Soul Shepherding

A common mistake people make is to deny fear and other emotions. We do that when we cheerlead people to have faith, be strong, and love other people. It’s not caring or helpful if someone tells you, Don’t be afraidhave faith in God!... However well-intentioned this kind of encouragement is, it usually leaves people feeling judged, invalidated, and like they need to put on a happy face. If these statements are not preceded by and based in empathetic validation of people’s real fears, anxieties, vulnerabilities, and other emotions then it is not loving or wise. Instead, it just reinforces people to deny their emotions. Jesus and the Bible are never on the side of denying or negating emotion. (But you might miss this if you don’t read carefully.) Fear not (e.g., Matt. 14:27) and Do not be anxious (e.g., Phil. 4:6-7) need to be taken in context of their passage and the whole counsel of God’s word. The point the Lord is making is, WHEN you feel afraid or anxious, pray honestly about your experience, ask for what you need, love one another with listening and compassion, and take courage from being with Jesus in the spiritual reality of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps the most helpful examples of this kind of authentic faith that validates real emotions and puts confidence in the nearness and goodness of God in all things are the Psalms. With a tender heart and insecure feelings the Psalmist pleads to the Lord, Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge (Ps. 16:1). To articulate our experience in prayer to God who’s always listening and always has open arms to us and to a safe friend who will listen and care is always a helpful, validating, and strengthening posture to get into. And actually, it’s what enables us to move forward with God in healthy faith and with real courage when we’re hurting or struggling with our mental health. . . . #soulshepherding #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #christianmentalhealth #faithandmentalhealth #christianlife #christianquotes #mentalhealthquotes #mentalhealthmatters #christiancounselor #christianencouragement #mentalhealthadvocate #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthisimportant #empathy

You might think of anxiety as a negative thing. Many people do. We don’t like to feel anxious. We don’t want to be controlled by it. We judge ourselves for being anxious, feel shame, and/or try to distract ourselves. But, it’s natural to feel anxious from time to time. ... Of course, it doesn’t feel good to be anxious, but anxiety itself isn’t bad. It’s actually a natural way that our body reacts when we’ve been holding onto fear and stress. Anxiety is how our body indicates that there’s something going on under the surface that needs our attention. Usually it means we need to slow down and pay attention to what we feel and need. Often times when we experience anxiety we’re perpetuating the problem without realizing it. We don’t like how the anxiety makes us feel so we fight against it and try to make the feeling go away. But when we try to make our uncomfortable emotions go away we’re repressing them. They don’t really go away. They go into our unconscious mind, which plays out in our bodies. So we end up with all this fear trapped in our body and eventually we come undone and break down with an anxiety attack. But one surprisingly effective strategy to deal with an anxiety attack is to give in to it. That’s right, just let yourself have it! Instead of fighting the feeling, welcome it. We call this befriending our emotions. One way to do this is to talk to yourself, God, a friend or even to the emotion itself! while you’re feeling the emotion. Ride it out and tell yourself, I’ve felt extremely anxious before and it won’t kill me. God has helped me survive this before. I won’t suffocate. I’m just anxious because I have a lot of feelings I need to talk and pray through. Then start breathing and praying. Or imagine being in a beautiful peaceful scene. Better yet, fix your thoughts to a comforting Bible passage, like Psalm 23. As we become aware of our personal emotions and needs, receive the empathy from an ambassador of Jesus that calms us down, and learn to rely on God’s presence and grace we’ll experience freedom from anxiety . . . #soulshepherding #christianmentalhealth #faithandmentalhealth #christianquotes #christiantruth #christianlife #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #christianliving #faithquotes #jesuslovers #jesuslife #jesusquotes #jesustime #mentalhealth #mentalhealthisimportant #faithblogger #christianliving #mentalhealthquotes #mentalhealthmatters #christiancounselor #christianencouragement #emotionalhealth #anxietysupport #mentalhealthadvocate #mentalhealthrecovery #christianlifecoach #mentalhealthishealth #emotionallyhealthy #mentalhealthisimportant

Finding words for your feelings is fuel for your faith. We’re prone to deny the emotions that are distressing, but that banishes them into an unconscious region of our body where they can become toxic and cause sickness, depression, anxiety, addiction, cynicism, isolation, or destructive conflicts with people. Furthermore, trying not to feel an unpleasant emotion can numb our ability to feel any emotion, including the pleasant ones.... Instead, you can look into the mirror of Jesus of Nazareth. Share your heart with him. See him empathizing with your feelings and thoughts (which are connected) so you can take on the mind of Christ. When we admire and bond with Jesus the feeler, we naturally put more value on the emotions that we and other people have. We can do this through mediating on the Gospels and participating in love-one-another relationships in the body of Christ. Connecting with the emotions of Christ helps us to feel and convey his presence in our conversing, praying, playing, preaching, teaching, and working. It helps us to clothe ourselves with Christ’s virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Col. 3:12). We can see Jesus mirroring our emotions the very emotions we’re denying. It’s freeing to discover that feeling anxious is not a sin and emotions are natural, healthy, and even a source of wisdom! When we’re emotionally honest with God and trustworthy people we open ourselves to receive more of the Holy Spirit’s inner healing and re-forming. We replace the false self with a new self that is increasingly authentic, energetic, free, and engaged in intimate relationships. We learn to find joy and confidence not just in visible blessings but more so in the spiritual realities of Christ’s cross and kingdom #JOTSbook . . . #christianquotes #biblestudy #christianwriter #christianauthor #christianbook #devotional #faithblogger #christianblog #biblestudymoments #livebygrace #faithhopelove #dailywisdom #christianliving #godslove #godsgrace #powerofprayer #Jesus #graceupongrace #prayer #scripture #biblicalliving #christianity #faithquotes #jesusquotes #blessings #godislove #thankyoulord #emotions #emotionalhealth

