells us to use words that edify others. Paul also tells us not to let any corrupt talk come out of our mouths, and to give grace to those who hear. That’s good advice! Try to preface your advice with a compliment. This may or may not work. After all, you don’t want them to think you’re buttering them up so they’ll take your advice! But if it’s possible, try to offer encouragement and positive feedback about other areas of their lives. And try not to only give advice or point out faults. This goes against rule #4 as we’re tearing people down, not building them up. Stop before you give too much advice. So often our initial advice is short and sweet. But when we don’t get the response we want, we may go into convince-them mode. This is often seen as obnoxious-mode by our advice receivers! So give yourself a little lecture and avoid the long-winded advice! 6 Lies That Make Us Give Unwanted Advice Often we want to stop giving advice, but we believe lies that drive us to do it. Here are a few of these lies and some truth that will help us change our way. If we give them advice, we can keep them from making the mistakes we made. Unfortunately, this isn’t true. We ALL make mistakes–and even if we lived around the most advice-giving person on the planet, we’d still make mistakes. Why? Because we often think other people’s advice is bad (even though it’s good). And because we don’t always have enough self-control to take good advice even if we want to. Not to mention the fact, that the advice-giver may be wrong! If they (do this thing we think they shouldn’t do), they’ll ruin their lives and be unhappy forever. Ruined lives and unhappy-forever is not dependent on one incident in life. Also, joy comes through walking with the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17, 22-24), not having a perfect life. So we can be joyful no matter what life throws our way as long as we walk with God. If they (do this thing we think they shouldn’t do), they’ll die. Again, this isn’t necessarily true unless they’re planning to jump off a high cliff. The Bible tells us our days are numbered, and they will only die if God allows them to die (Psalm 139:16). It’s possible for my friends and loved ones to have trouble-free lives. We don’t think this one outright, but I think we might believe it at the unconscious level.  Unfortunately, we will all have troubles and trials! I need to give them advice so they can have a trouble-free life. See truth for #4. Plus, if I keep giving them unsolicited advice, I will be one of the troubles in their life! And do I really want to be that? I need to give them advice so they can continue to follow God their whole lives. Again, I have no control over this. In a world with so much skepticism, temptation, and condemnation of Christians, it’s a wonder any kids grow up to follow God their whole lives. We have lots of influence when our kids are young, not so much when our kids become adults sadly. The best thing we can do is pray for our adult children.  We can also work on our own sins and character flaws so we won’t make them stumble with our behavior. Does that mean we should never give advice? No definitely not. Sometimes it’s worth giving advice. Just think it through first if you’re a person who tends to give too much of it. The Bible gives us all kinds of encouragement to ask advice from wise counselors, and advice can be life-changing! My guess is that if you’re a person who gives too much advice, you’re also a person who loves people and wants the best for them. That’s a good thing! Just be careful how you give it. Let your words edify and build up people. And love them well! Resources We Talked About on the Podcast Blog post with advice questions – I wrote these awhile ago. They’re not as easy to remember as the SPIKER acronym, but still helpful! How to Listen to the Podcast To listen or subscribe on Google Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Android: click here  To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here  To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here  Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.”  The post To Give Advice or Not Give Advice? 6 Rules to Follow appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Do you struggle with productivity? Do you find that you often have trouble getting through your to-do list? At the end of each day, do you feel discouraged that you didn’t achieve more? If so, you’ll want to listen to today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, where I interview Polly Payne, the CEO of Horacio Printing and the creator of the Dream Planner. Polly shares many helpful tips so that we can productively focus our energy on what matters most each day and finally conquer that to-do list! Things We Discussed on the Podcast How to win the day rather than letting the day defeat you How to simplify your focus by using the “Top 3” strategy The importance of planning your “Top 3” the night before Two phone tips to help get things done The Five Block System A helpful tip to transition from your