spiritual health

As a Christian, when I realize that I am in a "dry spell," a time when my relationship with the Lord seems to have cooled, when I have little or no zeal for the Word, it is a pretty safe bet that He has been replaced by someone else. Not something else, but someone else. That someone is invariably me.

This can come about for many reasons, but the net effect is that my thinking is off and that my focus moves from outward to inward. The irony is that one of the symptoms (little or no zeal for the Word) is a huge obstacle to the remedy: To get back into the Word so that He can renew my mind.

Reading in Philippians immerses us in the love of Christ and reminds us to regard others as more important than ourselves. This was the attitude that Jesus had and that we are to have. To serve others, focus on their hurts, pries my mind off of myself. As Abraham Lincoln said,

To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own.

Such service, motivated by the love of God, is service that honors Him; it glorifies Him by allowing His life lived in me (not my life) to shine in the world.

What is it to serve God and to do His will? Nothing else than to show mercy to our neighbor. For it is our neighbor who needs our service; God in heaven needs it not.
--Martin Luther

The Christian needs regular input from the Word, not merely because that's what Christians do but in order that we see God's transforming power at work in us as our minds are renewed. When "spiritual anemia" sets in, remember that Christ Himself is the cure:

Above all the grace and gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.
--Francis of Assisi