Stop Milking It - Wean for the Win!Sample

The God prod

Here’s part one of my list – get ready for the God prod!

Dependence on others – Maybe there’s a friend or family member you’ve become dependent on. I have to be careful of this one – I often go to my mum or husband for advice and while that’s not wrong, I recognise that I can rely too heavily on them.

The need to be spoon-fed in our spiritual lives – looking to our church to provide all of our spiritual needs. Yes we should get fed at church. But we need to take responsibility and read the word for ourselves – we can listen to sermons, podcasts and read books. We should be grown up enough in God to nourish ourselves spiritually. If you are looking to one sermon a week to keep you spiritually strong you will be spiritually malnourished.

Self-sufficiency – like me a few years back, perhaps you are facing the loss of a job and you can’t provide for yourself and your family as you used to. Or maybe you have an illness which means you cannot be as independent as you used to; you need the help of others for daily tasks that you used to do easily yourself. Or perhaps your mental health has been challenging and you’ve needed more support mentally and emotionally than you’ve needed in your life previously.

We are not supposed to be self-sufficient, we all need God and we all need others. A scene from an episode of ‘The Chosen’ particularly moved me on this front. It was a scene around a fireplace where Mary talks to Jesus’ followers about how when he was born he came out messy. He needed cleaning up, as all babies do. Jesus chose to become a helpless baby who needed the love and nurture of Mary. Even the all-sufficient God chose to allow and have the need for others to help him.

Phones – if God’s not nudging all of us right now I’d be surprised! I think we all probably need to wean from the screen! I’m honestly challenged by how addicted I can be to mine. Phones are great tools in many ways, but let’s make sure we are in control of our use of them.

Pride – linked to being and doing. Are you confident that you are loved for who you are and not what you do?

TBC tomorrow!