morning routine to work block How remembering your “why” is so helpful to your productivity The “Planning Fallacy” Start small and give yourself the win Resources Mentioned on the Podcast Dream Planning Podcast with Polly Payne Shop at Horacio Printing  2022 Dream Planner  Soap Bible Study Systemize Your Life Podcast with Chelsi Jo The Pomodoro Method Finish by Jon Acuff Polly Payne is a southern girl from Alabama who moved to NYC to pursue her dreams. She left her successful career in advertising to run Horacio Printing and share her Dream Planner with the world. She has sold over 35,000 Dream Planners around the world and raised over $65,000 to fight human trafficking through her partnership with A21. Last year, she hosted the Dreamers Summit which featured Christine Caine, Alli Worthington and DawnChere Wilkerson as guest speakers! Polly now lives in Chattanooga, TN with her husband and daughter and has a little baby boy on the way coming New Year’s Day!  How to Listen to the Podcast To listen or subscribe on Google Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Android: click here  To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here  To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here  Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.”  The post How to Plan a Productive Day with Polly Payne appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Most all of us have the desire to grow in God, but we often don’t know how to begin. My guest on the Christian Habits Podcast today, Darryl Dash, has written a great new book on this topic called 8 Habits for Growth: A Simple Guide to Becoming More Like Christ. Darryl discusses the habits in his book and gives helpful advice for the Christian desiring to go deeper in their faith walk. Things We Discussed on the Episode What Christian growth is Strategies for growth both for the individual and for the church Sharing life with someone as an effective means of discipleship How caring for your physical body is actually an important part of Christian growth Tips for beginning habits God’s deep compassion for us when we are trying to grow and we fail How consistency is more important than perfection About Darryl Dash DARRYL DASH is pastor of Liberty Grace Church in Toronto. He is also cofounder of Gospel for Life, and director of Advance Church Planting Institute. He has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and has over 25 years of ministry experience. Darryl is married to Charlene, and has two adult children, Christy and Josiah. You can find Darryl online at DashHouse.com. Resources Mentioned on the Podcast Darryl’s new book 8 Habits for Growth Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg How to Listen to the Podcast To listen or subscribe on Google Podcasts: click here To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here To listen or subscribe on Android: click here To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.” The post Darryl Dash: 8 Habits for Christian Growth appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Do you ever get irritated with friends who believe differently than you do about politics or Covid? Do you get annoyed with the faults of a spouse or family member? Do you get frustrated with people who drive at a different speed than you drive? If so, today’s post and podcast will help. We’ll be discussing how to stop being angry. Before we do that, though, let’s look at what anger is. What is anger? When I first started helping people let go of anger, I discovered people have different definitions for anger. Many picture anger as the person who is yelling and swearing, but anger is more than that. It also includes resentment, irritation, annoyance, and frustration. Often we stuff feelings of anger because we feel bad about it. But if you stuff those emotions for too long, you may not even know you’re angry. How do you know you’re angry? If you’re used to stuffing or denying your anger, it will be hard to spot it in the beginning. Look for times when you feel out of sorts. Then think back to the last few hours. Did something just happen to upset you? Did you read something on the news? A post on social media? Did someone say something hurtful? Ask yourself, “What emotion am I feeling?” This will help you begin to recognize your emotions. Anger, resentment, irritation, frustration, and bitterness all fall into the category of anger. Judgement and pride are accompanying emotions. What causes anger? Have you ever been in a situation where you were angry and your friend wasn’t? Even though you were both witnessing the same thing happening? We all get angry at different things because of our different life experiences, beliefs, and personalities. If we know why we’re angry, it will be easier to stop being angry. Begin by asking yourself, “Why am I angry?” Here are a few reasons we get angry, irritated, annoyed, or resentful: We think we’re right–and get mad at all those wrong people out there. We think others need to make us happy–and get mad when they don’t. We think life should be