What if you could find a therapist’s empathy and insight and a pastor’s values, training, and prayers in one place? We’ve been separating these two ways and it diminished our soul. We may go to therapists and self-help books to be self-aware and healthy in our emotions and relationships, but get self-absorbed.... We may go to the Bible and church services to trust Jesus, but neglect to be emotionally honest with the friends who can incarnate the Spirit of God. Jesus Christ is the path. He is our model, our source, and our way to true life (John 14:8). This path with Jesus is fleshed out in emotionally honest prayers, God-seeking conversations, heart-engaging sermons and Bible studies, and nature walks. #JOTSbook . . . #christianquotes #christianquotesdaily #biblestudy #christianwriter #christianauthor #christianbook #devotional #faithblogger #christianblog #biblestudymoments #livebygrace #faithhopelove #dailywisdom #christianliving #godslove #godsgrace #Jesus #christianpsychology #christiantherapist #christianpsychologist #graceupongrace #biblicalliving #christianity #faithquotes #jesusquotes #blessings #godislove #thankyoulord #soulshepherding

Today is Ash Wednesday which begins the period of Lent 40 days to prepare our hearts for Easter resurrection. This holy season is helpful for all Christians to appreciate the cross of Christ and their opportunity to take up their cross and follow Christ for the joy set before them (Heb. 5:7). Few people think of Lent as easy. ... But in truth Lent becomes an easy yoke when we keep going deeper in our appreciation of the mercy and grace of Christ and we learn how to apply it to our daily life. Traditionally, the discipline of Lent is to fast from something. You could deny yourself a meal, pleasure, or entertainment. Or renew your resolve to give up a bad habit (either a sin or a distraction from what’s best). Why deny yourself? It’s not an end in itself. When you abstain from something you make a space of time and energy to focus on God’s loving presence in the moment. You’re engaging more deeply with the God who loves you with great delight! This brings joy! It also brings power to be more patient and kind to other people. For instance, if you fast from a meal you can spend that time meditating on Scripture, enjoying God’s love, and praying for other people. Or if God leads you to give up complaining for Lent it would help you to focus on taking a number of gratitude showers each day, thanking God for a number of blessings, and then verbalizing your thanks to people. This is how a discipline of abstinence (self-denial) and a discipline of engagement (loving relationship) work together to help you grow in the grace of Jesus, your Lord and Savior (2 Peter 3:18). So as you enter into this season of Lent, I encourage you to not only choose something to fast from, but to also choose a discipline of engagement to add in its place (e.g., Scripture meditation, prayer, soul friendship, etc.) . . . #lent #ashwednesday #ashwednesday2021 #biblestudy #christianwriter #christianauthor #devotional #faithblogger #christianblog #biblestudymoments #livebygrace #faithhopelove #dailywisdom #christianliving #godslove #godsgrace #powerofprayer #Jesus #graceupongrace #prayer #biblicalliving #christianity #faithquotes #jesusquotes #blessings #godislove #thankyoulord

Have you heard the news?! We’re hosting a book launch webinar next Wednesday, Feb 24 @ 10am (PST)! We would LOVE to have you join us Kristi and I will introduce you to our proven model for emotional and spiritual growth. You’ll be inspired and equipped with fresh language for understanding feelings and faith.... And you’ll be encouraged as you learn about and receive more of God’s grace for the journey of your soul. If you’ve already ordered and/or started reading Journey of the Soul, this webinar will give you further insight and an opportunity to ask us questions at the end. If you’ve been on the fence about whether or not you want to read the book, this webinar will be a great introduction to the material in Journey of the Soul! Here are the details A Map for Emotional & Spiritual Growth Hosted by Bill & Kristi Gaultiere Wednesday, February 24th @ 10:00am (PST) Click the link in our bio to register! PS. We’ll be recording the webinar for those of you who are unable to tune in live, so be sure to register so you can watch it afterwards! . . . #JOTSbook #CHRISTstages #webinar #livewebinar #bookwebinar #christianspeaker #christianconference #booklaunchparty #booklaunchevent #seminar #online #seminaronline #zoom #webinars #workshop #learning #event #coaching #conference #live #christian #christiansofinstagram #livebygrace #encouragement #faithhopelove #christianblogger #Jesus #graceupongrace #dailywisdom #soulshepherding