easy–and get frustrated when it’s not. We think we shouldn’t have to suffer–and get mad when people expect us to do things that are hard. We compare our strengths to other’s faults–and get mad when they’re not more like us. We care too much about what others think–and get mad when they don’t give us enough praise or affirmation. People we love do scary things–and our fear comes out as anger. People we love say and do things to hurt us–and our pain comes out as anger. Politicians do things we think will harm people or destroy our way of life–and our fear comes out as anger toward both the politicians and all the people who follow them. Is anger bad? Any time I teach on anger in a Bible study, I’ll always have at least one person in the room bring up righteous anger. The idea is that there are good forms of anger and bad forms of anger. The problem is that even if there are good forms of anger, we engage in the bad form 95% of the time. So rather than defend ourselves for the 5%, we’re better off if we work on the 95% of unrighteous anger! It’s true that God is angry in the Bible at times and since we know God never sins, we know it’s possible to be angry and not sin. But Romans 3:10 tells us that “none is righteous, no not one.” So my question is, can an unrighteous person have righteous anger? That question is up for debate and people will answer it in different ways. One of the ways people answer it is to point out how you need righteous anger to right all the wrongs in the world–to help save the innocent from their abusers, for example. My question is, could you help the innocent with a motive of love rather than an emotion of anger? When Jesus died on the cross, I don’t think he was angry. Jesus appears to be angry in the temple when he is overturning tables and it’s possible he was–but if you look at those passages, it doesn’t actually say he was. Although if he was, He would be another example of God–who is 100% righteous–being angry. I think you could make a biblical case for both points of view, so I usually try to avoid this part of the anger topic. But since it’s a topic that always comes up, I thought I should at least mention it. What does the Bible say about anger? If you look up anger in the Bible, you’ll find some examples of God being angry and all kinds of verses telling us not to be angry. The only passage that seems like it’s saying we can be angry is Ephesians 4:26-27: “Be angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” Here’s the interesting thing, though. In the Greek, the verb for “be angry” can either be translated “be angry” or “you are being angry.” The reason for this is that the imperative 2nd person plural form (be angry) is the same as the present active indicative 2nd person plural form (you are continually being angry) in the Greek. (See pages 12 and 111 in Essentials of New Testament Greek by Ray Summers, Broadman Press, 1950.) But even if we use the imperative form, the verse still tells us to let go of our anger before we go to sleep. Why? Because otherwise we’ll give the devil an opportunity. I don’t know how many times I’ve given the devil an opportunity by holding onto my anger for not just a day but weeks and months and even years. When we do that, we hurt ourselves and others. How does anger hurt us and others? Here are just a few of the ways our anger, irritation, annoyance, and resentment hurt ourselves and others: Anger destroys relationships. When we hold onto our anger, we don’t want to be with the person we’re angry with. We’re not thinking of any of their positive traits, just their faults. This makes us dislike and even hate them and there goes the relationship. Just think of what would happen if every married person followed Paul’s advice in Ephesians 4:26-27. Divorce lawyers would go bankrupt! Anger hurts our relationship with God. Have you ever been so annoyed with a person that you can’t let go of it? I have. And during the seasons of my life when that happened, I noticed I didn’t feel as close to God. James 4:6 says that God is opposed to the proud. Anger often reflects a proud heart and it distances us from God. Anger keeps others from recognizing their sin and repenting. Just think of the last time someone was angry with you. Did it make you think, Oh, I need to change my ways. I just realized I’m sinning! Or did it make you think, This person is such a jerk for being angry with me! Romans 2:4 tells us that it’s God’s kindness that leads to repentance. This is true for us as well. People will be more likely to recognize their sin and feel bad for it if we’re kind to them. Anger keeps us from recognizing our sin and repenting. When we’re angry, we’re so focused on the sins or faults of others, that we don’t notice our own sin. We feel like we have a right to our anger and forget all the verses in the Bible talking about giving grace and forgiving others. In truth, our own sins of pride, judgment, and sustained resentment are just as bad or worse than the sins of the people we’re angry with. Anger robs our joy. Have you ever been angry and joyful at the same time? Probably not! Anger robs our joy. It keeps us from experiencing the abundant life. God wants us to love others well, but He also wants us to live joyful lives.  The sooner we get rid of our anger, the better! Anger robs the joy of others. No one likes to listen to an angry person yell. Not the people who are being yelled at and not the innocent bystanders. Even if we’re angry and not yelling, people can sense our resentment and it robs their joy. It’s hard to hide anger–much better to work at getting rid of it! How do you control angry outbursts? So how do you stop being angry? Much of the literature on how to stop being angry focuses on how to control our anger. With this approach, we’re still angry. We’re just learning how to control it. I agree that we need to learn to control our anger. We don’t want to have outbursts because they hurt people and scare people. But what if we could let go of the angry feelings altogether? If we could do that, we wouldn’t have to control our anger because it wouldn’t be there to control. This is actually possible, and I’ve experienced it myself. My brother once said, “Barb, you say the things everyone else is thinking but are afraid to say.” This is true. That’s why it was so much more helpful for me to learn how to get rid of the angry thoughts, than just control the anger. Because if it was in my head, I was going to say it. God did teach me how to let go of anger, and although I still get annoyed at times, it’s no longer a big issue in my life. God can do the same for you. Following are 12 tips to help you stop being angry. How to Stop Being Angry – 12 Tips When I first started practicing these tips, I thought I was inviting myself to life of misery. A life of everyone else getting what they wanted but not me. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The more I learned to let go of my idea of what had to happen for me to be happy, the happier I became. Here are the steps I took–and you can take–to stop being angry. Don’t beat yourself up about it. I was lucky because I was never a yeller. Because of that, I didn’t feel guilty about my anger when I first started working on it. I just calmly renewed my mind every time I got angry. But if you’re a yeller, you may spend a lot of time beating yourself up. Try not to do that. The truth is that everyone has faults, and anger is just one of many. Is it important to work on? Yes! But work on it from the safety of your Father’s arms, knowing that He loves you as is. Renew your mind every time you’re angry. The first thing I learned when I started working on anger was that I believed some lies that were making me angry. The more I got rid of the lies, the less I got angry. Renewing is a skill that takes time and effort to learn. Check out the renewing of the mind tools tab at the top of this blog for more help with renewing. You can also use the anger questions from I Deserve a Donut (and Other Lies That Make You Eat) or the Renewing of the Mind Project to renew. I’ll give you an example of renewing with those questions at the end of today’s podcast episode. Another way to renew is with truth journaling. Here’s an example of truth journaling for anger: Renewing when angry at your spouse.  Recognize the consequences of your anger. When we’re angry, we’re so wrapped up in how that person is hurting us or others that we don’t see how our anger is hurting us and others. Option charts can help you see the consequences of your anger. This podcast episode shows the option chart in action: Option Charts: Tool for a Happy Christian Marriage. Option charts take a bit of time to learn, but they’re incredibly helpful in letting go of anger. Why? Because they help us see in black and white how anger is affecting our  walk with God, relationships, enjoyment of life, and even our chances of being able to change the person who is making us angry. Seeing the consequences of anger makes us want to let go of it. Accept what you need to accept. If you live in a rich western country, you probably grew up with the idea that you can change anything you want to change. But this is a lie. For example, how successful were you in changing your governor’s position on Covid? How successful have you been with changing your spouse’s or friend’s bad habits? Often the only thing we can change is our attitude–because like it or not, God hasn’t give us the power to change other people. This post will help with this step: Accepting the Unacceptable. Option charts (tip 3) also help with accepting the unacceptable. Don’t assume you’re right and everyone else is wrong. Think of it this way: have scientists ever believed one thing at one stage of history and then changed their minds years later? Or on a personal level, have you ever believed one thing at one stage of your life and another thing at another stage of our life? God is the only person alive who is right 100% of the time. That means we could be wrong. The more we’re willing to recognize we might be wrong, the easier it will be to give others the benefit of the doubt and not be angry with them. Don’t people please. When we people please, we feel like we have to act a certain way for people to like us. Because of that we often resent the people we’re trying to please. We resent them for two reasons. First, we’re mad we have to act a certain way for them to like us. (Even though we’re often wrong about that. Often, they really will like us no matter what.) And second, we resent them because we may be doing things we don’t want to do to make them happy. There’s a big difference between people pleasing and doing things out of a sacrificial love for others. Either way we’re doing things we don’t want to do. But with sacrificial love, we feel like we have a choice. We’re doing it as a conscious decision to love others well. With people pleasing, we feel like we have to do it–and that makes us annoyed. Don’t compare your strengths to other people’s faults. Often we get angry and think, Why can’t this person be more like us? Well, here’s the truth. They’re not like us! They have different weaknesses and different strengths. When we compare our strengths to their weaknesses, we become angry with them. When we compare our weaknesses with their strengths, we become angry with us. Much better to stop comparing altogether! Be humble. (AKA recognize your own faults.) I found it was far easier to accept my husband’s faults when I took a good hard look at my own faults. I started out thinking he was the bad guy. But after renewing and doing the option charts, I realized that I was also a bad guy! In fact, I may even have been the worst guy. This works with relationships, but it also works with politics. Instead of looking at the faults of the other political party, look at the faults of your own party. Neither party is perfect. I’ve also found it helpful to think of ten good things about the president in charge when it wasn’t the president I voted for. Let go of unrealistic expectations. One of my friends once said, “If you keep expecting a person to act one way when he’s always show himself to act another way, you’re inviting yourself to be a victim all over again.” One way to let go of anger quickly is to just say, “Of course he just did (or said) that. He always does (or says) things like that.” Now granted, it’s not true that he always does this. But the quicker we can recognize, that hey, he does things like this, the more we can just it go. Everyone has faults. We don’t want to excuse things like actual abuse, but we also don’t want to jump on every single fault. The more we practice the next tip, the happier we’ll be. Give grace. Some people are natural grace-givers. I wasn’t. The first time I learned how to give grace (back in those angry wife years), I couldn’t believe how freeing it was. I went from thinking everyone had to act a certain way for me to be happy to being able to enjoy people in their as-is condition. It was life-changing. Just this incredible feeling of freedom and joy. God asks us to give grace, not just for others, but also for ourselves. Rely on God to get your emotional, relational, and safety needs met. I had a hard time deciding if this step should be “Learn to be content in all situations,” “Don’t expect others to make you happy,” or “Rely on God to get your needs met.” But the truth is that relying on God to get our needs met is what allows us to be content in all situations. When we feel things have to go a certain way for us to be happy, we’ll be angry with anyone who keeps that from happening. But when we believe deep down that we only need God to be happy, we’ll stop being mad at all those people who are getting in the way of our happiness. The key is to develop such a close walk with God that we actually experience Him meeting our needs. Here is a post and podcast on growing closer to God: 7 Ways to Get Closer to God. Work on changing whatever God wants you to change. Sometimes this will be your own heart–making a commitment to do some of the things I mentioned in this blog post. But other times it may be a plan to change the situation that’s annoying you. For example, you may decide to go into politics or start a community program or stop watching the news. You may decide to put up boundaries or end a dating relationship or go to a counselor. Or you may just start by getting a Bible study that will help with your problem or doing an Internet search to see how others deal with it. It’s good to work on problems. But it’s far better to work on problems from a heart that feels that even if you don’t come up with perfect solutions, life can still be good. If you decide to make a project of letting go of anger, try to remember that life isn’t fair, nor is it easy. Letting go of anger is an act of laying down your life to love others well. That’s not easy. When I worked on it, I made a commitment to renew my mind every time I was annoyed with my husband. In two months, I saw a huge change in my attitude. It’s worth going through the effort to let go of this emotion! Jesus came to give us abundant life. That abundant life is only dependent on us walking in the Spirit. It’s not dependent on us controlling all the people in our lives so they don’t hurt us. It’s also not dependent on all the leaders in the world making policies that will keep people safe and allow all of us to live the lives we want to live. The fruit of the Spirit includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness. All of those things are the opposite of anger. My prayer is that God will continue to help each of us grow in walking with Him so that each year, we see more of His fruit in our lives. More Resources to Help You Stop Being Angry On the podcast episode of this blog post, I go through the anger questions  from I Deserve a Donut (and Other Lies That Make You Eat) and the Renewing of the Mind Project. If you’d like to hear what those look like in action, go to the podcast links at the bottom of this post and you can hear that at the xx minute mark. The Live in Peace tab at the top of this blog: If you look under this tab, you’ll see different emotions listed. Look under the anger heading and you’ll find different posts on anger, resentment, and irritation. Also, read this post to find out how to make a project out of letting go of anger. Renewing of the Mind Tools tab at the top of this blog: Click on the Renew Your Mind tab first, then the Renewing of the Mind Tools tab. This tab includes all kinds of resources to help you renew your mind. Freedom from Emotional Eating: Although I don’t have a Bible study on letting go of anger, I do have a whole chapter (5 lessons) on how to let go of anger in Freedom from Emotional Eating. The first chapter of this book is geared to letting go of emotional eating, but the rest of the book will be helpful for anyone as it deals with the negative emotions we all experience. How to Stop Being Annoyed podcast episode The podcast that goes with this blog post – the podcast is a bit different than the blog post so it may be helpful to listen to that as well. You can find the links below to listen to it – or just listen with the play button at the top of this post. How to Listen to the Podcast  To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here  To listen or subscribe on Android: click here  To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here  To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here  Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.”    The post How to Stop Being Angry – 12 Tips appeared first on Barb Raveling.

If someone told you to have a quiet time, you’d know what to do: read your Bible and pray. But what if they told you to renew your mind? Would you know how to renew your mind? Maybe not. The renewing of the mind doesn’t have a clear protocol like a quiet time has. Maybe that’s because it’s so messy. How is the renewing of the mind different than a quiet time? With a quiet time, you know you’ve done it when you’ve “read your Bible and prayed.” With the renewing of the mind, you know you’ve done it when you’re seeing life–and more specifically, your current situation–from a biblical perspective. It might take a simple prayer to get to that point, a long truth journaling session,  a Bible passage, a chart, some Scripture meditation, a five minute run-through of some questions, or any number of things. In order for it to be a true renewing of the mind experience, our thinking needs to be transformed. And in order for our thinking to be transformed, our minds need to be actively engaged. Listening to a sermon while we clean the kitchen and talk to the kids isn’t going to cut it. Neither is having a quiet time just so we can check it off our list for the day. What does it mean to renew your mind? So what is the renewing of the mind? How do you do it? (Note: I give many practical examples of how to do it on the podcast version of this blog post. You can also find examples in the links at the bottom of this post.) Paul talks about the renewing of the mind in Romans 12:2 where he says: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Paul goes into more detail in Ephesians 4:22-24: “That, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Paul tells us that the renewing of the mind involves a taking off and a putting on. We do this in several different areas: Take off the old self and put on the new self. Let go of our cultural perspective and put on a biblical perspective. Take off lies and replace them with truth. Let go of what we learned growing up and put on what we learned in the Bible. So we’re not just reading the Bible–we’re taking everything we’ve learned in the Bible, talking it all over with God, and actively trying to look at life through His eyes. You can’t do that without a working knowledge of the Word. You also need a willingness–and a desire–to change. And you need time with God as He is the One who renews our minds. What does God do through the renewing of the mind? In a sense, the Holy Spirit is acting as our counselor, peeling away the lies so we can see what life is really like and how we should respond to it. When I renew my mind, I usually start out frazzled and unhappy, thinking certain things have to happen in order for me to be happy. I usually end up peaceful and content, willing to live any sort of life for God–not always, but more often than not. God has used this discipline in my own life and the lives of countless others to help them with the following: Breaking free from bad habits Learning how to work even when you don’t feel like it Losing weight and keeping it off Letting go of negative emotions such as worry, insecurity, and anger/irritations Gaining victory over procrastination Starting new habits such as having a quiet time Restoring and revitalizing relationships Gaining freedom from recurring sins Growing closer to God If we want to see transformation in some area of our lives, it’s important to take the time to renew our minds. What’s the difference between renewing in general and renewing to break a habit, lose weight, break free from a negative emotion, etc.? Any time you read the Bible, you’ll have the potential for a renewed mind because God changes us through His Word. How we’ll change will depend on what we’re reading about and how engaged our mind is as we’re reading. Our minds can also be renewed when we listen to a sermon or read a Christian book. If our mind is thinking biblically by the end of the experience, it has been renewed. However, when we’re renewing for a specific goal, it’s helpful to do some specific renewing. Following are some suggestions. How do you renew your mind for a specific goal? Focus on one area of life to change. Choose an area that is causing you the most stress or an area you believe God wants you to change. This worksheet can help you choose an area to work on. Start with what’s easy.  The Renewing of the Mind Project,  I Deserve a Donut (And Other Lies That Make You Eat), and my free I Deserve a Donut app are filled with questions you can use to renew your mind. There are questions to break habits, start habits, complete goals, help you gain control with food, and let go of negative emotions. Choose a set of questions based on what you’re working on, then use those questions for a conversation with God. I sometimes imagine God asking me the questions. The questions are designed to help you discover the lies you’re believing and see life from a biblical perspective. I designed them by testing questions to see what would convict me without offending or annoying me. Advance to truth journaling. Truth journaling is a little harder to learn but it’s a life-changing practice. Other than Bible study, I can’t think of a discipline in my life that has changed me more. Truth journaling brought me close to God and helped me live a more joyful, peaceful, and self-controlled life. You can find resources to help with truth journaling at the bottom of this post. Lecture yourself with truth. If you’re a person who has a hard time sitting still, try lecturing yourself with truth as you go about your day. For example, if you’re working on a weight loss project and happen to see a Dairy Queen while you’re driving, don’t say, “Oh that would be so good! So creamy! So delicious! I should stop there!” Instead say, “Wow, if I break my boundaries and have a big unhealthy treat, I’ll be so regretful. This sort of behavior makes me unhealthy, depressed, it could lead to diseases like cancer, and possibly lead to a binge tonight. I’ll feel hopeless in the morning and probably condemn myself. Is it really worth it? No!!!” What are some general renewing tips? Commit to renewing once a day about anything that comes up in the day. Here are a few examples: If you don’t feel like working on your to-do list, you might answer the Dread or Procrastination questions in the Renewing of the Mind Project. If you’re worried, go through the Worry questions in the free I Deserve a Donut app. If everyone’s out of the house and you feel like doing your bad habit, you could do the Sneakiness questions in the Renewing of the Mind Project. All of these questions will lead to conversations with God about your real-life problems and a chance to see them from His perspective which will help you change. Engage your mind. It’s easy to read the Bible while your mind wanders. But the more you engage your mind, the quicker your thinking will change. That’s why I’ll often diagram Bible verses in my journal–because it keeps my mind engaged! Do it in writing!! The more senses you engage, the deeper the truth will go. People tell me they usually learn much more truth when they’re writing and I have experienced that as well. Do easy things as well. If you can’t make yourself renew in writing, just ask yourself, “What does this look like from a cultural perspective?” “What does this look like from a biblical perspective?” Or you could ask, “How does God want me to respond in this situation?” “How does Satan want me to respond?” (I have some examples of this in the podcast.) Try a variety of ways to renew your mind. You’ll find lots of ways to renew your mind in the renewing of the mind tools tab at the top of this blog, including a recent podcast and blog post on scripture meditation. Why is it important to renew regularly? If you’re trying to change a habit, you may need to renew several times a day as the truth only changes desires for a few hours in the beginning. Renewing is vital for transformation in the area of our habits, but it’s also helpful for other reasons. Here are a few of them: Thoughts swirl in our heads all day and renewing can stop the swirling. We’re constantly telling ourselves lies and renewing gets rid of the lies. The Bible tells us to rejoice always. Renewing will help us rejoice. We’re under spiritual attack and renewing is a way to attack. Renewing helps you live in peace. I didn’t think that was possible in the old days, but I’ve found that it IS possible! And delightful. I hope that you’ll give renewing a try. It’s a life-changing habit, but it takes some stamina in the beginning to learn how to do it in a way that will be effective. My prayer is that God will bless you through this habit! Blog Posts about Truth Journaling How to truth journal Truth Journaling for Your To-Do List 3 Most Common Truth Journaling Mistakes Truth Journaling with the List Method (for income taxes) Blog post with truth journaling examples about overeating Truth Journaling for Marriage Books to Help You Renew Your Mind Renewing of the Mind Project (I would suggest starting with this one unless you’d rather start with a Bible study.) I Deserve a Donut (And Other Lies That Make You Eat)  Bible Study: Freedom from Emotional Eating This is a Bible study but also contains instruction on how to truth journal. Bible Study: Rally This is a Bible study on how to grow through trials that also contains instruction on how to truth journal. Bible Study: Freedom from Procrastination This is a Bible study/workbook on overcoming procrastination that includes a large section of renewing activities to help you achieve goals or follow through on your to-do list. Other Renewing Resources Tools to Help You Renew Your Mind Blog post about how to meditate on scripture Online Renewing of the Mind Workshop – (This was originally written as a series to help you work on New Year’s resolutions.) Blog post about how to do option charts How to Renew Consistently (This is a podcast coaching interview, so it deals with other things as well.) Option Charts for Marriage Other Resources We Mentioned on the Podcast Julie Ouellette’s Blog and Podcast: A Becoming Journey How to Listen to the Podcast To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here To listen or subscribe on Android: click here To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here To listen or subscribe on Google Play: click here To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.” The post How To Renew Your Mind appeared first on Barb Raveling.

In this episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, I talk with Ginny Owens, an award-winning singer, songwriter, author and speaker. Ginny candidly shares biblical wisdom for finding hope when life is hard which can also be found in her new book: Singing in the Dark, set to release on May 1st, 2021. Some Things Ginny and I Discussed on the Podcast The “habit” of praising through the story of Leah in the Bible Practicing praise Singing God’s hope Replacing the negative “songs” in our heads with songs of praise Learning the secret of contentment, according to Philippians 4:12 How Ginny develops her “daily song,” and meditates on the word of God Misconceptions about prayer Learning to pray prayers that are “not polite” Resources Discussed on the Podcast Singing in the Dark by Ginny Owens About Ginny Owens Ginny Owens has had an award-winning career that encompasses two decades as a singer/songwriter, recording artist, author and speaker. During that time, Owens has released 10 albums, five EPs and two Christmas projects garnering critical success, chart-topping radio singles, and numerous film and television placements. She continues to inspire others with the truth of the gospel through personal stories, songs and Bible teaching. In 2014, Ginny released her first book, Transcending Mysteries: Who is God And What Does He Want From Us, co-authored with Andrew Greer and published by Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins. Her most recent set of EP’s, entitled Expressions I and Ii (November, 2020; February, 2021) have amassed millions of streams across multiple platforms. Ginny currently resides in New York City and is in her final year of a Master of Biblical Studies at seminary. Connect with Ginny on Twitter at @GinnyOwens, on Instagram at @GinnyOwensOfficial, and online at ginnyowens.com or facebook.com/GinnyOwensMusic. How to Listen to the Podcast To listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: click here To listen or subscribe on Android: click here To listen or subscribe on Stitcher: click here To listen or subscribe on Google Play: click here To listen or subscribe on Spotify: click here Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.” The post Finding Hope When Life is Hard with Ginny Owens appeared first on Barb Raveling.